diff --git a/src/app/api/v1/orders/create/route.ts b/src/app/api/v1/orders/create/route.ts
index 1575bd8..943fa0a 100644
--- a/src/app/api/v1/orders/create/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/v1/orders/create/route.ts
@@ -130,7 +130,27 @@ export async function POST(req: NextRequest) {
       );
     }
 
-    const message = error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Failed to create order";
+    // PocketBase's ClientResponseError carries the real per-field
+    // validation reason (e.g. "email_body: Must be no more than 5000
+    // character(s).") in `.response.data`/`.data`, not `.message` —
+    // `.message` is always the generic "Failed to create record."
+    // Surface the field details when present so callers (n8n, the
+    // agent API) don't have to go dig through PB's own request log to
+    // find out which field actually failed.
+    const pbData = (error as { response?: { data?: unknown }; data?: unknown })?.response?.data
+      ?? (error as { data?: unknown })?.data;
+    const fieldDetails =
+      pbData && typeof pbData === "object" && "data" in (pbData as Record<string, unknown>)
+        ? (pbData as { data?: Record<string, { message?: string }>; message?: string }).data
+        : undefined;
+
+    const baseMessage = error instanceof Error ? error.message : "Failed to create order";
+    const message =
+      fieldDetails && Object.keys(fieldDetails).length > 0
+        ? `${baseMessage}: ${Object.entries(fieldDetails)
+            .map(([field, info]) => `${field} - ${info?.message ?? "invalid"}`)
+            .join("; ")}`
+        : baseMessage;
     const status = (error as Error & { status?: number }).status || 500;
     // 404 from getOne propagates with status === 404 if PB throws it.
     // Otherwise we bucket by message: customer-not-found / company-not-found
diff --git a/src/lib/server/orders-service.ts b/src/lib/server/orders-service.ts
index 70dfa3b..3df9cb9 100644
--- a/src/lib/server/orders-service.ts
+++ b/src/lib/server/orders-service.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@ const QUOTE_COLLECTION = "quotes";
 const QUOTE_ITEMS_COLLECTION = "quote_items";
 const ORDER_COUNTERS_COLLECTION = "order_counters";
 
+// PB schema caps `orders.email_body` at 5000 chars. Long reply threads
+// (quoted history, signatures, legal disclaimers) routinely exceed
+// that, and PB's validation error only surfaces in `err.data`, not
+// `err.message` — so an oversized body used to bubble up as an opaque
+// "Failed to create record." Truncate defensively at the write site
+// instead of trusting every caller to pre-trim.
+const ORDER_EMAIL_BODY_MAX_LENGTH = 5000;
+
 export function getOrderItemsCollectionName() {
   return process.env.ORDER_ITEMS_COLLECTION || "order_items";
 }
@@ -2123,7 +2131,7 @@ export async function createOrder(input: CreateOrderInput): Promise<CreateOrderR
       // source PO email. Trimmed; empty / undefined collapses to "".
       email_sender: input.email_sender?.trim() || "",
       email_subject: input.email_subject?.trim() || "",
-      email_body: input.email_body?.trim() || "",
+      email_body: (input.email_body?.trim() || "").slice(0, ORDER_EMAIL_BODY_MAX_LENGTH),
     })) as Order;
   } catch (err) {
     const message = err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err);
@@ -3731,7 +3739,7 @@ export async function updateOrder(
   const cleaned: Record<string, unknown> = {};
   for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(patch)) {
     if ((ORDER_PATCHABLE_FIELDS as readonly string[]).includes(k)) {
-      cleaned[k] = v;
+      cleaned[k] = k === "email_body" && typeof v === "string" ? v.slice(0, ORDER_EMAIL_BODY_MAX_LENGTH) : v;
     } else {
       rejected.push(k);
     }