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> For a complete documentation index, see https://docs.hellodata.ai/documentation/concepts/respecting-rate-limits/llms.txt.

# Respecting Rate Limits

When you call the HelloData API, every response includes rate limit headers.
To avoid hitting the limiter (or to recover quickly when you do), read the `RateLimit` header and wait the number of seconds specified by its `t` parameter before retrying.

## Which header to use

We use the IETF `RateLimit` header format.

* **`RateLimit`**: includes remaining requests (`r`) and seconds until reset (`t`)
* **`RateLimit-Policy`**: describes the policy (quota `q` and window `w`)

Example `RateLimit` header:

```text
"default";r=0;t=12
```

In that example, you should wait **12 seconds** before retrying.

## Python example

This example retries a request when it receives a `429 Too Many Requests`, waiting `t` seconds from the `RateLimit` header before retrying.

```python
import time
import re
import requests


def parse_ratelimit_t_seconds(rate_limit_header: str | None) -> int | None:
    """
    Parses the IETF RateLimit header and returns the `t` value (seconds until reset).
    Example header: '"default";r=0;t=12'
    """
    if not rate_limit_header:
        return None

    # Match ;t=<int> anywhere in the header value
    m = re.search(r"(?:^|;)t=(\d+)(?:;|$)", rate_limit_header)
    if not m:
        return None
    return int(m.group(1))


def get_with_rate_limit_handling(url: str, headers: dict[str, str], *, max_retries: int = 5):
    for attempt in range(max_retries + 1):
        resp = requests.get(url, headers=headers, timeout=30)

        if resp.status_code != 429:
            return resp

        wait_s = parse_ratelimit_t_seconds(resp.headers.get("RateLimit"))
        if wait_s is None:
            # If the header is missing/unparseable, fall back to a small backoff.
            wait_s = min(2 ** attempt, 30)

        time.sleep(wait_s)

    return resp  # last response (429)


# Example usage:
# API_KEY = "..."
# r = get_with_rate_limit_handling(
#     "https://api.hellodata.ai/v1/property/search",
#     headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"},
# )
# r.raise_for_status()
# data = r.json()
```

## TypeScript example

This example does the same thing using `fetch` (Node 18+).

```typescript
function parseRateLimitTSeconds(rateLimitHeader: string | null): number | null {
  if (!rateLimitHeader) return null;

  // Example header: `"default";r=0;t=12`
  const match = rateLimitHeader.match(/(?:^|;)t=(\d+)(?:;|$)/);
  if (!match) return null;
  return Number(match[1]);
}

function sleep(ms: number): Promise<void> {
  return new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms));
}

export async function fetchWithRateLimitHandling(
  url: string,
  init: RequestInit,
  { maxRetries = 5 }: { maxRetries?: number } = {}
): Promise<Response> {
  let lastResponse: Response | undefined;

  for (let attempt = 0; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++) {
    const res = await fetch(url, init);
    lastResponse = res;

    if (res.status !== 429) {
      return res;
    }

    const tSeconds = parseRateLimitTSeconds(res.headers.get("RateLimit"));
    const waitSeconds = tSeconds ?? Math.min(2 ** attempt, 30);

    await sleep(waitSeconds * 1000);
  }

  return lastResponse!;
}

// Example usage:
// const API_KEY = process.env.HELLODATA_API_KEY!;
// const res = await fetchWithRateLimitHandling("https://api.hellodata.ai/v1/property/search", {
//   method: "GET",
//   headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${API_KEY}` },
// });
// if (!res.ok) throw new Error(await res.text());
// const json = await res.json();
```

## Notes and best practices

* **Proactively slow down when `r` is low**: if you’re near `r=0`, add a small delay between requests.
* **Prefer concurrency limits over retries**: cap parallel requests (e.g. with a semaphore / queue) so you don’t burst over the minute window.
* **Always handle missing headers**: use a small exponential backoff fallback if `RateLimit` isn’t present for some reason.

> Wait and retry using response headers