specification: API Commons Rate Limits
specificationVersion: '0.1'
schema: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/interface-research/main/schema/api-commons.yml#/$defs/RateLimits
provider: AfterShip
providerId: aftership
created: '2026-05-08'
modified: '2026-08-27'
generated: '2026-08-27'
method: searched
reconciled: true
source: https://www.aftership.com/docs/tracking/quickstart/rate-limit
sources:
- https://www.aftership.com/docs/tracking/quickstart/rate-limit
- https://www.aftership.com/docs/shipping/quickstart/rate-limit
- https://www.aftership.com/docs/returns/quickstart/rate-limit
- https://www.aftership.com/pricing
- https://github.com/AfterShip/tracking-and-returns-mcp
description: Published AfterShip rate limits. From API version 2024-07 the Tracking API moved from a flat 10 req/sec
  per organization to a PER-ENDPOINT limit; Shipping and Returns remain a flat 10 req/sec per organization.
tags:
- Shipping
- Tracking
- E-Commerce
- Post-Purchase
- Notifications
- Rate Limiting
- Quotas
- Throttling
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  meta_type: TooManyRequests
headers:
- name: X-RateLimit-Reset
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  example: '1406096275'
  description: Unix timestamp when the rate limit resets.
- name: X-RateLimit-Limit
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  example: '20'
  description: Rate limit ceiling for the endpoint.
- name: X-RateLimit-Remaining
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  example: '19'
  description: Requests left in the current window.
- name: rateLimit-reset
  api: AfterShip Shipping API
  example: '1406096275'
  description: Unix timestamp when the rate limit resets.
- name: rateLimit-limit
  api: AfterShip Shipping API
  example: '10'
  description: Per-organization per-second ceiling.
- name: rateLimit-remaining
  api: AfterShip Shipping API
  example: '9'
  description: Requests left in the 1-second window.
- name: ratelimit-limit
  api: AfterShip MCP gateway
  example: '100000'
  description: Observed on a live 429 from mcp.aftership.com, 2026-08-27.
  observed: true
- name: ratelimit-remaining
  api: AfterShip MCP gateway
  example: '0'
  observed: true
- name: retry-after
  api: AfterShip MCP gateway
  example: '31090'
  description: Seconds until the window resets.
  observed: true
limit_count: 20
limits:
- name: Tracking API POST /trackings
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: POST /trackings
  window: 1 second
  limit: 20
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API GET /trackings
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: GET /trackings
  window: 1 second
  limit: 6
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API GET /trackings/:id
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: GET /trackings/:id
  window: 1 second
  limit: 5
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API PUT /trackings/:id
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: PUT /trackings/:id
  window: 1 second
  limit: 5
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API DELETE /trackings/:id
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: DELETE /trackings/:id
  window: 1 second
  limit: 5
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API POST /trackings/:id/retrack
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: POST /trackings/:id/retrack
  window: 1 second
  limit: 5
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API POST /trackings/:id/mark-as-completed
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: POST /trackings/:id/mark-as-completed
  window: 1 second
  limit: 5
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API POST /couriers/detect
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: POST /couriers/detect
  window: 1 second
  limit: 3
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API GET /couriers
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: GET /couriers
  window: 1 second
  limit: 5
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API POST /estimated-delivery-date/predict
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: POST /estimated-delivery-date/predict
  window: 1 second
  limit: 5
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API POST /estimated-delivery-date/predict-batch
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: POST /estimated-delivery-date/predict-batch
  window: 1 second
  limit: 20
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API POST /courier-connections
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: POST /courier-connections
  window: 1 second
  limit: 5
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API GET /courier-connections
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: GET /courier-connections
  window: 1 second
  limit: 5
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API GET /courier-connections/:id
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: GET /courier-connections/:id
  window: 1 second
  limit: 5
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API PATCH /courier-connections/:id
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: PATCH /courier-connections/:id
  window: 1 second
  limit: 5
  unit: requests
- name: Tracking API DELETE /courier-connections/:id
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-endpoint per-organization
  endpoint: DELETE /courier-connections/:id
  window: 1 second
  limit: 5
  unit: requests
- name: Shipping API default
  api: AfterShip Shipping API
  scope: per-organization
  window: 1 second
  limit: 10
  unit: requests
  source: https://www.aftership.com/docs/shipping/quickstart/rate-limit
- name: Returns API default
  api: AfterShip Returns API
  scope: per-organization
  window: 1 second
  limit: 10
  unit: requests
  source: https://www.aftership.com/docs/returns/quickstart/rate-limit
- name: Tracking plan ceiling (Premium)
  api: AfterShip Tracking API
  scope: per-plan
  window: 1 second
  limit: 10
  unit: requests
  note: 'The Tracking pricing page states "Premium: 10 req/sec rate limit" for the API & webhooks entitlement.'
  source: https://www.aftership.com/pricing
- name: Public MCP fair-use limit
  api: AfterShip Tracking & Returns MCP
  scope: per-client (shared public endpoint)
  window: unstated
  limit: null
  unit: requests
  note: 'mcp.aftership.com applies an undisclosed fair-use limit. Probed 2026-08-27: POST https://mcp.aftership.com/tracking/public
    returned HTTP 429 with ratelimit-limit: 100000, ratelimit-remaining: 0, retry-after: 31090 and meta.type TooManyRequests
    / meta.source gateway. Automated or bulk use is explicitly not permitted.'
  source: https://github.com/AfterShip/tracking-and-returns-mcp
policies:
- name: Backoff Strategy
  description: Clients should implement exponential backoff with jitter and honor Retry-After on 429.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com