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: ServiceM8
providerId: servicem8
created: '2026-07-03'
modified: '2026-07-03'
reconciled: false
tags:
- Field Service
- Job Management
- Rate Limiting
- Quotas
- Throttling
description: >-
  ServiceM8 applies API throttling on a per-application and per-account basis.
  The documented limits are 180 requests per minute and 20,000 requests per day.
  Exceeding either limit returns an HTTP 429 response with the text body
  "Number of allowed API requests per minute exceeded". Because throttling is
  scoped per application per account, an add-on connected to two different
  customers' ServiceM8 accounts is throttled separately for each account.
notes: >-
  Most integrations never approach these limits. ServiceM8 recommends
  anticipating 429s and responding with cached values, user messaging, or a
  retry later. Use webhook subscriptions instead of polling to stay well under
  the request budget.
sources:
- https://developer.servicem8.com/docs/http-response-codes
- https://developer.servicem8.com/discuss/5e7c063a3e0315004cec6878
- https://developer.servicem8.com/docs/rest-overview
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
limits:
- name: Requests Per Minute
  scope: application-account
  metric: requests
  limit: 180
  timeFrame: minute
  notes: 180 requests per minute per application per connected account. HTTP 429 on exceed.
- name: Requests Per Day
  scope: application-account
  metric: requests
  limit: 20000
  timeFrame: day
  notes: 20,000 requests per day per application per connected account. HTTP 429 on exceed.
- name: SMS Sending
  scope: account
  metric: messages
  limit: plan credit pack
  notes: Outbound SMS via the Messaging API consumes the account's SMS credits and incurs charges beyond the plan pack.
policies:
- name: Per-Application Per-Account Scoping
  description: Throttling counters are tracked separately for each application connected to each ServiceM8 account.
- name: Backoff and Caching
  description: On a 429, use a cached value from a prior call, notify the end user, or retry later with backoff.
- name: Prefer Webhooks Over Polling
  description: Subscribe to object/event webhooks to receive change notifications instead of polling collections, reducing request volume.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com