ERC-721 NFT how long can be metadata url string

Question

I have three questions:

what is the size limit for url field of ERC-721 NFT metadata.
can that url be changed by some smart contract.
can that url and token id be discovered/visible by over smart contracts that operate without token owner awareness.

Thanks in advance for any clarifications.

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 16 '21 at 10:22

2

Answers:

The size limit is only the transaction/block size limit. Based on calculations (https://ethereum.stackexchange.com/a/1110/31933) you can fit "780kB (about 3 million gas)" in a block. Nowadays gas limit is about 15 million, so 5 * 780kB = about 4 MB. So you can have a url of about 4 MB - that's a lot of characters.
It can only be changed if the contract has functionality to change it. So it depends on the implementation
This also depends on implementation. I think usually the URL is internal, so other contracts can't see it. But other contracts can query balances and owners of certain tokens, since those are public.

answered Sep 16 '21 at 10:22

Lauri Peltonen

Thank you for your answer, Lauri. Did I understand correct that processing of such NTF will cost a lot or it doesn't affect transaction price? – Max Thraex Sep 16 '21 at 11:07
Adding data to the blockchain costs quite much, but after it's there, using it doesn't cost that much – Lauri Peltonen Sep 16 '21 at 11:52
So the only mint NFT operation will be expensive? – Max Thraex Sep 16 '21 at 13:40
Whichever transaction adds the data, pays for it. – Lauri Peltonen Sep 16 '21 at 15:04

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 16 '21 at 13:59

The string size is limited only by the size of strings returnable from transactions.

Because of the Yellow Paper, you will need to store those values in memory before returning, you are limited only by the memory-expansion function.

If you want the strings to be meaningful, the limit is much less.

The contract can change URLs.

Other contracts can query URLs.

2 Answers2