vibecheck0.3.0
Search visibilityseometa-description-too-longwarning

Meta description is too long in Next.js

Search engines truncate the snippet at roughly 160 characters, so a long description loses its ending — often the exact call to action you wanted seen. Descriptions pulled from the first paragraph of content routinely overflow this budget.

Framework fixes
GeneralReactNext.js

Symptoms

  • The snippet ends in “…” before your point lands
  • The call to action is cut off
  • Descriptions were copied from body copy rather than written to fit

How VibeCheck catches it

In your widget · Problems

warningseoMeta description is too long

To your coding agent · MCP

agent › get_detected_issues
→ { detector: "seo", issue: "Meta description is too long", threshold: "meta description longer than 160 characters (DESC_MAX)" }

The same string in your widget and in your agent’s context — no screenshot, no copy-paste.

Root causes

  • The description was lifted from a full paragraph of content
  • Multiple sentences were packed in “to be safe”
  • No character budget was enforced when generating descriptions

The fix for Next.js

Keep the metadata description within budget; a shared helper can hard-trim to 160 as a safety net.

tsx
const clamp = (s: string, n = 160) => (s.length <= n ? s : s.slice(0, n - 1).trimEnd() + '…')

export const metadata: Metadata = {
  description: clamp(summary),
}

Steps

  1. Count the characters in the rendered description
  2. Rewrite it to land the key message within ~155 characters
  3. Re-check it renders in full in a search preview tool

See the general, framework-agnostic fix →

FAQ

What is the ideal meta description length?
150–160 characters. That fits the desktop snippet without truncation while still giving room to pitch.
Is it bad to go over 160?
It is not penalised, but the extra text is simply hidden. Put everything that matters in the first ~155 characters.