> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.shovels.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What Are the Shovels API Rate Limits?

> Learn about the Shovels API rate limits that protect system stability and ensure fair access for all users.

**API rate limits restrict how quickly you can make requests** to ensure system stability and fair access for all users.

<Info>
  **Rate limits vs. credit limits:** Rate limits restrict how quickly you can make requests (a technical concept). Credit limits track how many records you can consume based on your plan (a billing concept). This page covers rate limits. See [API Credit Limits](/docs/knowledge-base/api/basics/credit-limits) for credit limit details.
</Info>

## Current Rate Limits

We expect that you will respect our platform and avoid frivolous requests. We are constantly monitoring usage and will enforce rate limits on an individual basis as needed.

If you receive a **429 Too Many Requests** response, slow down your request rate and retry after a brief delay.

## Best Practices

* **Space out requests** — avoid sending many requests simultaneously
* **Implement backoff** — when you receive a 429 response, wait before retrying
* **Use pagination efficiently** — fetch larger pages with the `size` parameter instead of many small requests
* **Cache results locally** — store fetched data to avoid re-fetching the same records

## If You Believe You're Being Rate Limited

If you feel that your API key is being rate limited unexpectedly, please reach out to [support@shovels.ai](mailto:support@shovels.ai) for clarification.

## Related Articles

* [API Credit Limits](/docs/knowledge-base/api/basics/credit-limits)
* [How do API credits work?](/docs/knowledge-base/api/basics/request-counts)
* [API Introduction](/docs/shovels-api-introduction)