generated: '2026-09-09'
method: probed
source: https://api.data.gov/docs/developer-manual/
specification: API Commons Rate Limits
specificationVersion: '0.1'
provider: Federal Trade Commission
providerId: federal-trade-commission
docs:
  - https://api.data.gov/docs/developer-manual/
  - https://www.ftc.gov/developer/api/v0/endpoints/do-not-call-dnc-reported-calls-data-api
description: >-
  Rate limiting on the FTC API is enforced by api.data.gov (API Umbrella), not by the FTC
  application. Limits below are the gateway operator's published values plus headers
  observed live against https://api.ftc.gov/v0/dnc-complaints on 2026-09-09. This file
  replaces a 2026-05-04 scaffold whose tiers (10/min free, 100/min professional, monthly
  quotas, 503 semantics) were invented — the FTC publishes none of those.
limit_count: 3
headers:
  limit: X-RateLimit-Limit
  remaining: X-RateLimit-Remaining
  retryAfter: Retry-After
  reset: null
  policy: null
  note: >-
    Observed verbatim on a 429 from api.ftc.gov: `x-ratelimit-limit: 10`,
    `x-ratelimit-remaining: 0`, `retry-after: 8013`. No RateLimit-Reset and no
    RFC 9239 RateLimit-Policy header is emitted.
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  quotaExceeded: 429
  unauthenticated: 403
error_body:
  format: api.data.gov JSON error envelope
  example_code: OVER_RATE_LIMIT
  shape: '{"error":{"code":"...","message":"..."}}'
limits:
  - id: registered-key-hourly
    tier: registered
    name: Default api.data.gov key
    scope: per-key
    metric: requests
    limit: 1000
    window: hour
    burst: null
    method: searched
    source: https://api.data.gov/docs/developer-manual/
    note: >-
      "Hourly Limit: 1,000 requests per hour" — the api.data.gov default applied to any
      self-issued key. Agencies may raise it on request.
  - id: demo-key-hourly-published
    tier: demo
    name: DEMO_KEY (published gateway limit)
    scope: per-ip
    metric: requests
    limit: 30
    window: hour
    method: searched
    source: https://api.data.gov/docs/developer-manual/
  - id: demo-key-daily-published
    tier: demo
    name: DEMO_KEY (published gateway daily limit)
    scope: per-ip
    metric: requests
    limit: 50
    window: day
    method: searched
    source: https://api.data.gov/docs/developer-manual/
observed:
  - probed: '2026-09-09'
    url: https://api.ftc.gov/v0/dnc-complaints?api_key=DEMO_KEY&items_per_page=1
    status: 429
    headers:
      x-ratelimit-limit: '10'
      x-ratelimit-remaining: '0'
      retry-after: '8013'
    note: >-
      The FTC's own api.data.gov configuration applied a limit of 10 to DEMO_KEY — lower
      than the 30/hour the gateway documents. The number a consumer actually gets is the
      agency's setting, not the published default, which is why the header matters more
      than the docs.
pagination_interaction:
  items_per_page_max: 50
  note: >-
    The DNC endpoint caps items_per_page at 50, so a full-corpus pull is bounded by
    (records-total / 50) requests against the hourly key limit.