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 Search Console
providerId: google-search-console
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.
# 2026-08-13: every figure below was re-read against the provider's own limits page and
# matched exactly, so the artifact is upgraded from generated to searched.
method: searched
modified: '2026-08-13'
verified: '2026-08-13'
verification: >-
  https://developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/limits fetched 2026-08-13 (HTTP 200). All eleven
  limits below match the published figures. The page previously referenced in this repo,
  https://developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/v1/limits, returns HTTP 404.
reconciled: true
tags:
  - Rate Limiting
  - Search
  - SEO
  - Webmaster Tools
description: Google Search Console API enforces three categories of quotas — Search Analytics, URL
  Inspection, and All Other Resources — measured in queries-per-minute (QPM), queries-per-day (QPD),
  and queries-per-second (QPS) at per-site, per-user, and per-project scopes. Usage can be tracked via
  the quota tab in the Google Cloud Console.
sources:
  - https://developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/limits
  - https://developers.google.com/search/apis/indexing-api/v3/quota-pricing
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  throttledAlternate: 403
  quotaExceeded: 403
  serviceUnavailable: 503
  note: >-
    Google returns BOTH 403 and 429 for throttling on this surface. The distinguishing signal is
    error.errors[].reason — rateLimitExceeded and userRateLimitExceeded are retryable, while
    dailyLimitExceeded and quotaExceeded are not retryable within the window.
headers:
  published: false
  ratelimit_headers: []
  retry_after: unconfirmed
  note: >-
    The provider publishes no X-RateLimit-* or RateLimit-* response headers and documents no
    Retry-After. There is no runtime signal of remaining quota anywhere in the response — a client
    can only see consumption in the quota tab of the Google Cloud project. The error itself is the
    first and only warning, which is why exponential backoff is mandatory here rather than
    advisory. Recorded as an honest absence, not an unchecked field.
limits:
  - name: Search Analytics — per-site
    scope: site
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: 1200
    timeFrame: minute
  - name: Search Analytics — per-user
    scope: user
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: 1200
    timeFrame: minute
  - name: Search Analytics — per-project (per minute)
    scope: project
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: 40000
    timeFrame: minute
  - name: Search Analytics — per-project (per day)
    scope: project
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: 30000000
    timeFrame: day
  - name: URL Inspection — per-site (per day)
    scope: site
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: 2000
    timeFrame: day
  - name: URL Inspection — per-site (per minute)
    scope: site
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: 600
    timeFrame: minute
  - name: URL Inspection — per-project (per day)
    scope: project
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: 10000000
    timeFrame: day
  - name: URL Inspection — per-project (per minute)
    scope: project
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: 15000
    timeFrame: minute
  - name: All other resources — per-user QPS
    scope: user
    metric: requests_per_second
    limit: 20
    timeFrame: second
  - name: All other resources — per-user QPM
    scope: user
    metric: requests_per_minute
    limit: 200
    timeFrame: minute
  - name: All other resources — per-project QPD
    scope: project
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: 100000000
    timeFrame: day
policies:
  - name: Backoff Strategy
    description: Use exponential backoff with jitter on 429 / 503 responses; respect Retry-After when
      present.
  - name: Quota visibility
    description: Track quota usage via the quota tab in the Google APIs Console for the project; raise
      via Google Cloud support if needed.
  - name: Load measurement
    description: Search Analytics load is measured in 10-minute (short-term) and 1-day (long-term)
      windows; spikes within either window can produce 429s before the per-minute limit is reached.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com