DOC-1610-max-message-size-for-Redpanda-Cloud

[micheleRP]

Description

This pull request updates Redpanda Cloud documentation to reflect increased message size limits for topics and announces the new limits in the "What's New" section. It also makes minor structural adjustments to the changelog.

• Added a new row to the cloud deployment options comparison table to show default and maximum message sizes for Serverless, BYOC, and Dedicated clusters.
• Updated the topic creation documentation to clarify the default and maximum message sizes for different cluster types, and how to configure them with the message.max.bytes property.
• Added a "What's New" entry for November 2025, announcing the increased message size limits and explaining their applicability to new and existing topics.

Resolves https://redpandadata.atlassian.net/browse/DOC-1610
Review deadline:

Page previews

What's New
Cloud Overview
Create a Topic

Checks

• New feature
• Content gap
• Support Follow-up
• Small fix (typos, links, copyedits, etc)

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

This PR adds documentation for message size capabilities in Redpanda Cloud. Two files are updated: the Quick comparison table in the cloud overview now includes a new "Message size (MiB)" row specifying default and maximum limits for each deployment type (Serverless, Dedicated, BYOC), and a corresponding "Message size limits" section is added to the November 2025 release notes explaining the limits and configurability via the max_message_bytes topic property.

Estimated code review effort

🎯 2 (Simple) | ⏱️ ~8 minutes

• Minor updates to two AsciiDoc documentation files with additive content (table row and new section)
• Consistency verification needed between the two files to ensure message size values align
• Low-risk changes with straightforward content structure

Possibly related PRs

• DOC-1261 comparison table for cloud deployments #393: Reworked the Quick comparison table in cloud-overview.adoc and added BYOC support; this PR extends the same table with a new message size row.

Suggested reviewers

• paulohtb6
• mattschumpert
• travisdowns

Pre-merge checks and finishing touches

❌ Failed checks (1 inconclusive)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Title check	❓ Inconclusive	The title refers to a documentation issue (DOC-1610) but lacks specificity about the actual change—message size limits documentation.	Revise title to be more descriptive, e.g., 'Document message size limits for Redpanda Cloud deployments' to better summarize the main change.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	The PR successfully addresses all coding requirements: documents message size limits for all cluster types, provides default/max values, and references the configurable max_message_bytes property.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	All changes align with the linked issue objectives—both modified files document the message size limits feature without introducing unrelated content.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Description check	✅ Passed	The pull request description comprehensively addresses all required template sections with clear content and accurate preview links, fulfilling documentation requirements.

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[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 0

🧹 Nitpick comments (1)

modules/get-started/pages/whats-new-cloud.adoc (1)

11-13: Clear and concise feature announcement with all essential information.

The section effectively communicates the message size capability changes across all cluster types and explicitly mentions configurability via max_message_bytes, meeting the PR's documentation objectives.

Optional enhancement: Consider adding an xref: cross-reference to the topic properties documentation (e.g., "configurable with the xref:reference:properties/topic-properties.adoc[max_message_bytes topic property]") to match the documentation linking pattern used in other What's New entries (e.g., lines 89–91, 244–246). This would help readers find configuration details without additional search.

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 7a48220 and a292236.

📒 Files selected for processing (2)

• modules/get-started/pages/cloud-overview.adoc (1 hunks)
• modules/get-started/pages/whats-new-cloud.adoc (1 hunks)

🧰 Additional context used

🧠 Learnings (3)

📓 Common learnings

Learnt from: micheleRP
Repo: redpanda-data/cloud-docs PR: 267
File: modules/manage/pages/maintenance.adoc:63-64
Timestamp: 2025-04-25T01:42:09.318Z
Learning: The timeline for major upgrade notifications (180 days in advance) was intentionally removed from the Redpanda Cloud maintenance documentation, even though it was mentioned in the PR objectives.

Learnt from: micheleRP
Repo: redpanda-data/cloud-docs PR: 267
File: modules/manage/pages/maintenance.adoc:91-92
Timestamp: 2025-04-25T01:41:57.162Z
Learning: The notification timeline for Redpanda Cloud deprecations has been deliberately removed from the documentation, even though the PR summary mentioned a 180-day advance notice period.

📚 Learning: 2025-04-25T01:41:57.162Z

Learnt from: micheleRP
Repo: redpanda-data/cloud-docs PR: 267
File: modules/manage/pages/maintenance.adoc:91-92
Timestamp: 2025-04-25T01:41:57.162Z
Learning: The notification timeline for Redpanda Cloud deprecations has been deliberately removed from the documentation, even though the PR summary mentioned a 180-day advance notice period.

Applied to files:

• modules/get-started/pages/whats-new-cloud.adoc

📚 Learning: 2025-04-25T01:42:09.318Z

Learnt from: micheleRP
Repo: redpanda-data/cloud-docs PR: 267
File: modules/manage/pages/maintenance.adoc:63-64
Timestamp: 2025-04-25T01:42:09.318Z
Learning: The timeline for major upgrade notifications (180 days in advance) was intentionally removed from the Redpanda Cloud maintenance documentation, even though it was mentioned in the PR objectives.

Applied to files:

• modules/get-started/pages/whats-new-cloud.adoc

🔇 Additional comments (1)

modules/get-started/pages/cloud-overview.adoc (1)

56-59: Table row addition is well-placed and correctly formatted.

The new "Message size (MiB)" row integrates cleanly into the Quick comparison table with consistent formatting. Values are logically ordered (Serverless lower limits, Dedicated/BYOC higher) and align across both files.

For consistency with other cross-cluster feature entries in this table, consider whether a brief note in the table footer (near the existing NOTE block at lines 107–113) would be helpful to explain why Serverless has lower limits. However, the current approach is acceptable and aligns with the table's factual comparison style.

[ballard26]

LGTM