generated: '2026-08-19'
method: searched
source: https://sniffcat.com/documentation/roles
probe:
  url: https://api.sniffcat.com/api/v1/check?ip=1.1.1.1
  date: '2026-08-19'
  status: 403
  note: >-
    Unauthenticated probe (no X-Secret-Token). The 403 still carried live rate-limit headers, so the
    header names, format and the anonymous edge budget below are OBSERVED, not read from docs.
summary: >-
  SniffCat publishes a complete per-role daily quota matrix — five separately metered operations
  (report, bulk, check, reports, blacklist), a base allowance every account gets, and nine additive
  role allowances on top. It also emits the IETF draft `RateLimit` / `RateLimit-Policy` header fields
  on every response, including error responses, which is the runtime signal an agent actually needs.
limit_count: 51
# 10 quota rows (base + 9 roles) x 5 metered operations = 50 documented daily limits,
# plus 1 probed 400-req/120s edge window on api.sniffcat.com.
scheme:
  model: additive
  description: >-
    Effective limit for an operation = base account limit + the limit contributed by every role the
    user holds. Users may hold multiple roles simultaneously.
  window: daily
  reset: '00:00 UTC'
  exhaustion_status: 429
  scope: per-account (token-bound), metered per operation
headers:
  observed: true
  fields:
  - name: RateLimit
    example: limit=400, remaining=399, reset=120
    spec: draft-ietf-httpapi-ratelimit-headers (RateLimit field, list-of-quota-policy form)
  - name: RateLimit-Policy
    example: 400;w=120
    spec: draft-ietf-httpapi-ratelimit-headers (RateLimit-Policy)
  retry_after: not observed
  legacy_x_ratelimit: false
  note: >-
    The values observed anonymously (400 requests / 120 second window) are the edge/abuse budget on
    api.sniffcat.com, NOT a documented plan tier. The documented per-role daily quotas below are a
    separate, additional meter.
limits:
- scope: base-account
  role: Base Limits
  window: daily
  operations:
    report: 3000
    bulk: 15
    check: 1000
    reports: 400
    blacklist: 7
  note: Granted to every account before role contributions are added.
- scope: role
  role: Individual
  trust_level: 1
  window: daily
  operations:
    report: 0
    bulk: 0
    check: 0
    reports: 0
    blacklist: 0
- scope: role
  role: Early User
  trust_level: 1.19
  window: daily
  operations:
    report: 800
    bulk: 0
    check: 100
    reports: 0
    blacklist: 1
- scope: role
  role: Webmaster
  trust_level: 1.24
  window: daily
  operations:
    report: 3000
    bulk: 5
    check: 3500
    reports: 600
    blacklist: 3
- scope: role
  role: Contributor
  trust_level: 1.36
  window: daily
  operations:
    report: 2000
    bulk: 7
    check: 1400
    reports: 250
    blacklist: 5
- scope: role
  role: SniffCat Enthusiast
  trust_level: 1.48
  window: daily
  operations:
    report: 3500
    bulk: 4
    check: 1000
    reports: 500
    blacklist: 3
- scope: role
  role: Hosting Provider
  trust_level: 1.54
  window: daily
  operations:
    report: 3000
    bulk: 12
    check: 2000
    reports: 700
    blacklist: 20
- scope: role
  role: ISP
  trust_level: 1.62
  window: daily
  operations:
    report: 2500
    bulk: 20
    check: 4000
    reports: 2000
    blacklist: 30
- scope: role
  role: Security Researcher
  trust_level: 1.75
  window: daily
  operations:
    report: 1800
    bulk: 15
    check: 2200
    reports: 2500
    blacklist: 8
- scope: role
  role: Law Enforcement
  trust_level: 1.83
  window: daily
  operations:
    report: 2500
    bulk: 10
    check: 5000
    reports: 3500
    blacklist: 0
- scope: per-endpoint
  role: any
  window: '120 seconds'
  limit: 400
  operations: {}
  method: probed
  note: >-
    Observed anonymously on api.sniffcat.com via RateLimit-Policy `400;w=120`. Applies at the edge
    regardless of token.
non_counting:
- rule: Cached blacklist responses do not count toward the API usage quota.
  evidence: https://sniffcat.com/documentation/api/blacklist
  signal_header: 'X-Cache: HIT | MISS'
  ttl: 25 minutes (production) / 2 seconds (development)
  cache_key: SHA256 hash of the query parameters
submission_throttles:
- rule: The same IP address may only be reported once every 20 minutes.
  endpoint: POST /api/v1/report
  status_on_violation: 429
  evidence: https://sniffcat.com/documentation/api/report
gaps:
- >-
  No Retry-After header was observed, so a client that trips the 429 has to fall back to the
  `reset` value in the RateLimit field.
- >-
  The docs do not state whether the daily role quotas are also surfaced in response headers, or only
  the 120-second edge window that was observed.