scanf field width

For the %s conversion specifier, is the field width in bytes or characters? The C standard is suggesting that the field width is always measured in characters, but there's this small note that confuses me:
246) No special provisions are made for multibyte characters in the matching rules used by the c, s, and [ conversion specifiers — the extent of the input field is determined on a byte-by-byte basis. The resulting field is nevertheless a sequence of multibyte characters that begins in the initial shift state.
Also, the opengroup documentation seems to be suggesting (see the description given for the %c specifier as well) it's in bytes if no l length modifier is present. Otherwise, it's in characters.

plz help me lambda‼