Rate Limits

Prepzo enforces rate limits to ensure fair usage and platform stability. Limits are transparent and communicated via response headers.

Limits by Plan

Response Headers

Every API response includes rate limit headers:

X-RateLimit-Limit: 1000        # Your plan's limit per minute
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 847     # Requests remaining in current window
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1708345260  # Unix timestamp when the window resets

Exceeding the Limit

When you exceed your rate limit, you'll receive a 429 Too Many Requests response:

HTTP/1.1 429 Too Many Requests
Retry-After: 45
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 0

{
  "success": false,
  "data": null,
  "errors": [{ "code": "rate_limited", "message": "Rate limit exceeded" }]
}

Best Practices

• Check headers: Monitor X-RateLimit-Remaining to avoid hitting limits
• Use Retry-After: When you get a 429, wait the number of seconds in the Retry-After header
• Exponential backoff: On repeated 429s, increase wait time exponentially
• Batch with bulk: Use /api/v1/bulk for mass operations instead of individual calls
• Cache responses: Cache list responses when data doesn't change frequently
• Use webhooks: Instead of polling for changes, set up webhooks for real-time updates

Example: Rate Limit Handling

async function apiCall(url, apiKey, retries = 3) {
  for (let i = 0; i < retries; i++) {
    const res = await fetch(url, {
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${apiKey}` }
    });
    
    if (res.status === 429) {
      const retryAfter = parseInt(res.headers.get('Retry-After') || '60');
      console.log(`Rate limited. Waiting ${retryAfter}s...`);
      await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, retryAfter * 1000));
      continue;
    }
    
    return res.json();
  }
  throw new Error('Max retries exceeded');
}