Rate limits

The Chatway API enforces per-key rate limits to keep the platform stable for all customers.

Limits

Limit Window Scope
60 requests Per minute Per API key

Every authenticated API request counts toward the limit for the key used in the X-API-KEY header.

When you exceed the limit

Requests over the limit receive:

HTTP/1.1 429 Too Many Requests

The response body includes a JSON error message. When provided, honor the Retry-After header (seconds until you should retry).

Example response:

{
  "message": "Too many requests."
}

The response may include a Retry-After header (seconds until you should retry).

Recommended client behavior

  1. Backoff: wait at least Retry-After seconds before retrying the same request.
  2. Jitter: add a small random delay when many workers share one key to avoid retry storms.
  3. Cache reads: store list results locally when polling; prefer webhooks for near-real-time updates instead of tight polling loops.
  4. Separate keys: use different API keys for production and background jobs so one integration cannot exhaust another's quota.

Webhooks vs polling

Webhook deliveries are separate from REST API rate limits. Design integrations to react to webhook events rather than calling list endpoints on a short interval.

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