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

# Rate limits

> How Memic rate-limits requests and how to handle 429 responses.

Memic applies rate limits per API key to protect the service and ensure fair
usage. Limits vary by endpoint — ingestion endpoints are more generous than
search/chat because indexing is long-running but happens less often.

<Info>
  Rate limits are evolving as Memic scales. The numbers below are defaults; if
  your workload needs higher limits, contact us via the dashboard.
</Info>

## Default limits (per API key)

| Endpoint category                               | Limit        | Window     |
| ----------------------------------------------- | ------------ | ---------- |
| Search (`POST /search`)                         | 60 requests  | per minute |
| Chat (`POST /chat`)                             | 30 requests  | per minute |
| File ingestion (`POST /files/init`, `/confirm`) | 120 requests | per minute |
| Status polls (`GET /files/{id}/status`)         | 300 requests | per minute |
| List endpoints (`GET /files`, `GET /projects`)  | 120 requests | per minute |
| Prompts (`GET /prompts/{name}`)                 | 600 requests | per minute |

## When you hit a limit

The API returns `429 Too Many Requests` with a `Retry-After` header in
seconds:

```
HTTP/1.1 429 Too Many Requests
Retry-After: 12
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "detail": "Rate limit exceeded. Retry after 12 seconds.",
  "code": "rate_limit_exceeded",
  "request_id": "req_01J9..."
}
```

Respect the `Retry-After` value. Do not retry faster — doing so will extend
your penalty window.

## Handling 429 in code

The Python SDK handles this automatically with exponential backoff + jitter.
If you're hitting the API directly, use the `Retry-After` header:

```python theme={null}
import time
import requests

def call_with_retry(url, headers, json, max_attempts=5):
    for attempt in range(max_attempts):
        r = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=json)
        if r.status_code != 429:
            return r
        wait = int(r.headers.get("Retry-After", 2 ** attempt))
        time.sleep(wait)
    r.raise_for_status()
```

## Best practices

* **Cache identical search/chat queries** — if you're running the same query
  repeatedly (e.g. for every page view), add a short client-side cache
* **Batch where you can** — use the list endpoint with `page_size=100`
  instead of polling item-by-item
* **Back off on failure** — don't tight-loop retries
* **Use the Python SDK** — it handles retry and backoff automatically

## Need higher limits?

Reach out via the dashboard. Most workloads comfortably fit within the
defaults, but we regularly adjust for customers with legitimate traffic needs.

## Related

<Card title="Errors" icon="triangle-exclamation" href="/api-reference/errors" horizontal>
  Full error format reference.
</Card>