13.08.2026 | Pascal Crott

Can't save Form API autocomplete when referencing too many elements

If this does not work...

broken_fapi_autocomplete.php
$form['nodes'] = [
    '#title' => $this->t('Select articles'),
    '#type' => 'entity_autocomplete',
    '#target_type' => 'node',
    '#tags' => TRUE,
    '#selection_handler' => 'default',
    '#selection_settings' => ['target_bundles' => ['article']],
    '#default_value' => $default_nodes,
];

...try adding an increased maxlength value:

fixed_fapi_autocomplete.php
$form['nodes'] = [
    '#title' => $this->t('Select articles'),
    '#type' => 'entity_autocomplete',
    '#target_type' => 'node',
    '#maxlength' => 1024,
    '#tags' => TRUE,
    '#selection_handler' => 'default',
    '#selection_settings' => ['target_bundles' => ['article']],
    '#default_value' => $default_nodes,
];

Issue: 

Sometimes you can't save entity_autocomplete fields when selecting to many items. This comes from the fact that the form element is technically based on the textfield element. This results in inheriting all of the textfield specific properties and behaviors and one of them is a maxlength which limits the text input to 128 characters.

Solution: 

To fix this, increase the maxlength value for your autocomplete field.

php
form API
maxlength
backend
autocomplete
fields

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21.11.2025 | Peter Majmesku

PHP 8.5 New Features: Pipe Operator and URI Extension

The New URI Extension

php_8.5_examples_uri_extension.php
<?php

##### URI Extension #####

// PHP 8.4 way

$components = parse_url('https://php.net/releases/8.4/en.php');

var_dump($components['host']);
// string(7) "php.net"

// PHP 8.5 URI Extension

use Uri\Rfc3986\Uri;

$uri = new Uri('https://php.net/releases/8.5/en.php');

var_dump($uri->getHost());
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php_8.5_pipe_operator.php
<?php

##### Pipe Operator #####

// PHP 8.4 way

$title = ' PHP 8.5 Released ';

$slug = strtolower(
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        str_replace(' ', '-',
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        )
    )
);

var_dump($slug);
// string(15) "php-85-released"

// PHP 8.5 Pipe Operator 

$title = ' PHP 8.5 Released ';

$slug = $title
    |> trim(...)
    |> (fn($str) => str_replace(' ', '-', $str))
    |> (fn($str) => str_replace('.', '', $str))
    |> strtolower(...);

var_dump($slug);
// string(15) "php-85-released"
php
13.11.2025 | Dominik Wille

Don't list a widget for a field type.

CustomWidget.php
  public static function isApplicable(FieldDefinitionInterface $field_definition) {
    if (isset($field_definition->getDisplayOptions('form')['type'])) {
      return $field_definition->getDisplayOptions('form')['type'] == 'slot_content_weights';
    }

    return FALSE;
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php
widgets
fields