database or disk is full

What this means

SQLITE_FULL (result code 13) is returned when SQLite cannot complete a write because either the filesystem has no remaining space, or the database has reached the configured maximum page limit (max_page_count PRAGMA). SQLite rolls back the current statement to avoid a partial write, but the enclosing transaction remains open.

Why it happens

1. 1The filesystem containing the database file has 0 bytes of free space
2. 2The PRAGMA max_page_count limit has been reached and the database cannot grow further
3. 3The temporary file directory (TMPDIR) is full and SQLite cannot write a journal file

How to reproduce

The max_page_count is set to a very small value and then exceeded.

import sqlite3
conn = sqlite3.connect(':memory:')
conn.execute('PRAGMA max_page_count = 5')
conn.execute('CREATE TABLE t (data TEXT)')
try:
    for i in range(1000):
        conn.execute('INSERT INTO t VALUES (?)', ('x' * 4096,))
except Exception as e:
    print(e)  # database or disk is full

Fix 1: Free disk space

When the filesystem is full.

import shutil
total, used, free = shutil.disk_usage('/var/data')
print(f"Free: {free // (1024**2)} MB")
# Delete old log files, archives, or old database backups, then retry.

Fix 2: Increase or remove max_page_count

When the page limit was set too low for the application's data volume.

import sqlite3
conn = sqlite3.connect('mydb.db')
# Remove the artificial cap (default is 2^31 - 1)
conn.execute('PRAGMA max_page_count = 2147483647')

What not to do

Version notes

Sources

Confidence assessment

See also