AI rate limiting controls how many requests or tokens your application can send to LLM APIs. Providers enforce limits (TPM, RPM) to ensure fair usage, and applications must handle 429 errors gracefully.
Rate Limit Types
- TPM: Tokens per minute
- RPM: Requests per minute
- RPD: Requests per day
- Concurrent: Simultaneous requests
Handling Rate Limits
- Implement exponential backoff
- Queue requests during high load
- Use multiple API keys or accounts
- Monitor usage to predict limits
Practical example
A burst of extraction jobs competes with interactive requests for the same provider quota.
What to check
Test queue limits, retry delays, tenant isolation, cancellation, and overload behavior.
Limits and tradeoffs
Retries without a budget can amplify overload and increase spend.
Maintained by DriftRail. AI assisted the October 2026 content and template revision. Examples are illustrative; they are not measured product benchmarks. Suggest a correction.