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: F5 Load Balancer
providerId: f5-load-balancer
created: '2026-05-04'
# Provenance stamped 2026-08-11: this artifact was written by the API Evangelist
# bulk sweep dated 2026-05-04, not harvested from the provider. See roadmap#35.
method: generated
modified: '2026-05-05'
reconciled: false
tags:
  - Application Delivery
  - BIG-IP
  - Load Balancer
  - Networking
  - Traffic Management
  - Rate Limiting
description: The F5 BIG-IP iControl REST, AS3, and Declarative Onboarding APIs are management interfaces
  exposed by the customer's BIG-IP instance, not a public multi-tenant API. F5 does not publish per-second
  rate limits for these management endpoints; throughput is constrained by the BIG-IP TMOS control plane
  capacity of the deployed device/VE. iControl REST itself supports configurable client-side rate-limiting
  policies for traffic plane data, but these are tools the customer configures, not a vendor-imposed
  ceiling.
notes: No vendor-published rate limit numbers for the management API surface. Throughput is bounded by
  the deployed BIG-IP form factor (hardware model or VE size). Reconcile from F5 sizing guides for the
  specific platform in use.
sources:
  - https://clouddocs.f5.com/api/icontrol-rest/
  - https://www.f5.com/products/big-ip-services
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  serverError: 500
  serviceUnavailable: 503
limits:
  - name: BIG-IP management plane (iControl REST)
    scope: device
    metric: varies
    limit: bounded by BIG-IP control-plane capacity (hardware model or VE size); not a published number
    notes: Customer-deployed; consult the F5 sizing guide for the specific BIG-IP platform.
  - name: AS3 declarations
    scope: device
    metric: varies
    limit: serialized through BIG-IP control plane; long-running declarations should be polled via task
      endpoints
  - name: Declarative Onboarding declarations
    scope: device
    metric: varies
    limit: serialized through BIG-IP control plane; one onboarding operation at a time per device
policies:
  - name: Customer-configured rate limiting
    description: BIG-IP itself can apply rate-limit policies to traffic-plane (data path) flows; this is
      a tool the customer configures, not a vendor cap on the management API.
  - name: Async task pattern
    description: AS3 and DO declarations are asynchronous — submit, then poll the returned task URL for
      status; do not retry the submit while a task is running.
  - name: Backoff on 5xx
    description: BIG-IP control plane can return 5xx during heavy config commits; back off with jitter
      and retry idempotent reads only.
  - name: Authentication
    description: Use token auth (POST /mgmt/shared/authn/login) and refresh tokens; basic auth is supported
      but discouraged for automation.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com