# Provenance stamped 2026-10-07 (roadmap#943): written by an API Evangelist sweep (dated 2026-06-13 by the file itself), not
# harvested from the provider. `method: generated` so the economics campaign may replace it with a
# dated, verbatim transcription; every figure below is unverified until it does.
method: generated
generated: '2026-06-13'
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: FOREX.com
providerId: forex-com
created: '2026-06-13'
modified: '2026-06-13'
reconciled: false
tags:
  - Rate Limiting
  - Forex
  - Trading
description: >-
  FOREX.com does not publish explicit numerical rate limit thresholds in public documentation.
  The REST API (ciapi.cityindex.com/TradingAPI) uses session-based authentication and
  Lightstreamer for real-time streaming. Historical price requests are capped at 4,000
  records per call. Specific per-minute or per-second REST request rate limits should be
  confirmed with FOREX.com API support (support.en@forex.com). FIX API message rates for
  institutional clients are configured per-agreement.
sources:
  - https://www.forex.com/en/trading-tools/api-trading/
  - https://www.bizstream.com/blog/a-quick-and-dirty-guide-to-placing-trades-on-forex-com-via-python/
  - https://github.com/ali-zahedi/forexcom
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
limits:
  - name: Historical price records per request
    scope: request
    metric: records
    limit: 4000
    timeFrame: request
    description: >-
      Maximum number of OHLC price records returned per historical price data request.
      Use date range or count parameters to paginate large data sets.
  - name: REST API request rate
    scope: session
    metric: requests
    limit: null
    timeFrame: second
    description: >-
      No publicly documented numerical per-second or per-minute REST request rate limit.
      FOREX.com recommends contacting support.en@forex.com for specific throttle thresholds
      applicable to a given account. Standard practice is to implement exponential backoff
      on error responses.
  - name: Lightstreamer streaming subscriptions
    scope: session
    metric: subscriptions
    limit: null
    timeFrame: session
    description: >-
      Real-time price and order updates are delivered via Lightstreamer streaming
      subscriptions. The number of concurrent symbol subscriptions per session is not
      publicly documented; multi-symbol concurrent subscriptions are supported.
  - name: FIX API message rate
    scope: session
    metric: messages_per_second
    limit: null
    timeFrame: second
    description: >-
      FIX API message throughput is configured per institutional client agreement.
      Contact FOREX.com institutional sales for specific rate parameters.
policies:
  - name: AppKey activation required
    description: >-
      API access requires an AppKey provisioned by FOREX.com support. Submit requests
      to support.en@forex.com and allow approximately 3 business days for activation.
  - name: Use Lightstreamer for real-time data
    description: >-
      Avoid polling REST endpoints for live prices. Subscribe to the Lightstreamer
      STREAMINGALL adapter in MERGE mode to receive bid/ask/offer and AuditId fields
      pushed server-side, reducing unnecessary REST load.
  - name: Paginate historical data requests
    description: >-
      Historical price requests return up to 4,000 records per call. Use date range
      (start/end) or count parameters to paginate data retrieval across multiple requests.
  - name: Implement exponential backoff
    description: >-
      Implement exponential backoff with jitter when receiving error responses to avoid
      sustained throttling and ensure orderly reconnection after streaming disconnects.
  - name: Reuse session credentials
    description: >-
      Sessions are authenticated once via POST /session and the returned session ID
      is passed in request headers. Avoid re-authenticating on every request; reuse
      the session ID for the lifetime of an API session.