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: Google Looker
providerId: google-looker
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: true
tags:
  - Rate Limiting
  - Business Intelligence
  - Analytics
  - Google Cloud
description: Google Looker (Google Cloud core) enforces request limits as monthly API-call quotas tied to
  the platform edition rather than per-second throttling. Standard, Enterprise, and Embed editions provide
  different monthly allowances for query-based and admin API calls. Per-instance request limits are also
  governed by the size and concurrency settings of the Looker instance itself.
sources:
  - https://cloud.google.com/looker/pricing
  - https://cloud.google.com/looker/docs/api-rate-limiting
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  quotaExceeded: 429
  serviceUnavailable: 503
limits:
  - name: Query-based API calls (Standard edition)
    scope: instance
    metric: requests_per_month
    limit: 1000
    timeFrame: month
    notes: Aggregated across all query-based endpoints. Overage requires upgrade to higher edition.
  - name: Admin API calls (Standard edition)
    scope: instance
    metric: requests_per_month
    limit: 1000
    timeFrame: month
  - name: Query-based API calls (Enterprise edition)
    scope: instance
    metric: requests_per_month
    limit: 100000
    timeFrame: month
  - name: Admin API calls (Enterprise edition)
    scope: instance
    metric: requests_per_month
    limit: 10000
    timeFrame: month
  - name: Query-based API calls (Embed edition)
    scope: instance
    metric: requests_per_month
    limit: 500000
    timeFrame: month
  - name: Admin API calls (Embed edition)
    scope: instance
    metric: requests_per_month
    limit: 100000
    timeFrame: month
  - name: Per-instance concurrency
    scope: instance
    metric: varies
    limit: 'see service-specific quotas page'
    notes: Concurrent query and request capacity is determined by Looker instance sizing; contact support
      for higher concurrency.
policies:
  - name: Backoff Strategy
    description: Implement exponential backoff with jitter when receiving 429 or 503; respect Retry-After
      where present.
  - name: Quota tied to edition
    description: Monthly API quotas reset on a calendar basis and are determined by the Looker platform
      edition; upgrades raise the cap.
  - name: Long-running queries
    description: Use async query endpoints for queries that may exceed default request timeouts; poll for
      completion rather than blocking the request thread.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com