We are thrilled to announce the implementation of a new rate limiting system that offers a more sophisticated and user-friendly approach to managing API requests. We will start rolling this new rate limiter out on Monday, September 22nd, with the aim of updating all companies by Friday, September 26th.
Our improved rate limiter provides the following key enhancements:
1. Removing the penalty for 429 rate-limited requests
In the past, hitting the rate limit meant that requests that returned a 429 response informing you of the breach also counted against your limit, which could result in compounding and unnecessarily long windows before your limit was reset. With the new system, 429 rate-limited requests will not count towards your rate limit, making it clearer to understand when your new rate limit window will replenish.
2. Burst Limit for Occasional Traffic Spikes
The introduction of a burst limit provides an additional layer of allowance for those unexpected spikes in traffic. This allows you to handle peak loads without immediate penalties, ensuring a more resilient and flexible integration experience.
Here’s how the new headers will look:
| Header | Description |
|---|---|
x-ratelimit-burst-limit | An additional allowance of requests that can be made after you have exceeded your rate limit. This extra allowance helps you deal with occasional spikes in traffic. This burst limit is equal to half of your plan's rate limit (including any API add-ons you have purchased). If you exceed the burst limit within the current time window specified in x-ratelimit-reset, it will take 10 minutes before your burst requests are replenished. |
x-ratelimit-burst-remaining | Current number of burst requests remaining in the 10-minute time window since you sent the first burst request. |
Another noteworthy change is that rate limit requests are now replenished all at once as the time window renews, simplifying the calculation and ensuring more stable and predictable API usage.
For full details and further information on how to take advantage of the new rate limiting system, please refer to our Developer Portal.
We are confident these improvements will enhance your experience with the Core API, but please let us know if you notice any issues!