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: Dealer.com
providerId: dealer-com
created: '2026-07-10'
modified: '2026-08-12'
generated: '2026-08-12'
method: searched
source: https://developer.inv.dealer.com/content/inventory/inventory-home.html
reconciled: false
tags:
  - Automotive
  - Dealership
  - Partner Program
  - Rate Limiting
  - Quotas
description: >-
  Dealer.com DOES publish numeric rate limits — they were previously recorded here as
  unpublished because the earlier pass never reached the Dealer Developer Portal at
  developer.inv.dealer.com. The General Concepts page of both Developer Portal API families
  states: "All API keys are issued with a default quota of 2 API calls/second and 5000 API
  call/day. We do increase rate limits on a case-by-case basis." That default applies per API
  key across the Accounts, Incentives and Inventory (Vehicle / Equipment / Price) APIs. The
  separately gated Cox Automotive Integration Platform surface at developer.coxautoinc.com
  still publishes no numbers; those remain per-partner-agreement.
notes: >-
  No rate-limit RESPONSE HEADERS are published. The docs' own error table does not list a 429
  at all, so a client is told what the quota is but not what exhaustion looks like on the
  wire. Standard 429 handling with exponential backoff and Retry-After remains prudent but is
  an assumption, not a documented contract.
sources:
  - https://developer.inv.dealer.com/content/inventory/inventory-home.html
  - https://developer.inv.dealer.com/content/accounts/accounts-home.html
  - https://www.dealer.com/products/integrated-partner-program
  - https://developer.coxautoinc.com/
headers:
  rateLimitLimit: not published
  rateLimitRemaining: not published
  rateLimitReset: not published
  retryAfter: not published
  requestId: not published
responseCodes:
  throttled: not published
limits:
  - name: Dealer Developer Portal API — per-second default
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: 2
    timeFrame: second
    burst: not published
    applies_to:
      - Dealer.com Accounts API
      - Dealer.com Incentives API
      - Dealer.com Inventory (Vehicle / Equipment / Price) API
    notes: Default quota issued with every API key; raised case-by-case on request.
  - name: Dealer Developer Portal API — daily default
    scope: api-key
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: 5000
    timeFrame: day
    applies_to:
      - Dealer.com Accounts API
      - Dealer.com Incentives API
      - Dealer.com Inventory (Vehicle / Equipment / Price) API
    notes: Default quota issued with every API key; raised case-by-case on request.
  - name: Cox Automotive Integration Platform requests
    scope: oauth-client
    metric: requests
    limit: not published
    notes: >-
      OAuth-gated Cox Automotive Integration Platform (leads, inventory, deal, digital retail);
      per-client limits are defined by partner terms, not by a public rate card.
  - name: Website Integration API
    scope: partner
    metric: calls
    limit: not published
    notes: >-
      Browser-side JavaScript API executed in the visitor's page; governed by the Integrated
      Partner Program agreement and platform performance monitoring rather than a numeric cap.
  - name: Inventory and Imagery Feeds
    scope: partner
    metric: records
    limit: not published
    notes: Feed refresh cadence and volume set by integration configuration, not a public cap.
policies:
  - name: Case-by-case increases
    description: >-
      "We do increase rate limits on a case-by-case basis." Increases are requested through the
      Cox Automotive Developer Network account rather than self-served.
  - name: Dataset scoping
    description: >-
      Independently of throughput, each consumer's dataset is limited to the dealer accounts it
      has been authorized to access, and to US and Canada inventory.
  - name: Platform Monitoring
    description: Dealer.com monitors third-party activity on client websites to protect dealer data and site performance.
  - name: Per-Partner Governance
    description: Cox Automotive Integration Platform limits and quotas are established per partner agreement.
  - name: Backoff Strategy
    description: >-
      No throttling status code or header is documented. Clients should implement exponential
      backoff with jitter and honor Retry-After if present, treating that as defensive practice
      rather than a published contract.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com