Rate Limits

Understand rate limits and how to handle them in your application.

Limits by Plan

Plan	Requests/Minute	Requests/Month
Starter (Free)	60	1,000
Pro	300	50,000
Enterprise	Custom	Unlimited

Rate Limit Headers

Every API response includes headers to help you track your usage:

Header	Description
X-RateLimit-Limit	Maximum requests per minute
X-RateLimit-Remaining	Requests remaining in current window
X-RateLimit-Reset	Unix timestamp when the limit resets

Example Response Headers

X-RateLimit-Limit: 60
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 45
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1705595400

Handling Rate Limit Errors

When you exceed the rate limit, the API returns a 429 status code:

429-response.jsonjson

{
  "error": {
    "code": "RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED",
    "message": "Rate limit exceeded. Please wait before making more requests.",
    "status": 429
  }
}

Best Practices

Check headers proactively

Monitor X-RateLimit-Remaining and slow down before hitting limits.

Implement exponential backoff

When rate limited, wait progressively longer between retries.

Queue requests

Buffer requests and process them at a controlled rate.

Cache responses

If you're analyzing the same content multiple times, cache the results.

Example: Rate Limit Handler

rate-limiter.tstypescript

class RateLimitedClient {
  private remaining = 60;
  private resetTime = 0;

  async analyze(content: string) {
    // Wait if we're out of requests
    if (this.remaining === 0) {
      const waitTime = this.resetTime - Date.now();
      if (waitTime > 0) {
        await this.sleep(waitTime);
      }
    }

    const response = await fetch(
      "https://api.guardcrow.com/v1/analyze",
      {
        method: "POST",
        headers: {
          "X-API-Key": process.env.GUARDCROW_API_KEY!,
          "Content-Type": "application/json",
        },
        body: JSON.stringify({ content }),
      }
    );

    // Update rate limit tracking
    this.remaining = parseInt(
      response.headers.get("X-RateLimit-Remaining") || "60"
    );
    this.resetTime = parseInt(
      response.headers.get("X-RateLimit-Reset") || "0"
    ) * 1000;

    if (response.status === 429) {
      // Wait for reset and retry
      await this.sleep(this.resetTime - Date.now());
      return this.analyze(content);
    }

    return response.json();
  }

  private sleep(ms: number) {
    return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
  }
}

Need higher limits?

Upgrade to Pro for 5x more requests, or contact us for Enterprise custom limits.

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