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Every API key has per-minute request limits. Limits vary by endpoint based on computational cost.

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Limits by endpoint

EndpointLimitRationale
POST /api/v1/classify5 RPMCalls OCR + LLM; 10-30s per request
POST /api/v1/check60 RPMDeterministic lint engine; fast but mutable
GET /api/v1/courts, /judges, /rules300 RPMLightweight reads
RPM = requests per minute, per API key. Limits use a sliding window (no burst-at-boundary problem).

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Response headers

Every response (including successful ones) includes rate limit headers:
HeaderDescriptionExample
X-RateLimit-LimitMaximum requests allowed in the window5
X-RateLimit-RemainingRequests remaining in the current window3
X-RateLimit-ResetUnix epoch (seconds) when the window resets1709913600

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429 response

When the limit is exceeded, the API returns 429 Too Many Requests: 
{
  "error": "Rate limit exceeded",
  "suggestion": "Wait 30 seconds before retrying. See rate limit headers for usage details.",
  "docs_url": "https://docs.courtrules.app/api-reference/rate-limits",
  "contact": "api@courtrules.app"
}
The response also includes a Retry-After header with the number of seconds to wait.

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Retry guidance

  1. Read Retry-After and wait at least that many seconds before retrying.
  2. Use exponential backoff if you receive multiple 429s in a row: wait 1s, 2s, 4s, etc.
  3. Check X-RateLimit-Remaining before sending requests to avoid hitting the limit in the first place.

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Common mistakes

Tight-loop classify calls. /classify is limited to 5 RPM because each request calls OCR and an LLM. If you need to process a batch of PDFs, space requests at least 12 seconds apart or queue them server-side. Ignoring Retry-After. Retrying immediately after a 429 wastes your remaining budget and delays recovery. Always respect the header value. Polling /check on every keystroke. While /check has a generous 60 RPM limit, calling it on every form change in a UI can still exhaust it. Debounce to at most once per second.

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Need higher limits?

Contact api@courtrules.app with your use case. We can increase limits for production integrations.