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docs(api-quickstart): document the API rate limit and 429 handling - #725

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bencap wants to merge 1 commit into
release-2026.3.0from
docs/bencap/api-rate-limits
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bencap wants to merge 1 commit into
release-2026.3.0from
docs/bencap/api-rate-limits

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@bencap bencap commented Sep 24, 2026

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Summary

The API Quickstart's Rate Limits section said the API enforced no rate limits. The WAF now enforces one (VariantEffect/mavedb-api#669), so this documents it.

Changes

  • Limit — 1,500 requests per IP address per 5-minute window. Requests over the limit receive 429 Too Many Requests with a Retry-After header. A shared address, such as a campus network, counts as one client.
  • Retry examples — Python, R, and curl snippets that wait for Retry-After and retry. The curl example uses --fail so a 429 body doesn't end up in the downloaded output.
  • Bulk downloads — still points to the bulk download archive for pulling many datasets.

The Python and curl snippets were checked against a mock server returning 429 with Retry-After.

The Quickstart said the API enforced no rate limits. The WAF now blocks
clients above 1,500 requests per IP per 5 minutes with a 429 and a
Retry-After header. Document the limit and add Python, R, and curl
examples that wait and retry on 429.
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Coverage Status

coverage: 10.496%. remained the same — docs/bencap/api-rate-limits into release-2026.3.0

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2 participants