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: Microsoft Azure Quantum
providerId: microsoft-quantum
created: '2026-05-25'
modified: '2026-05-25'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - Quantum
  - Quotas
  - Rate Limiting
  - Azure
description: >-
  Reconciled rate limits and quotas for Microsoft Azure Quantum. Rate-limiting
  at the Workspace REST API is governed by Azure Resource Manager throttling and
  per-workspace provider quotas. Hardware-level limits (per QPU queue depth,
  monthly HQC / AQT / QPU-hour caps) are enforced by each provider via
  Marketplace subscription metering, exposed through the Workspace `quotas`
  endpoint.
sources:
  - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/quantum/pricing
  - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/quantum/azure-quantum-job-cost-billing
  - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/management/request-limits-and-throttling
  - https://github.com/Azure/azure-rest-api-specs/tree/main/specification/quantum/Quantum.Workspace
headers:
  limit: x-ms-ratelimit-remaining-subscription-reads
  remaining: x-ms-ratelimit-remaining-subscription-writes
  reset: x-ms-ratelimit-reset
  retryAfter: retry-after
  correlationId: x-ms-correlation-request-id
  requestId: x-ms-request-id
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  quotaExceeded: 403
  forbidden: 403
algorithm: per-subscription-token-bucket
authentication:
  control-plane: Azure Entra ID (OAuth 2.0 bearer)
  data-plane: Azure Entra ID (OAuth 2.0 bearer) — workspace data-plane is data-plane Azure Resource Manager
quotas:
  workspace:
    - name: workspace-quotas
      description: Per-workspace, per-provider quota tracking through the data-plane `quotas` endpoint. Quotas express the credit / HQC / AQT / QPU-hour budget remaining in the current period.
      endpoint: GET /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Quantum/workspaces/{workspaceName}/quotas
      attributes:
        - dimension
        - scope
        - providerId
        - utilization
        - holds
        - limit
        - period
    - name: provider-status
      description: Per-provider target availability and queue depth indicators exposed through the data-plane `providerStatus` endpoint.
      endpoint: GET /subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/{resourceGroupName}/providers/Microsoft.Quantum/workspaces/{workspaceName}/providerStatus
limits:
  - scope: ARM control plane
    direction: read
    rpm: 12000
    perSubscriptionPerHour: true
    note: Azure Resource Manager default subscription read quota (12,000 reads/hour). Applies to Microsoft.Quantum/workspaces management operations.
  - scope: ARM control plane
    direction: write
    rpm: 1200
    perSubscriptionPerHour: true
    note: Azure Resource Manager default subscription write quota (1,200 writes/hour). Applies to workspace create/update/delete.
  - scope: Data plane — jobs.submit
    direction: write
    note: Provider-specific. Concurrent job queue depth governed by each QPU vendor (IonQ, Quantinuum, Pasqal, Rigetti). Job submissions exceeding provider concurrency are queued.
  - scope: Data plane — sessions
    direction: write
    note: Sessions are bounded by provider session-level concurrency and per-session job count limits. Closing a session releases all held resources.
  - scope: Provider — IonQ
    metric: Azure Quantum Tokens (AQT)
    perJobMinimum:
      errorMitigationOn: 97.50
      errorMitigationOff: 12.4166
      unit: USD
    note: Per-program minimum applies regardless of gate-shot count.
  - scope: Provider — Quantinuum
    metric: Hardware Quantum Credits (HQC)
    formula: HQC = 5 + C(N1q + 10*N2q + 5*Nm)/5000
    plans:
      standard:
        hqc: 10000
        ehqc: 100000
      premium:
        hqc: 17000
        ehqc: 170000
    note: HQC consumption per job computed from single-qubit, two-qubit, and SPAM operation counts times shots.
  - scope: Provider — Pasqal
    metric: QPU and emulator execution-hour
    note: Billed in seconds of wall-clock QPU or emulator execution. Free tier may apply to research grants.
  - scope: Provider — Rigetti
    metric: 10-millisecond job execution increments
    note: Charges accrue per 10 ms of QPU job execution. QVM simulator is free.
spendLimits:
  - tier: Azure Quantum Credits
    initialGrant: '$500 USD per provider per workspace'
    note: New workspaces automatically receive USD 500 of credits per supported provider. Research grant program offers additional discretionary credits.
  - tier: Pay-as-you-go
    cap: 'Azure subscription spending limit (configurable)'
    note: Enforced via Azure Cost Management budgets, alerts, and subscription spending limits.
  - tier: Enterprise Agreement
    cap: 'Negotiated commercial terms'
notes:
  - The Workspace data-plane uses ARM endpoints (data plane sits inside Microsoft.Quantum resource provider URL space).
  - All API access requires an Azure Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) access token; service principals and managed identities are supported.
  - Region availability and per-region provider availability is documented at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/quantum/provider-global-availability.