From 1e81be99e4b5c958996fe00d590a153995ab4588 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Simon Willison <swillison@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 31 May 2026 11:39:00 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Add configurable execute_write returning limit

Refs #2762
---
 datasette/database.py            | 24 ++++++++++++++++++------
 tests/test_internals_database.py | 20 ++++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 38 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/datasette/database.py b/datasette/database.py
index f1557366..c92d1f76 100644
--- a/datasette/database.py
+++ b/datasette/database.py
@@ -239,13 +239,23 @@ class Database:
                     pass
 
     async def execute_write(
-        self, sql, params=None, block=True, request=None, return_all=False
+        self,
+        sql,
+        params=None,
+        block=True,
+        request=None,
+        return_all=False,
+        returning_limit=EXECUTE_WRITE_RETURNING_LIMIT,
     ):
         self._check_not_closed()
+        if returning_limit < 0:
+            raise ValueError("returning_limit must be >= 0")
 
         def _inner(conn):
             cursor = conn.execute(sql, params or [])
-            return ExecuteWriteResult.from_cursor(cursor, return_all=return_all)
+            return ExecuteWriteResult.from_cursor(
+                cursor, return_all=return_all, returning_limit=returning_limit
+            )
 
         with trace("sql", database=self.name, sql=sql.strip(), params=params):
             results = await self.execute_write_fn(_inner, block=block, request=request)
@@ -891,7 +901,9 @@ class ExecuteWriteResult:
         self._rows = rows
 
     @classmethod
-    def from_cursor(cls, cursor, return_all=False):
+    def from_cursor(
+        cls, cursor, return_all=False, returning_limit=EXECUTE_WRITE_RETURNING_LIMIT
+    ):
         rows = []
         truncated = False
         description = cursor.description
@@ -900,9 +912,9 @@ class ExecuteWriteResult:
             if return_all:
                 rows = cursor.fetchall()
             else:
-                rows = cursor.fetchmany(EXECUTE_WRITE_RETURNING_LIMIT + 1)
-                if len(rows) > EXECUTE_WRITE_RETURNING_LIMIT:
-                    rows = rows[:EXECUTE_WRITE_RETURNING_LIMIT]
+                rows = cursor.fetchmany(returning_limit + 1)
+                if len(rows) > returning_limit:
+                    rows = rows[:returning_limit]
                     truncated = True
         rowcount = cursor.rowcount
         cursor.close()
diff --git a/tests/test_internals_database.py b/tests/test_internals_database.py
index 4f0aeb2c..ddd15adc 100644
--- a/tests/test_internals_database.py
+++ b/tests/test_internals_database.py
@@ -523,6 +523,26 @@ async def test_execute_write_with_returning_default_limit(db):
     ).single_value() == 20
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_execute_write_with_returning_custom_limit(db):
+    await db.execute_write(
+        "create table write_returning_custom (id integer primary key)"
+    )
+    await db.execute_write_many(
+        "insert into write_returning_custom (id) values (?)",
+        [(i,) for i in range(1, 6)],
+    )
+
+    result = await db.execute_write(
+        "update write_returning_custom set id = id returning id",
+        returning_limit=2,
+    )
+
+    assert result.rowcount == -1
+    assert result.truncated is True
+    assert [row["id"] for row in result.fetchall()] == [1, 2]
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_execute_write_with_returning_exact_default_limit(db):
     await db.execute_write(