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: Mews
providerId: mews-systems
created: '2026-06-02'
modified: '2026-06-02'
reconciled: true
tags:
- Rate Limiting
- Hospitality
- Property Management
- PMS
description: >-
  The Mews Connector API enforces rate limiting scoped per AccessToken (per connected property/enterprise),
  not per ClientToken or per IP. Both the demo and production environments allow up to 200 requests per
  AccessToken within a rolling 30-second window. The limiter uses a sliding window anchored to the first
  request in a burst rather than fixed clock buckets. When the limit is exceeded the API returns 429 Too Many
  Requests with a Retry-After header indicating how long to wait; Mews advises client-side rate limiting and
  exponential backoff. In rare cases where a request places heavy demand on the system the API may return
  408 Request Timeout. Mews notes the request count and time window may change without prior notice.
sources:
- https://docs.mews.com/connector-api/guidelines/environments
- https://docs.mews.com/connector-api/guidelines/requests
- https://docs.mews.com/connector-api/guidelines/best-practices
headers:
  retryAfter: Retry-After
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  requestTimeout: 408
limits:
- name: Connector API requests (production)
  scope: account
  metric: requests_per_second
  limit: 200
  timeFrame: second
  notes: 200 requests per AccessToken within any rolling 30-second window (sliding window anchored to the first request in a burst).
- name: Connector API requests (demo / sandbox)
  scope: account
  metric: requests_per_second
  limit: 200
  timeFrame: second
  notes: Demo environment (api.mews-demo.com) enforces the same 200 requests per AccessToken per 30 seconds as production.
- name: Booking Engine (Distributor) API requests
  scope: account
  metric: varies
  limit: 'shares the Mews API platform limiter; expect AccessToken-scoped throttling with 429 + Retry-After'
  notes: Front-end client-facing API on the same api.mews.com platform; treat the 200-per-30s AccessToken budget as the baseline.
policies:
- name: Sliding window
  description: The 30-second window is anchored to the first request in a burst, not to clock boundaries, so spreading requests evenly avoids tripping the limiter.
- name: Per-AccessToken scope
  description: Limits are bound to the AccessToken (the connection to a specific property/enterprise). Multi-property integrations using Portfolio Access Tokens should account for shared budget across that token.
- name: Retry-After backoff
  description: On 429, read the Retry-After response header and wait the indicated duration before retrying; fall back to exponential backoff if the header is absent.
- name: Client-side rate limiting
  description: Mews recommends implementing client-side rate limiting so the integration does not keep sending requests after receiving a 429.
- name: Subject to change
  description: Mews states the number of requests and the time window can change without prior notice; integrations must handle 429 gracefully rather than hard-coding assumptions.