Clarify check summary max length units

[AbrilRBS]

Code of Conduct

• I have read and agree to the GitHub Docs project's Code of Conduct

What article on docs.github.com is affected?

https://docs.github.com/en/rest/checks/runs

What part(s) of the article would you like to see updated?

When the documentation for the output.summary content describes said field, it says:

The summary of the check run. This parameter supports Markdown. Maximum length: 65535 characters.

The issue here comes when we used quite a few emojis in the output, our internal checks where checking character length of the output, which reported less than the maximum, but when trying to submit it, we got the error:

Response: {"message":"Validation Failed","errors":[{"resource":"CheckRun","code":"custom","field":"summary","message":"summary exceeds a maximum bytesize of 65535"}],"documentation_url":"https://docs.github.com/rest/checks/runs#create-a-check-run","status":"422"}

So it seems like the actual check is done in bytes, not characters

Additional information

No response

[welcome]

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[nguyenalex836]

@AbrilRBS Thank you for raising this issue! I'll get this triaged for review ✨ Our team will provide feedback regarding the best next steps for this issue - thanks for your patience! 💛

[github-actions]

Thanks for opening an issue! We've triaged this issue for technical review by a subject matter expert 👀

[nguyenalex836]

@AbrilRBS Hello! 👋 Thank you for your patience while our SME team reviewed 💛

So it seems like the actual check is done in bytes, not characters

They are in agreement ✨ I've added the help wanted label to this issue so that you, or anyone else, can open a PR to update the docs. Thank you for raising a flag on this!

[lalithaar]

Hello,
I’ve reviewed the linked page in the issue description and noticed that the content seems partially present.
For example, details about how the summary field is validated (e.g., bytes vs. characters) aren’t fully addressed here.

The reusable :

Could you please clarify where the remaining information might be documented? I’d love to help address this issue, but I want to ensure I’m looking in the right place. Thank you!