API Rate Limiting Tutorial 🚧

Rate limiting is a critical mechanism to protect APIs from abuse and ensure fair usage. This guide explains how to implement and configure rate limits in your application.

What is Rate Limiting? 📌

Rate limiting restricts the number of requests a client can make within a specific time window. It helps prevent:

• DDoS attacks
• Overloading servers
• Unintended resource exhaustion

Common rate limiting strategies include:

• Fixed window (e.g., 100 requests/minute)
• Sliding window
• Token bucket algorithm
• Leaky bucket algorithm

Implementation Tips 🔧

1. Track requests using middleware or API gateway
2. Store request counts in memory or database
3. Use headers like X-RateLimit-Remaining for client feedback
4. Implement retries with exponential backoff

Code Example (Node.js) 📜

app.use((req, res, next) => {
  const ip = req.ip;
  if (requestCount[ip] > 100) {
    return res.status(429).send('Too many requests');
  }
  requestCount[ip]++;
  next();
});

Best Practices 📚

• Set limits based on your service's capacity
• Monitor usage patterns with analytics tools
• Provide clear error messages for clients
• Consider using third-party services for distributed rate limiting

For more details on implementing rate limits, check our Rate Limiting Implementation Guide.

⚠️ Note: Always comply with regional regulations and ethical guidelines when implementing rate limiting policies.