Rate Limits

The Elebne Developer API enforces rate limits to ensure fair usage and platform stability. Limits are applied per IP address (short-term) and per business (daily).

Rate limit table

Rate limit headers

Every response includes headers showing your current usage:

X-RateLimit-Limit: 60
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 42
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1712234400

Handling 429 responses

When you exceed a rate limit, the API returns a 429 Too Many Requests response:

{
  "success": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED",
    "message": "Too many requests. Retry after 23 seconds.",
    "statusCode": 429
  }
}

The response includes a Retry-After header with the number of seconds to wait:

Retry-After: 23

Best practices

• Respect Retry-After -- always wait the indicated number of seconds before retrying. Do not retry in a tight loop.
• Use exponential backoff -- if you receive multiple 429s in a row, increase the delay between retries (e.g., 1s, 2s, 4s, 8s).
• Cache read responses -- if you query the same data repeatedly, cache it locally to reduce API calls.
• Batch operations -- use bulk endpoints (e.g., CSV import, bulk inventory) instead of individual calls when possible.
• Monitor your usage -- check X-RateLimit-Remaining headers proactively rather than waiting for a 429.
• Spread requests over time -- avoid burst patterns where you send many requests in rapid succession.

Sandbox vs production

Rate limits apply equally to sandbox and production environments. Test your retry logic in sandbox before going live.

Need higher limits?

If your integration requires higher rate limits, contact us at [email protected] with your business name and expected usage patterns.

Next steps

• Idempotency -- safely retry failed requests
• Error Codes -- handle error responses
• Support -- request limit increases