Rate Limits

The Driftwood API enforces rate limits to ensure fair usage and platform stability.

How Rate Limiting Works

All API endpoints are rate limited. Limits vary by endpoint and are designed to support typical integration workloads.

When You’re Rate Limited

You’ll receive a 429 Too Many Requests response:

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "rate_limit.exceeded",
    "message": "Too many requests"
  }
}

Best Practices

1. Cache tokens — Don’t request a new token for every API call
2. Use exponential backoff — When rate limited, wait 1s, then 2s, then 4s
3. Batch where possible — Use bulk operations instead of many individual calls
4. Use webhooks — Subscribe to events instead of polling for changes
5. Spread requests — Distribute API calls evenly over time rather than bursting