specification: API Commons Rate Limits
specificationVersion: '0.1'
provider: Offendersearch
providerId: offendersearch-api
generated: '2026-08-18'
created: '2026-08-18'
modified: '2026-08-18'
method: searched
source: https://offendersearch.app/docs/errors.md
sources:
  - https://offendersearch.app/docs/errors.md
  - https://offendersearch.app/docs/pagination.md
  - https://offendersearch.app/openapi.json
description: >-
  Requests are rate limited per API key. The documentation publishes the runtime signal —
  X-RateLimit-Limit / X-RateLimit-Remaining / X-RateLimit-Reset on every response and
  Retry-After on a 429 — but does NOT publish the numeric ceiling: sustained rate,
  concurrency and monthly volume are described as "set by your plan" and are not stated
  anywhere public. Because pricing is purely metered with no tiers, there is no published
  per-tier limit table to read. Guidance for large jobs is to use the asynchronous endpoint
  or batch rather than issuing thousands of synchronous calls, and to back off exponentially
  respecting Retry-After.
limit_count: 0
limits: []
headers:
  X-RateLimit-Limit: Requests allowed in the current window.
  X-RateLimit-Remaining: Requests left in the current window.
  X-RateLimit-Reset: Unix time when the window resets.
  Retry-After: On a 429, seconds to wait before retrying.
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
scope: per API key
observed:
  probed_url: https://api.offendersearch.app/v1/sources
  probed_status: 200
  probed_at: '2026-08-18'
  note: >-
    The one unauthenticated endpoint (GET /v1/sources, the coverage catalog) returned no
    X-RateLimit-* headers, so the documented headers could not be confirmed on an anonymous
    call; confirming them requires an authenticated request with a billed key.
other_ceilings:
  - name: Batch rows per call
    limit: 1000
    scope: per POST /v1/batch request
    source: https://offendersearch.app/docs/batch.md
    on_exceeded: 413
  - name: Unpaginated response record cap
    limit: 4000
    scope: per POST /v1/search response
    source: https://offendersearch.app/docs/pagination.md
    note: Sets capped=true when it applies; send perPage to reach every matched record.
  - name: Support message submissions
    limit: null
    scope: POST /v1/support
    source: openapi/offendersearch-api-openapi.yml
    note: Declares a 429 response; the numeric limit is not published.
retry_guidance: >-
  Exponential backoff that respects Retry-After. On POST /v1/searches send an
  Idempotency-Key so a retry never starts — or bills — a second search.