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: API3
providerId: api3
created: '2026-06-13'
modified: '2026-06-13'
reconciled: false
tags:
  - Rate Limiting
  - Blockchain
  - Oracle
  - Data Feeds
  - dAPI
description: >-
  API3's primary integration surface is on-chain smart contract reads of Api3ReaderProxyV1
  proxy contracts, which are not subject to HTTP rate limits — they are standard EVM CALL
  operations gated only by gas. The API3 Market web application and its backing REST API are
  not published as a public developer API with documented rate limits; throttling exists but
  specifics are not disclosed. The Airnode HTTP gateway is self-hosted by each data provider
  and rate limits are set by the individual operator at deployment time. The reconciled flag
  is set to false until API3 publishes explicit numeric limits for the Market API or a
  shared Signed API endpoint.
sources:
  - https://docs.api3.org/dapps/
  - https://docs.api3.org/dapps/integration/
  - https://market.api3.org/
notes: >-
  Rate limiting for on-chain data feed reads is determined by the underlying EVM network's
  block gas limits, not by API3. Off-chain reads via Airnode HTTP gateways are governed by
  individual operator configurations. No centralized API3-hosted endpoint rate limit
  documentation has been published as of June 2026.
limits:
  - name: On-chain dAPI read (IProxy.read)
    scope: contract
    metric: calls_per_block
    limit: -1
    timeFrame: block
    notes: >-
      Smart contract reads are EVM CALL operations; there is no API3-imposed limit.
      Rate is bounded only by network gas limits and the calling contract's budget.
  - name: API3 Market web API
    scope: IP
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: -1
    timeFrame: minute
    notes: >-
      The API3 Market backing API is not documented as a public developer API.
      Throttling is applied but specific numeric limits are not publicly disclosed.
  - name: Airnode HTTP Gateway
    scope: IP
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: -1
    timeFrame: second
    notes: >-
      Self-hosted per operator. Rate limits are configured by the Airnode operator
      in their nodeSettings and vary by deployment. No API3-level limit applies.