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: OpenFEMA
providerId: fema
created: '2026-07-03'
modified: '2026-07-03'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Government
- Open Data
- Rate Limiting
- Pagination
- Record Limits
description: >-
  OpenFEMA does not publish a per-account or per-IP request-rate limit (no
  RPM/RPD ceiling, no API key or quota system). Instead, load is bounded per
  call by a record-count limit: each request returns at most 1,000 records by
  default, and at most 10,000 records even when $top is raised to its
  maximum. Clients page through larger result sets with $skip (and
  optionally $count to learn the total), or use the BETA $allrecords=true
  parameter to force a single full-result download bypassing the 10,000-row
  ceiling. For very large exports, FEMA recommends CSV or Parquet over JSON
  to keep payload size manageable.
notes: >-
  No numeric requests-per-minute/day limit is documented; the constraint is
  structural (records per call), not a token-bucket rate limit. Verify
  current values against the live API documentation and the "Working with
  Large Data Sets" guide on reconciliation, since OpenFEMA has changed these
  mechanics before (e.g. $inlinecount to $count, $metadata on/off to
  true/false).
sources:
- https://www.fema.gov/about/openfema/api
- https://www.fema.gov/about/openfema/working-with-large-data-sets
- https://www.fema.gov/about/openfema/developer-resources
- https://www.fema.gov/about/openfema/changelog
responseCodes:
  throttled: null
limits:
- name: Default Records Per Call
  scope: request
  metric: records
  limit: '1000'
  notes: Applied when $top is not specified.
- name: Maximum Records Per Call
  scope: request
  metric: records
  limit: '10000'
  notes: Ceiling even when $top is explicitly raised above this value.
- name: Paging Beyond the Ceiling
  scope: request
  metric: records
  limit: unbounded via $skip
  notes: Use $skip (with $top) to page through result sets larger than 10000 records; add $count=true to learn the total matching record count up front.
- name: Bulk Export
  scope: request
  metric: records
  limit: unbounded via $allrecords=true (BETA)
  notes: Forces the full result set to be returned in one download, bypassing the 10000-record $top ceiling. Intended for bulk/offline export, not interactive use.
- name: API Key / Subscription
  scope: account
  metric: n/a
  limit: none required
  notes: The API is free, public, and does not require registration, an API key, or a subscription.
policies:
- name: No Authentication, No Quota
  description: OpenFEMA is open government data; there is no per-account quota system to exceed or upgrade.
- name: Prefer Compact Formats for Large Pulls
  description: For large datasets, FEMA recommends $format=csv or $format=parquet over JSON to reduce payload size; Parquet also carries an embedded schema.
- name: Metadata Envelope Toggle
  description: Pass $metadata=false to drop the wrapping metadata object and reduce response overhead on high-volume automated pulls.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com