generated: '2026-08-14'
method: generated
source: https://docs.athenahealth.com/api/guides/overview, openapi/
limit_count: 5
published_machine_readable: false
verification:
  checked: '2026-08-14'
  summary: >-
    athenahealth documents rate limits in prose only, on a page this pipeline could not read, and
    signals nothing at runtime that we could observe. method is `generated`, not `searched`: the
    numbers below were carried forward from an earlier enrichment round and could NOT be confirmed
    against any athenahealth source readable by machine.
  probes:
  - url: https://docs.athenahealth.com/api/guides/overview
    status: 200
    readable: false
    note: >-
      Returns a 2,116-byte "athenahealth Document Portal" HTML shell to every non-browser client;
      the content is rendered client-side by the @athena/document-portal-ui bundle from
      cdn.nimbus.athena.io. Stripped of tags the body is 30 characters. The documented limits are
      therefore not machine-readable.
  - url: https://api.platform.athenahealth.com/fhir/r4/metadata
    status: 200
    note: >-
      The only anonymous athenahealth API response we could observe. It returns NO RateLimit-*,
      X-RateLimit-* or Retry-After header, so the header names recorded below are unconfirmed at
      runtime.
  openapi_evidence: >-
    No RateLimit-*, X-RateLimit-* or Retry-After header is declared on any of the 40 operations in
    openapi/, and no 429 response is declared on any operation.
  unverified_figures:
  - 100 calls/second (production)
  - 500,000 calls/day (production)
  - 5 OAuth token requests/minute (preview)
  - 50 OAuth token requests/minute (production)
  - 'response headers X-RateLimit-Remaining and X-RateLimit-Reset'
  unverified_note: >-
    Retained from an earlier round and explicitly flagged. Do not present any of these as
    athenahealth-published until they can be read from a machine-readable athenahealth source or
    observed on a live authenticated response.
name: athenahealth API Rate Limits
description: >-
  athenahealth enforces rate limits on API usage to ensure platform stability
  and fair access across all customers and partners. Limits differ between the
  preview/sandbox environment and the production environment.
url: https://docs.athenahealth.com/api/guides/overview

environments:
  - name: Preview / Sandbox
    description: >-
      Development and testing environment with more restrictive rate limits to
      prevent overload during integration development.
    limits:
      - type: OAuth Token Requests
        limit: 5
        period: per minute
        notes: New token requests are throttled to 5 per minute in preview.
      - type: API Calls
        limit: Restricted (lower than production)
        period: per second/day
        notes: Exact limits vary by endpoint; expect 5-20 calls/second range.

  - name: Production
    description: >-
      Full production environment with higher rate limits for live applications.
      Limits may be customized per application based on the partner agreement.
    limits:
      - type: API Calls Per Second
        limit: 100
        period: per second
        notes: Maximum sustained throughput for production applications.
      - type: API Calls Per Day
        limit: 500000
        period: per day
        notes: >-
          Daily cap across all endpoints. High-volume integrations may negotiate
          higher limits through the partner program.
      - type: OAuth Token Requests
        limit: 50
        period: per minute
        notes: New token requests throttled to 50 per minute in production.

headers:
  - name: X-RateLimit-Remaining
    description: Number of API calls remaining in the current rate limit window.
  - name: X-RateLimit-Reset
    description: Unix timestamp indicating when the rate limit window resets.

errorCodes:
  - code: 429
    description: >-
      Too Many Requests. Returned when an application exceeds its rate limit.
      Applications should implement exponential backoff and retry logic when
      receiving 429 responses.

bestPractices:
  - Monitor X-RateLimit-Remaining and X-RateLimit-Reset headers proactively.
  - Implement exponential backoff when receiving HTTP 429 responses.
  - Avoid bursting requests; space calls evenly to stay within per-second limits.
  - Cache API responses where appropriate to reduce redundant calls.
  - For bulk data needs, consider using athenahealth Data View (SQL editor) or
    EHI Export rather than REST API batch polling.
  - Request tokens proactively before expiration to avoid authentication delays.

references:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.athenahealth.com/api/guides/overview
  - type: Authentication
    url: https://docs.athenahealth.com/api/guides/authentication-and-url-locations
  - type: DataView
    url: https://docs.athenahealth.com/dataview