Error 413 uploading large video attachments over slow rural internet

Hi everyone,

We’re conducting a field study in rural Uruguay for a non-profit organization dedicated to nature conservation. This is our first time using KoBoCollect, so apologies if some of this is basic.

We collected 10 observation records on a Samsung tablet. 8 of them were sent to the server successfully. The remaining 2 fail to upload — we believe because of the videos: we didn’t realize until afterwards that we could disable high-definition recording, so those videos were recorded in HD and are quite large. When resending, we get:

Error: (413) at https://kc.kobotoolbox.org/submission

Our internet is a wireless rural connection (not fiber), with about 20 Mbps upload speed. This is the only connection available in the area.

My questions:

Is there a way to configure a larger maximum payload / submission size so the server accepts these larger files, or to extend the timeout so the upload has more time to complete over a slower connection?

If that’s not possible, is there a way to remove or delete just the video attachment from an already-finalized submission on the device, so we can upload the rest of the record (photos, audios, text) without the heavy video?

For future records: what’s the recommended maximum video/file size for reliable uploads over a slow connection? We’ve already switched video recording to lower resolution going forward.

Thanks very much for any guidance.

Hi @encirculo_1, welcome to the forum.

When uploading attachments in a submission, please keep in mind:

  • Each attachment must not exceed 10 MB per question.

  • You may attach files to up to 10 questions per submission, for a maximum total of 100 MB.

  • If these limits are exceeded, the submission may fail to upload and remain queued, which is what you’re currently experiencing.

Also note that the free‑tier account includes only 1 GB of total storage, so it’s important to be cautious with large media files.

If you need to adjust the video, you can connect your Android device to a computer via USB, navigate to the form’s folder in the device’s filesystem, and replace the large video with a smaller one. With that you will be able to submit your data successfully.

Look for:
Internal Storage > Android > data > org.koboc.collect.android > files > projects > [ID] > instances > [FormName_Date_Time]