How to bypass modification limits

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This is a copy of a troubleshooting article on Supabase's docs site. It may be missing some details from the original. View the original article.

This limit is not a Supabase limitation. It is rooted in how Amazon EBS (the underlying storage for our databases) manages volume modifications. AWS allows up to four modifications per volume within a rolling 24-hour window. While you can start a new modification immediately after a previous one completes, AWS enforces a quota that prevents a fifth modification within that 24-hour period to ensure data integrity and volume stability.

From the AWS docs:

After you initiate a volume modification, you must wait for that modification to reach the completed state before you can initiate another modification for the same volume. You can modify a volume up to four times within a rolling 24-hour period, as long as the volume is in the in-use or available state, and all previous modifications for that volume are completed. If you exceed this limit, you get an error message that indicates when you can perform your next modification.

There are a few options to work around this limit if you have already used your four modifications and need to make further adjustments:

1. Restore to a new project: This spins up a new instance with a new disk, bypassing the 24-hour quota entirely. It’s a great option if you're okay with a new project and project refactoring. Docs: restoring to a new project.
2. pg_upgrade: Our pg_upgrade implementation migrates your data to a new disk, which resets the modification count. The main requirement here is that the database must be operational - pg_upgrade can't run if your database is in a degraded or inaccessible state.
3. Pause and Restore: This also migrates to a new disk but is only available for projects on the Free plan. If you're not on the Free plan, you'd need to transfer your project to an organization on the Free plan first.

If the database is down or locked in a bad state (e.g., corrupted or stuck during resize), and you have hit the modification limit, the only path forward is to wait until the rolling 24-hour window allows for another modification.

More on this in our doc here: https://supabase.com/docs/guides/platform/database-size#disk-size.