name: SEC EDGAR API Rate Limits
description: >
  The SEC EDGAR API enforces Fair Access rate limits to ensure equitable
  availability of public financial data for all users. Limits apply per
  IP address regardless of the number of machines used. Violations result
  in HTTP 429 responses and temporary IP-level blocking.
specificationVersion: '0.1'
url: https://www.sec.gov/about/developer-resources

rateLimits:
  - name: Request Rate Limit
    scope: per-ip
    limit: 10
    period: second
    description: >
      Each IP address may make no more than 10 requests per second to any
      EDGAR API endpoint. This limit applies collectively across all machines
      an organization uses to access the API.
    enforcement:
      onExceedance: HTTP 429 Too Many Requests; possible temporary IP block lasting approximately 10 minutes
      headers:
        - Retry-After
    notes:
      - Applies to data.sec.gov and efts.sec.gov endpoints
      - Applies regardless of the number of machines submitting requests from the same IP range
      - Automated scripts and crawlers should implement exponential backoff on 429 responses

  - name: User-Agent Requirement
    scope: per-request
    description: >
      All requests must include a descriptive User-Agent HTTP header
      identifying the requesting application and a valid contact email.
      Requests missing a User-Agent header may be rate-limited or blocked
      immediately.
    required: true
    format: "AppName/Version (contact@example.com)"
    example: "MyFinancialApp/1.0 (admin@mycompany.com)"

updateLatency:
  submissions: less than 1 second typical
  xbrlApis: less than 60 seconds typical

bulkDataAlternatives:
  - name: DERA Bulk Downloads
    url: https://www.sec.gov/dera/data
    description: >
      For high-volume data needs, bulk ZIP downloads of XBRL financial
      datasets are available from the SEC DERA (Division of Economic and
      Risk Analysis) data page. Preferred over high-frequency API polling
      for large dataset requirements.