diff --git a/atuin-server/migrations/20220610074049_history-length.sql b/atuin-server/migrations/20220610074049_history-length.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b1c2301
--- /dev/null
+++ b/atuin-server/migrations/20220610074049_history-length.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+-- Add migration script here
+alter table history alter column data type text;
diff --git a/atuin-server/src/database.rs b/atuin-server/src/database.rs
index d224691..ef6c6d8 100644
--- a/atuin-server/src/database.rs
+++ b/atuin-server/src/database.rs
@@ -4,12 +4,13 @@ use async_trait::async_trait;
 use chrono::{Datelike, TimeZone};
 use chronoutil::RelativeDuration;
 use sqlx::{postgres::PgPoolOptions, Result};
-use tracing::{debug, instrument};
+use tracing::{debug, instrument, warn};
 
 use super::{
     calendar::{TimePeriod, TimePeriodInfo},
     models::{History, NewHistory, NewSession, NewUser, Session, User},
 };
+use crate::settings::Settings;
 use crate::settings::HISTORY_PAGE_SIZE;
 
 use atuin_common::utils::get_days_from_month;
@@ -61,18 +62,19 @@ pub trait Database {
 #[derive(Clone)]
 pub struct Postgres {
     pool: sqlx::Pool<sqlx::postgres::Postgres>,
+    settings: Settings,
 }
 
 impl Postgres {
-    pub async fn new(uri: &str) -> Result<Self> {
+    pub async fn new(settings: Settings) -> Result<Self> {
         let pool = PgPoolOptions::new()
             .max_connections(100)
-            .connect(uri)
+            .connect(settings.db_uri.as_str())
             .await?;
 
         sqlx::migrate!("./migrations").run(&pool).await?;
 
-        Ok(Self { pool })
+        Ok(Self { pool, settings })
     }
 }
 
@@ -252,6 +254,21 @@ impl Database for Postgres {
             let hostname: &str = &i.hostname;
             let data: &str = &i.data;
 
+            if data.len() > self.settings.max_history_length
+                && self.settings.max_history_length != 0
+            {
+                // Don't return an error here. We want to insert as much of the
+                // history list as we can, so log the error and continue going.
+
+                warn!(
+                    "history too long, got length {}, max {}",
+                    data.len(),
+                    self.settings.max_history_length
+                );
+
+                continue;
+            }
+
             sqlx::query(
                 "insert into history
                     (client_id, user_id, hostname, timestamp, data) 
diff --git a/atuin-server/src/lib.rs b/atuin-server/src/lib.rs
index 7be54e5..571c09b 100644
--- a/atuin-server/src/lib.rs
+++ b/atuin-server/src/lib.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ pub mod settings;
 pub async fn launch(settings: Settings, host: String, port: u16) -> Result<()> {
     let host = host.parse::<IpAddr>()?;
 
-    let postgres = Postgres::new(settings.db_uri.as_str())
+    let postgres = Postgres::new(settings.clone())
         .await
         .wrap_err_with(|| format!("failed to connect to db: {}", settings.db_uri))?;
 
diff --git a/atuin-server/src/settings.rs b/atuin-server/src/settings.rs
index e674517..b0e07b7 100644
--- a/atuin-server/src/settings.rs
+++ b/atuin-server/src/settings.rs
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ pub struct Settings {
     pub port: u16,
     pub db_uri: String,
     pub open_registration: bool,
+    pub max_history_length: usize,
 }
 
 impl Settings {
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ impl Settings {
             .set_default("host", "127.0.0.1")?
             .set_default("port", 8888)?
             .set_default("open_registration", false)?
+            .set_default("max_history_length", 8192)?
             .add_source(
                 Environment::with_prefix("atuin")
                     .prefix_separator("_")