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: DroneDeploy
providerId: dronedeploy
created: '2026-07-04'
modified: '2026-07-04'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Drone Mapping
- Reality Capture
- GraphQL
- Rate Limiting
- Quotas
description: >-
  DroneDeploy does not publish fixed numeric rate limits for its GraphQL API in the
  public developer documentation. Practical throughput is governed more by
  cursor-based pagination (the `first` argument caps the number of results per query,
  with examples using page sizes of 5-50) and by asynchronous, long-running
  processing (map exports and reports must reach status COMPLETE before a downloadPath
  is available) than by a per-minute request cap. Because API access is Enterprise /
  Developer Partner only, any enforced quotas are typically set per contract.
notes: >-
  No documented per-minute or per-hour GraphQL request quota as of the review date.
  Confirm any account-level limits, maximum `first` page size, and export/processing
  concurrency with DroneDeploy Support for your Enterprise or Developer Partner
  account during reconciliation.
sources:
- https://developer-docs.dronedeploy.com/api/introduction
- https://developer-docs.dronedeploy.com/api/pagination
- https://developer-docs.dronedeploy.com/api/authentication
- https://developer-docs.dronedeploy.com/api/examples/creating-an-export
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
limits:
- name: GraphQL API Requests
  scope: account
  metric: requests
  limit: not published
  notes: No fixed numeric request-rate limit is documented for the GraphQL endpoint; limits, if any, are set per Enterprise/Developer Partner contract.
- name: Pagination Page Size
  scope: query
  metric: results
  limit: bounded by `first` argument
  notes: Relay connections cap results via `first`; documented examples use first=5 and first=50. Retrieve more with `after` + endCursor.
- name: Export Processing
  scope: account
  metric: exports
  limit: asynchronous
  notes: createExport is async; poll export status until COMPLETE before using downloadPath. Concurrency is contract-dependent.
- name: Processing Volume
  scope: account
  metric: gigapixels
  limit: per plan
  notes: Map processing is metered by images-per-map and annual Gigapixel allowances tied to the subscription tier, not by API request rate.
policies:
- name: Cursor Pagination
  description: Use `first` with `after`/endCursor for forward pagination; check pageInfo.hasNextPage to know when to stop.
- name: Asynchronous Processing
  description: Exports and reports are long-running; create the job, then poll for status COMPLETE (or register a completion webhook) rather than blocking.
- name: Backoff Strategy
  description: Clients should implement exponential backoff with jitter and honor Retry-After on any 429 responses.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com