# Rate Limits

To ensure fair usage and system stability, the ForePaaS API enforces a rate limit on incoming requests.

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Rate Limit:** 50 requests per second per API key. Exceeding this limit will result in HTTP 429 errors.
{% endhint %}

## API Rate Limits

The API has a rate limit of **50 requests per second** per API key.

If you exceed this limit, the API will reject additional requests with an HTTP `429 Too Many Requests` response code.

## Soft Limits & Caps

The API enforces the following limits for data protection and performance:

| Resource                | Limit                          | Behavior if Exceeded                    |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------ | --------------------------------------- |
| **Rate Limit**          | 50 requests/second per API key | HTTP 429, retry after delay             |
| **Page Size**           | Max 100 items                  | Values >100 are capped at 100           |
| **Request Timeout**     | 30 seconds                     | Request terminates, retry               |
| **JWT Token Expiry**    | 24 hours                       | Token expires, re-authenticate required |
| **Signature Timestamp** | ±5 minutes from server time    | HTTP 401, regenerate with current time  |
| **Nonce Length**        | 16-64 characters               | Validation error if outside range       |
| **Market Title**        | 200 characters max             | Validation error on creation            |
| **Challenge Reason**    | 1000 characters max            | Truncated or validation error           |

## Handling Rate Limits

We recommend implementing the following best practices to handle rate limits gracefully:

* **Request Throttling:** Limit the rate at which your application sends requests to stay within the allowed limit.
* **Exponential Backoff:** When you receive a `429` response, wait for a short period before retrying the request. Gradually increase the waiting time for subsequent failed requests.

By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your integration remains stable and reliable.

> **Best Practice:** Design your application to gracefully degrade when hitting rate limits. Queue requests locally and process them as capacity becomes available rather than failing immediately.


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