#1842·linkwarden

bug: long link descriptions get trimmed at 254 characters during import

Author: dylanbobCreated Sep 16, 2026Updated Sep 16, 2026
Labelsbug

Hi, thanks for this nice piece of FLOSS!

Describe the bug When trying to import an HTML 'netscape' browser bookmarks file, link descriptions get trimmed at 254 characters.

To Reproduce Steps to reproduce the behavior:

  1. Go to /settings/account
  2. Click on 'Import links' and then 'From Bookmarks HTML file'
  3. Select your HTML 'netscape' browser bookmarks export file, it must contain at least one link with a description with >254 characters
  4. upload
  5. check a long description, see that is got trimmed at 254 chars

Expected behavior All links are imported, including with their metadata, tags, and full description.

Device for import: When I imported my data I was on:

  • OS: up to date archlinux (~09/2026)
  • Browser: firefox (arch repo)
  • Version: up to date (same date)

Device afterwards: After import, the problem is server-side, the description content is the same (trimmed) regardless of the client.

Additional context My export file comes from shaarli from which I am trying to migrate. I checked the file, the descriptions are full in it, and there were no special characters at N°254 +-1. It is 450 Ko, with ~1500 links. The descriptions are markdown formatted.

I am using linkwarden v2.16.2 self-hosted as an 'app' on a TrueNAS 25.04 system.