API Design rate-limiting recommended
Rate Limiting Patterns
Rate limiting patterns covering token bucket, sliding window, distributed rate limiting, and production implementation strategies.
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Read time
- 1 min read
- Version
- v1.0.0
- Confidence
- established
- Last updated
Quick Reference
Rate Limiting: Token bucket for burst tolerance. Sliding window for smooth limits. Use Redis for distributed systems (MULTI/EXEC for atomicity). Return 429 with Retry-After header. Rate limit by API key, user ID, or IP. Different limits per tier. Dynamic limits based on load. Always provide rate limit headers.
Use When
- Public APIs
- Resource protection
- Fair usage enforcement
- DDoS mitigation
- Cost control
Skip When
- Internal-only services
- Low-traffic applications
- Trusted clients only
Rate Limiting Patterns
Rate limiting patterns covering token bucket, sliding window, distributed rate limiting, and production implementation strategies.