> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://planetscale.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # INVALID_CHARSET schema lint error > Fix unsupported table or column character sets in a PlanetScale Vitess schema. export const PlatformAvailability = ({current, vitess, postgres, neki}) => { const docsHref = path => { if (!path) return path; const normalized = path.startsWith('/') ? path : `/${path}`; return normalized; }; const labels = { vitess: 'Vitess', postgres: 'Postgres', neki: 'Neki' }; const combinedLabels = { both: 'Vitess and Postgres', all: 'Vitess, Neki, and Postgres', 'postgres-neki': 'Postgres and Neki' }; if (combinedLabels[current]) { return

{combinedLabels[current]}

; } const hasVitess = current === 'vitess' || Boolean(vitess); const hasPostgres = current === 'postgres' || Boolean(postgres); const hasNeki = current === 'neki' || Boolean(neki); const only = [hasVitess, hasPostgres, hasNeki].filter(Boolean).length === 1; const engines = []; if (current === 'vitess' || current === 'postgres' || current === 'neki') engines.push(current); if (hasVitess && current !== 'vitess') engines.push('vitess'); if (hasNeki && current !== 'neki') engines.push('neki'); if (hasPostgres && current !== 'postgres') engines.push('postgres'); return

{engines.map(engine => { const isCurrent = current === engine; const href = docsHref(engine === 'vitess' ? vitess : engine === 'postgres' ? postgres : neki); const label = only ? `${labels[engine]} only` : labels[engine]; const state = isCurrent || !href ? 'current' : 'link'; if (isCurrent || !href) { return {label} ; } return {label} ; })}

; }; ## What this error means `INVALID_CHARSET` means a table or column uses a character set that PlanetScale does not allow for schema linting. Common messages include: ```text theme={null} table "users" has an invalid table charset utf16: only utf8, utf8mb4, and utf8mb3 charsets are supported. table "users" has an invalid column charset utf16: only utf8, utf8mb4, and utf8mb3 charsets are supported. ``` PlanetScale supports `utf8mb4`, `utf8mb3`, `utf8`, `latin1`, and `ascii`. We recommend `utf8mb4` for new schemas. ## Why PlanetScale rejects it Vitess must be able to parse, compare, and apply schemas consistently across branches and tablets. Unsupported charsets can make schema diffs and data movement unsafe or incompatible with the target MySQL configuration. ## How to fix it Convert the table or column to a supported character set, preferably `utf8mb4`. ```sql theme={null} ALTER TABLE users CONVERT TO CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci; ``` For a single column override, update the column definition: ```sql theme={null} ALTER TABLE users MODIFY display_name varchar(255) CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_0900_ai_ci NOT NULL; ``` If the table contains existing data, test the conversion on a development branch first and confirm your application handles the new collation rules. ## Related docs * [MySQL compatibility](/docs/vitess/mysql-compatibility) * [Deploy requests](/docs/vitess/schema-changes/deploy-requests) ## Need help? Get help from [the PlanetScale Support team](https://planetscale.com/contact?initial=support), or join our [Discord community](https://pscale.link/community) to see how others are using PlanetScale. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.