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: Portcast
providerId: portcast
created: '2026-06-21'
modified: '2026-06-21'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Supply Chain
- Container Tracking
- Logistics
- Predictive ETA
- Ocean Freight
- Rate Limiting
- Quotas
- Throttling
description: >-
  Portcast authenticates the Container Tracking API with an x-api-key header
  issued per account. Request throttling and tracked-shipment quotas are
  governed by the negotiated subscription rather than a public per-minute rate
  table. To avoid polling pressure, Portcast recommends registering a
  callback_url (Push API) so tracking updates are delivered as webhooks instead
  of repeated GET requests. Specific numeric rate limits are not publicly
  documented and are not reconciled in this artifact.
notes: >-
  Confirm per-account request throttling, concurrent upload limits, and
  tracked-shipment quotas with Portcast on reconciliation. Prefer the Push API
  callback over polling the tracking endpoints.
sources:
- https://portcast.stoplight.io/docs/portcast-api/
- https://portcast.stoplight.io/docs/portcast-api/dxd93fedun52o-push-api
- https://kb.portcast.io
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
limits:
- name: API Requests
  scope: account
  metric: requests
  limit: see provider agreement
  notes: Per-account request throttling governed by subscription; not publicly published.
- name: Tracked Shipments
  scope: account
  metric: shipments
  limit: per subscription
  notes: Volume of concurrently tracked shipments/containers is set by the plan.
policies:
- name: Push Over Poll
  description: Register an HTTPS callback_url so updates arrive as webhooks instead of polling the tracking endpoints.
- name: Backoff Strategy
  description: Clients should implement exponential backoff with jitter and honor Retry-After on 429 responses.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com