Rate Limits

Understand and work within Velocity API rate limits.

Limits by Auth Type

Rate limits are applied per authentication credential using a sliding window algorithm:

Rate Limit Headers

Every API response includes rate limit headers:

Exceeding the Limit

When you exceed the rate limit, the API returns a 429 Too Many Requests status with a Retry-After header indicating seconds to wait. Implement exponential backoff in your client:

async function fetchWithRetry(url, options, retries = 3) {
  for (let i = 0; i < retries; i++) {
    const res = await fetch(url, options);
    if (res.status === 429) {
      const retryAfter = parseInt(
        res.headers.get('Retry-After') || '1'
      );
      await new Promise(r =>
        setTimeout(r, retryAfter * 1000 * (i + 1))
      );
      continue;
    }
    return res;
  }
  throw new Error('Rate limit exceeded after retries');
}

Best Practices

• Cache responses when possible to reduce API calls
• Use pagination to fetch data in smaller batches
• Batch related operations where the API supports it
• Monitor the X-RateLimit-Remaining header to pace requests
• Use webhooks instead of polling for real-time updates

Higher Limits

Enterprise plans include higher rate limits and dedicated support for high-volume integrations. Contact support@velocity.dev for custom limit configurations.