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: Circle
providerId: circle-community
created: '2026-07-05'
modified: '2026-07-05'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Community
- Rate Limiting
- Quotas
- Admin API
description: >-
  Circle publishes a documented rate limit for the Admin API of 2000 requests
  per 5 minutes per IP address (roughly 400 requests per minute), which Circle
  notes can change at any time. Requests over the limit should be retried with a
  backoff strategy rather than immediate retry. Admins can monitor their usage
  in the Developers tab of the community admin area, where counts update roughly
  5 minutes after calls due to backend caching. Circle does not publish a
  distinct numeric limit for the Headless Member API or the beta WebSocket
  surface as of the review date. Pagination defaults are page 1 and 10 items per
  page.
notes: >-
  The 2000-per-5-minutes-per-IP figure is Circle's own stated Admin API limit
  and is subject to change. Numeric limits for the Headless Member API and the
  ActionCable WebSocket are not separately documented. Verify current values in
  the Admin API "Usage and Limits" docs during reconciliation.
sources:
- https://api.circle.so/apis/admin-api
- https://api.circle.so/apis/admin-api/usage-and-limits
- https://api.circle.so/get-started/websockets-beta
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
limits:
- name: Admin API Requests
  scope: ip
  metric: requests
  limit: 2000 per 5 minutes per IP (~400/min)
  notes: Circle's published Admin API rate limit; can change at any time.
- name: Headless Member API Requests
  scope: member
  metric: requests
  limit: not published
  notes: No distinct numeric limit is documented for the member-authenticated API.
- name: WebSocket Connections
  scope: member
  metric: connections
  limit: not published
  notes: ActionCable connections use a member access token that expires after 1 hour and must be refreshed.
- name: Pagination
  scope: request
  metric: items
  limit: per_page default 10 (page default 1)
  notes: List endpoints paginate with page and per_page query parameters.
policies:
- name: Backoff Strategy
  description: On a 429, retry with an exponential backoff strategy rather than retrying immediately.
- name: Usage Monitoring
  description: Track Admin API usage in the Developers tab of the admin area; counts update ~5 minutes after calls due to caching.
- name: Token Expiry
  description: Headless member access tokens (used for both the Member API and the WebSocket) expire after 1 hour and are refreshed via the Auth API refresh token.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com