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: Axelar
providerId: axelar
created: '2026-06-13'
modified: '2026-06-13'
reconciled: false
tags:
  - Blockchain
  - Cross-Chain
  - Interoperability
  - Web3
  - Rate Limiting
description: >-
  Axelar does not publish explicit numeric rate limits for the Axelarscan API
  suite (api.axelarscan.io). The APIs are publicly accessible with no API key
  requirement and rely on OpenSearch-backed cached data for efficient serving.
  Sustained high-frequency polling beyond normal application usage may result
  in server-side throttling with HTTP 429 responses. On-chain GMP and token
  transfer operations are bounded by underlying blockchain transaction
  throughput and the Axelar network's validator consensus latency, not by
  HTTP-level rate limits. This artifact remains reconciled:false until Axelar
  publishes explicit per-minute or per-second limits in their developer docs.
sources:
  - https://docs.axelarscan.io/
  - https://docs.axelar.dev/
  - https://github.com/axelarnetwork/axelarscan-api
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  unauthorized: 401
  serverError: 5xx
limits:
  - name: Axelarscan API Public Throughput
    scope: global
    metric: requests
    limit: unspecified
    timeFrame: minute
    notes: >-
      No published numeric ceiling. Responses are served from OpenSearch cache
      with sub-second latency. High-frequency polling (e.g., per-second
      scraping) may trigger server-side throttling. Use caching locally to
      minimize repeat calls.
  - name: Validator API Public Throughput
    scope: global
    metric: requests
    limit: unspecified
    timeFrame: minute
    notes: >-
      No published numeric ceiling. Validator metrics update periodically;
      polling more frequently than every 60 seconds provides minimal benefit.
  - name: Token Transfer API Public Throughput
    scope: global
    metric: requests
    limit: unspecified
    timeFrame: minute
    notes: >-
      No published numeric ceiling. Transfer status is updated as cross-chain
      confirmations arrive; polling more than once per block is unnecessary.
  - name: GMP API Public Throughput
    scope: global
    metric: requests
    limit: unspecified
    timeFrame: minute
    notes: >-
      No published numeric ceiling. GMP status progresses through discrete
      states (source-confirmed, axelar-confirmed, destination-executed); polling
      intervals of 10-30 seconds are sufficient for most monitoring use cases.
  - name: On-Chain GMP Transaction Throughput
    scope: network
    metric: cross_chain_transactions
    limit: network-bound
    timeFrame: block
    notes: >-
      Limited by source and destination chain block times and Axelar validator
      consensus rounds. No HTTP-level rate limit; throughput scales with
      validator set capacity and network congestion.
policies:
  - name: Exponential Backoff on 429
    description: >-
      If the Axelarscan API returns HTTP 429, implement exponential backoff with
      jitter before retrying. Avoid tight polling loops.
  - name: Local Response Caching
    description: >-
      Cache TVL, supply, and network-stats responses locally for at least 60
      seconds. These values are pre-computed server-side and do not change
      faster than the underlying chain's block time.
  - name: Event-Driven Status Polling
    description: >-
      For GMP and token transfer status tracking, poll only after the expected
      confirmation window has elapsed (typically 2-15 minutes depending on
      source/destination chains). Consider switching to Axelar's testnet for
      development to avoid congesting mainnet APIs.
  - name: SDK-Mediated Calls
    description: >-
      Prefer the AxelarJS SDK (AxelarGMPRecoveryAPI, AxelarQueryAPI) over
      direct HTTP polling. The SDK incorporates appropriate retry and backoff
      logic and abstracts endpoint details that may change.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com