AddThisFeature

Character Limits

Show how much room is left before text gets rejected or cut off.

simple Forms & Input

What it adds

Live remaining-character feedback on limited fields, counting the same way the server does.

What your agent is told to do

5
  1. 1

    Find every field with a length limit — database column, API constraint, or downstream service — and surface that limit in the UI.

  2. 2

    Count the same units the server counts. If the server counts Unicode characters, do not count UTF-16 code units in the browser; the two disagree on emoji and the user gets rejected for text that looked fine.

  3. 3

    Show remaining count rather than used count once the field is near the limit, and change its emphasis at a threshold rather than colouring it from the start.

  4. 4

    Decide whether to hard-block typing past the limit or allow overflow with a clear error. Hard blocking silently eats pasted text, so prefer allowing overflow and blocking submission.

  5. 5

    Do NOT announce every keystroke to screen readers. Announce only when crossing the warning threshold and when going over.

Edge cases it handles

6
  • Pasting text over the limit must keep the text and show the overage, not truncate it without telling anyone.
  • Line breaks must count consistently between client and server, including CRLF versus LF.
  • Composed emoji and combining characters must count as the user perceives them, or the rule must be stated.
  • Trailing whitespace trimmed by the server must be trimmed by the counter too.
  • A field starting over the limit — imported or legacy data — must show the state clearly and still be editable.
  • Colour alone must not carry the warning.

Definition of done

8
  • Every length-limited field shows its limit and remaining count.
  • The client counts identically to the server, including emoji and line breaks.
  • Pasted overflow is preserved and reported rather than silently truncated.
  • Threshold and over-limit states are announced once, not on every keystroke.
  • The over-limit state is conveyed by more than colour.
  • Submission is blocked with a clear message when over the limit.
  • The feature matches the existing design system.
  • No existing functionality is broken.

Related features

How it works

  1. 1

    Copy the link

    Grab the Markdown instruction URL for this feature.

  2. 2

    Give it to your AI

    Paste it into Claude Code, Cursor, v0, Lovable — whatever you build with.

  3. 3

    It inspects, then implements

    Your agent reads your existing app first, then adds the feature to fit it.

Works with your stack

These instructions are written to adapt. They tell the agent to detect your framework, match your existing design system, and reuse what you already have — rather than assuming a particular stack.

Need it tighter than that? Customize the feature and tell it exactly what you're running.