API Rate Limiting Guide
Learn about API rate limiting, throttling strategies, and best practices. Understand 429 Too Many Requests and how to implement rate limits.
Rate limiting controls how many requests a client can make to an API within a specific time period. Common strategies include fixed window, sliding window, token bucket, and leaky bucket algorithms. When a client exceeds the limit, return 429 Too Many Requests with a Retry-After header. See our <a href="/status-code/429">429 status code guide</a> for handling rate limiting on the client side.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is API rate limiting?
Rate limiting restricts the number of API requests a client can make within a time period to prevent abuse and ensure fair usage.
What happens when rate limit is exceeded?
The API returns 429 Too Many Requests with a Retry-After header indicating when to retry.
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