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: Lithic
providerId: lithic-com
created: '2026-07-02'
modified: '2026-07-02'
reconciled: true
tags:
- Card Issuing
- Fintech
- Rate Limiting
- Quotas
description: >-
  Lithic publishes fixed numeric requests-per-second (RPS) limits, enforced
  separately per resource and per HTTP method (a GET and a POST to the same
  resource draw from independent counters, but multiple GET routes under the
  same resource, e.g. GET /cards and GET /cards/{token}, share one counter).
  Defaults differ between Production and Sandbox, with the cards and transfers
  resources called out as documented exceptions to the default.
notes: >-
  Rate limiting applies to all endpoints except the embedded card UI. Account
  holder creation via the KYC advanced workflow may see lower effective limits
  due to third-party verification dependencies. Lithic reserves the right to
  temporarily reduce limits during high load or incidents, and will raise
  limits for one-time bulk operations on request.
sources:
- https://docs.lithic.com/docs/rate-limits
- https://docs.lithic.com/docs/api-basics
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
limits:
- name: Default Read (Production)
  scope: resource
  metric: requests
  limit: 30 RPS
  notes: Default GET rate limit per resource in Production, unless a resource-specific exception applies.
- name: Default Write (Production)
  scope: resource
  metric: requests
  limit: 5 RPS
  notes: Default POST/PATCH/DELETE rate limit per resource in Production, unless a resource-specific exception applies.
- name: Cards Read (Production)
  scope: resource
  metric: requests
  limit: 15 RPS
  notes: Documented exception for the cards resource in Production.
- name: Cards Write (Production)
  scope: resource
  metric: requests
  limit: 2 RPS
  notes: Documented exception for the cards resource in Production.
- name: Transfers Read (Production)
  scope: resource
  metric: requests
  limit: 5 RPS
  notes: Documented exception for the transfers resource in Production.
- name: Transfers Write (Production)
  scope: resource
  metric: requests
  limit: 2 RPS
  notes: Documented exception for the transfers resource in Production.
- name: Default Read (Sandbox)
  scope: resource
  metric: requests
  limit: 15 RPS
  notes: Default GET rate limit per resource in Sandbox, unless a resource-specific exception applies.
- name: Default Write (Sandbox)
  scope: resource
  metric: requests
  limit: 1 RPS
  notes: Default POST/PATCH/DELETE rate limit per resource in Sandbox, unless a resource-specific exception applies.
- name: Cards Read (Sandbox)
  scope: resource
  metric: requests
  limit: 15 RPS
  notes: Documented exception for the cards resource in Sandbox (same as Production default).
- name: Cards Write (Sandbox)
  scope: resource
  metric: requests
  limit: 2 RPS
  notes: Documented exception for the cards resource in Sandbox (same as Production).
- name: Transfers Read (Sandbox)
  scope: resource
  metric: requests
  limit: 5 RPS
  notes: Documented exception for the transfers resource in Sandbox (same as Production).
- name: Transfers Write (Sandbox)
  scope: resource
  metric: requests
  limit: 2 RPS
  notes: Documented exception for the transfers resource in Sandbox (same as Production).
- name: Embedded Card UI
  scope: endpoint
  metric: requests
  limit: not rate limited
  notes: GET /v1/embed/card is explicitly excluded from rate limiting.
policies:
- name: Per-Resource, Per-Method Enforcement
  description: Limits are tracked independently for each resource and HTTP method; multiple routes under the same resource and method share one counter.
- name: 429 Response Headers
  description: A throttled request returns HTTP 429 with an x-requests-remaining header (RPS quota left in the current second) and a retry-after header (seconds to wait).
- name: SDK Auto-Retry
  description: Official Lithic SDKs natively honor the retry-after header and retry throttled requests automatically.
- name: Temporary Reductions
  description: Lithic reserves the right to temporarily lower limits during high load or service incidents, independent of the published defaults.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com