Rate Limits

Understanding API rate limits and best practices

Rate limits are enforced per API key to ensure fair usage of the API and maintain service stability.

All rate limits are calculated on a per-minute basis and reset automatically at the start of each window.

Rate Limit Overview

Default Limits

• 60 requests per minute per API key
• Batch operations count as multiple requests
• Rolling window reset

Batch Operations

Each item in a batch counts as one request:

• Uploading 10 files = 10 requests
• Processing 5 statements = 5 requests

Rate Limit Headers

The API includes rate limit information in the response headers:

Rate Limit Headers · object

Show Header Details

X-RateLimit-Limit: 60
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 45
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1704624000

• X-RateLimit-Limit: Maximum requests allowed per minute
• X-RateLimit-Remaining: Number of requests remaining in the current window
• X-RateLimit-Reset: Unix timestamp when the rate limit will reset

Handling Rate Limits

1. Monitor Headers Check the X-RateLimit-Remaining header to track your remaining requests.

2. Implement Backoff When you receive a rate limit error, wait until the reset time before retrying:

   {
     "success": false,
     "error": {
       "code": "RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED",
       "message": "Too many requests",
       "details": "Please wait before making more requests"
     }
   }
   

3. Optimize Requests Use batch operations when possible to maximize your rate limit usage.

Best Practices

Implement Exponential Backoff

When rate limited, use exponential backoff to prevent overwhelming the API:

function sleep(ms) {
  return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
}

async function makeRequest(retries = 3) {
  for (let i = 0; i < retries; i++) {
    try {
      return await apiRequest();
    } catch (error) {
      if (error.code !== 'RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED') throw error;
      await sleep(Math.pow(2, i) * 1000);
    }
  }
}

Batch Processing

Group multiple items into single requests:

// Instead of multiple single uploads
const files = ['doc1.pdf', 'doc2.pdf', 'doc3.pdf'];
const formData = new FormData();
files.forEach(file => formData.append('files', file));

// Single batch upload
await api.upload(formData);

Need Higher Limits?

Enterprise Plans

For higher rate limits and dedicated support, contact our sales team.

Enterprise plans include:

• Custom rate limits
• Priority support
• Dedicated account manager