API V1 is deprecated and no longer in active development. Please refer to the this page for API V2 information.

Changes to V1 API Rate Limiting

As of Oct 27, 2020, Whiplash is switching our V1 API to a new rate limiting strategy. This new rate limiting strategy uses a “Leaky Bucket” algorithm. This new algorithm will allow Whiplash customers to access the necessary data without compromising other users' experience. For the majority of V1 API users, the ability to "burst" will be a major enhancement.

Leaky Bucket Basics

The algorithm works similar to an actual leaky bucket holding water. The leaky bucket method allows requests to come in to Whiplash up to a set maximum capacity. As this bucket is being filled up, some of the requests are “leaking” out of the bucket allowing for more capacity. If a request that comes in while the bucket is still full, we will throttle that request. Eventually, even a full bucket will empty.

Dealing with Throttles

When the Whiplash V1 API throttles a request, the server will respond with a 429 response code and a message “Rate limit exceeded”. This request did not make it to Whiplash and it is the client's responsibility to re-send. On every request sent to Whiplash, it is necessary to check that our server returned a successful response code.

Leak Rate

We have our leaky bucket algorithm set up with the following parameters:

• Burst Rate: 200
• Threshold: 2
• Interval: 10 seconds

This means that we allow the bucket to hold 200 requests. Every 10 seconds we add 2 requests.

V2 API Rate Limiting can be viewed here. 

Related Questions:

What changes were made to V1 API Rate Limiting?

How are throttles addressed in the V1 API?

What is the leak rate for the V1 API?