reference· 2 min read

Rate limits

Sliding-window quotas per endpoint and per application, the headers we return, and what gets you suspended.

we-fly applies sliding-window rate limits at three levels.

Per endpoint type

Endpoint	Limit (req/min)	Notes
`POST /api/oauth/token`	30	Strict — protects against brute-forcing `client_secret`
`POST /api/oauth/revoke`	30	Same bucket as `/token`
`POST /api/oauth/introspect`	30	Same bucket
`GET /api/v1/*`	120 (per principal, fallback tier)	See Application tiers for OAuth apps
`POST /api/v1/flights/upload`	Shared with other v1 endpoints	Single-upload throughput is fine; bulk imports should pace at ~1/sec

Application tiers

OAuth applications get an additional per-application quota that caps aggregate traffic across all users:

Tier	Limit (req/min)
`standard` (default)	600
`premium`	3,000
`unlimited`	60,000 (functionally uncapped)

New apps land on standard. Contact an admin if you need higher volume; we'll review your use case and grant a tier increase.

Headers

Successful responses (and 429 responses) carry:

Header	Meaning
`X-RateLimit-Limit`	Current window's maximum
`X-RateLimit-Remaining`	How many you have left in the window
`X-RateLimit-Reset`	Unix epoch (ms) when the window resets

On 429:

Header	Meaning
`Retry-After`	Seconds to wait. Honour this.

Implementation guidance

Use a token bucket (or any work-rate limiter) on your side so you never hit 429 in the first place.
On 429, back off for Retry-After seconds. Random jitter (±10%) helps if multiple workers hit at the same time.
On 5xx, retry with exponential backoff starting at 1 second; cap at 4 retries.
Do not retry on 4xx (other than 429) — the request is malformed; retrying won't fix it.

What gets your app suspended

Sustained Retry-After violations (you keep hammering despite 429s).
A persistently high invalid_grant rate — usually a logic bug in your refresh handling (see refresh-token rotation).
Traffic patterns consistent with credential abuse or using the app as an open relay.

Admins review per-app counters and error rate — see usage telemetry for what's measured. Suspensions are reversible — fix the issue, ping us, we'll un-suspend.