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: Gitea
providerId: gitea
created: '2026-05-06'
modified: '2026-05-06'
tags:
  - Git
  - Source Control
  - DevOps
  - CI/CD
  - Code Hosting
  - Open Source
  - Self Hosted
  - Rate Limiting
  - Quotas
  - Throttling
description: >-
  Rate limit definitions for the Gitea API surface across the open-
  source self-hosted distribution, Gitea Enterprise, and Gitea Cloud.
  The open-source Gitea distribution does not enforce a default
  per-user API rate limit; operators may configure rate limiting via
  reverse proxy or app.ini settings. Gitea Cloud applies platform-
  level fair-use throttles plus an outbound network traffic quota.
headers:
  limit: X-RateLimit-Limit
  remaining: X-RateLimit-Remaining
  reset: X-RateLimit-Reset
  retryAfter: Retry-After
  policy: RateLimit-Policy
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  quotaExceeded: 429
  serviceUnavailable: 503
limits:
  - tier: open-source
    name: Self-Hosted Default
    scope: instance
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: -1
    timeFrame: minute
    description: >-
      The Gitea open-source distribution does not impose a default
      per-user request rate limit. Throttling is the operator's
      responsibility (typically via reverse proxy such as nginx,
      Cloudflare, or app.ini's [service.explore] limits).
    applies:
      - Gitea REST API
      - Gitea Actions API
      - Gitea Package Registry
      - Gitea Webhooks
  - tier: enterprise
    name: Gitea Enterprise Default
    scope: instance
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: -1
    timeFrame: minute
    description: >-
      Gitea Enterprise inherits the same configurable rate-limiting
      surface as the open-source edition; SLA-backed support is
      available for tuning limits in customer environments.
    applies:
      - Gitea REST API
      - Gitea Actions API
      - Gitea Package Registry
      - Gitea Webhooks
  - tier: cloud
    name: Gitea Cloud Fair Use
    scope: instance
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: 6000
    burst: 12000
    timeFrame: minute
    description: >-
      Gitea Cloud applies platform-level fair-use throttling at the
      reverse-proxy layer to protect shared infrastructure. Specific
      thresholds are not publicly documented; the value here is a
      conservative scaffold derived from typical managed-Git platform
      norms and should be reconciled with values reported by the
      Cloud team.
    applies:
      - Gitea REST API
      - Gitea Actions API
      - Gitea Package Registry
      - Gitea Webhooks
      - Gitea Cloud Management API
  - tier: cloud
    name: Gitea Cloud Outbound Traffic Quota
    scope: instance
    metric: gigabytes_per_month
    limit: -1
    timeFrame: month
    description: >-
      Outbound network traffic from a Gitea Cloud instance is subject
      to a high-speed quota; once the quota is exceeded, Cloud Release
      12 documents that "speed restrictions apply" rather than hard
      blocking. Inbound traffic is unlimited and free.
    applies:
      - Gitea REST API
      - Gitea Package Registry
  - tier: cloud
    name: Gitea Actions Concurrent Jobs (Cloud)
    scope: instance
    metric: concurrent_jobs
    limit: 20
    timeFrame: realtime
    description: >-
      Concurrent Actions runner job parallelism on Gitea Cloud. Exact
      limit varies by instance tier (Basic / Standard / Pro / Plus /
      Extra / Max / Ultra). Default scaffold value is conservative.
    applies:
      - Gitea Actions API
policies:
  - name: Backoff Strategy
    description: >-
      Clients should implement exponential backoff with jitter on 429
      and 503 responses, honoring the Retry-After header when present.
  - name: Burst Handling
    description: >-
      Short bursts above the steady-state limit are tolerated up to the
      documented burst ceiling before throttling engages.
  - name: Webhook Delivery Retries
    description: >-
      Gitea's webhook system retries failed deliveries on a backoff
      schedule; consumers should tolerate at-least-once delivery and
      verify signatures with the configured secret.
  - name: Operator Configurability
    description: >-
      For self-hosted deployments, rate limiting is fully under
      operator control via reverse proxy and app.ini settings. Cloud
      tenants cannot tune the platform-level limits but may request
      adjustments via support.
  - name: Fair Use
    description: >-
      Even on uncapped tiers, sustained usage that materially impacts
      shared Cloud infrastructure may be subject to fair-use throttling.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kinlane@gmail.com