SAP Knowledge Base Article - Public

3741424 - Error: COE_EXPAND_DEPTH_EXCEED_THRESHOLD when expanding FODepartment

Symptom

Integrations or API clients calling /odata/v2/FODepartment with a deeply nested $expand (commonly through repeated parentNav expansion for hierarchy traversal) fail with an error similar to:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "COE_EXPAND_DEPTH_EXCEED_THRESHOLD",
    "message": {
      "lang": "en-US",
      "value": "[COE0046] Expand depth 6 of parentNav/parentNav/parentNav/parentNav/parentNav/parentNav exceeds the limit 5."
    }
  }
}
 
The framework blocks the request once the expand depth threshold is exceeded.

Environment

  • SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite

Reproducing the Issue

  1. Execute an OData request that expands beyond the allowed nesting depth, for example: GET /odata/v2/FODepartment?$expand=parentNav/parentNav/parentNav/parentNav/parentNav/parentNav
  2. The API returns an error indicating the $expand path is too deep, mapped to the common error COE0046

Cause

For FODepartment, the 1H 2026 release change introduces an entity-level expand depth limit of 5 (replacing the prior global limit of 10 that applied to all OData entities).

This is to avoid abusive API calls and to optimize API servers.

What's New Viewer: Expand Depth Limit for FODepartment OData API | SAP Help Portal

Resolution

Solution 1 (Preferred): Reduce $expand depth to the allowed limit

If your request expands more levels than allowed (you’re seeing COE0046 / COE_EXPAND_DEPTH_EXCEED_THRESHOLD), the simplest correction is to shorten the $expand path so it stays within the platform’s allowed depth.

Example (keep parent hierarchy expansion shallow): GET /odata/v2/FODepartment?$select=externalCode,name,parent&$expand=parentNav/parentNav/parentNav/parentNav/parentNav 

Why this works: SAP explicitly documents that COE0046 means the expand depth exceeded the limit and the fix is to reduce $expand depth.

      

Solution 2: Split into multiple calls (when you truly need more than the limit)

If your hierarchy is deeper than the allowed $expand depth (common for Department trees), the simplest practical workaround is:

  1. Call 1: expand up to the maximum allowed depth and collect parent identifiers (e.g., externalCode, parent)
  2. Call 2+: query the next ancestor(s) using those identifiers (repeat until you reach the top)

This avoids deep $expand entirely while still retrieving the full hierarchy.

Reference: Common Errors (COE) | SAP Help Portal

Keywords

rda, risalita, upward navigation, hierarchy chain, parentnav, odata error, coe_expand_depth_exceed_threshold, expand depth, limit 5, successfactors api, integration flow, iflow, fodDepartment, odata adapter, 1h2026 release , KBA , LOD-SF-INT-ODATA , OData API Framework , Problem

Product

SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite all versions