# Getting "Too complex query" on a long audience expression

Asked by Sanjay Iyer on 2026-03-24. Tags: cql, errors, api.

We evaluate a condition covering a few dozen category landing pages, basically
a long chain of `page's path is "/x" or page's path is "/y" or ...` built by
string concatenation. It worked at around 20 paths, then started throwing "Too
complex query" as the catalog grew.

What is the actual limit here? Is it character count, expression depth, or
something else? And is there a recommended pattern for large conditions like
this, since our category list will keep growing.

## 1 answer

### Accepted answer from Anouk Verhoeven (2026-03-24)

Evaluation API queries are limited to 1-500 UTF-8 characters, and oversized or
overly nested expressions return exactly that error. A few dozen or-chained
path comparisons blows through 500 characters easily, which lines up with when
it started failing for you.

The fix is usually structural rather than a bigger limit:

```cql
page's path is in ["/home", "/about", "/pricing"]
```

An `is in` list carries one comparison's worth of syntax overhead no matter
how many values it holds, so it compresses dramatically compared to or-chains.
For repeated fragments, `let` variables help too:

```cql
let prefix = "/categories/";
page's path matches prefix
```

If the category list keeps growing beyond what fits in 500 characters, that is
a signal to match on a shared path prefix or attribute instead of enumerating
pages.

Also wrap client-side calls defensively:

```js
croct.evaluate(query).catch(() => false)
```

so any evaluation failure degrades to default content instead of breaking the
page.