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: US Department of Commerce
providerId: us-department-of-commerce
created: '2026-05-04'
# Provenance stamped 2026-08-11: this artifact was written by the API Evangelist
# bulk sweep dated 2026-05-04, not harvested from the provider. See roadmap#35.
method: generated
modified: '2026-05-05'
reconciled: true
tags:
  - Federal Government
  - Open Data
  - Rate Limiting
description: U.S. Department of Commerce APIs that route through api.data.gov inherit its standard rate-limit policy of 1,000 requests/hour per API key on a rolling window, with 429 OVER_RATE_LIMIT responses. The DEMO_KEY has much stricter per-IP hourly and daily caps. Higher limits can be requested for production use.
sources:
  - https://api.data.gov/docs/developer-manual/
  - https://api.data.gov/about/
headers:
  limit: X-RateLimit-Limit
  remaining: X-RateLimit-Remaining
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  quotaExceeded: 429
limits:
  - name: Standard API Key
    scope: key
    metric: requests_per_hour
    limit: 1000
    timeFrame: hour
    notes: Rolling-hour window; 429 with error code OVER_RATE_LIMIT when exceeded; clears as the oldest requests age out.
  - name: DEMO_KEY (per IP, hourly)
    scope: IP
    metric: requests_per_hour
    limit: 30
    timeFrame: hour
    notes: Demonstration key only; intended for testing.
  - name: DEMO_KEY (per IP, daily)
    scope: IP
    metric: requests_per_day
    limit: 50
    timeFrame: day
    notes: Demonstration key only; daily ceiling on top of the hourly cap.
policies:
  - name: Rolling-Hour Window
    description: Limits are evaluated as a rolling one-hour window per API key; blocks lift automatically as older requests age out.
  - name: Higher Limit Request
    description: Production users can contact api.data.gov to request higher per-key limits when a sustained 1,000 req/hr cap is insufficient.
  - name: Error Body
    description: Throttled responses return HTTP 429 with an error code of OVER_RATE_LIMIT; clients should honor the rate-limit headers and back off rather than retry immediately.
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com