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: Waxell
providerId: waxell
created: '2026-05-06'
modified: '2026-05-06'
reconciled: false
notes: >-
  Waxell does not publish numeric API rate limits in its public docs. The
  /docs/observe/api/rate-limits path returns HTTP 403 to unauthenticated
  fetches. Two rate-limit surfaces are documented qualitatively: the standard
  HTTP 429 response from the Observe API, and the "Rate Limit" governance
  policy category that throttles agent execution. Set reconciled to true once
  per-key request-per-second numbers are published.
tags:
  - Rate Limiting
  - AI Agent Governance
  - Observability
description: >-
  Waxell exposes two related rate-limiting surfaces. The Observe REST API
  enforces tenant-scoped request limits (per `wax_sk_` API key) and returns
  HTTP 429 when exceeded. Independently, the Waxell governance engine itself
  emits "throttle" decisions through the policy_check endpoint to slow down
  or block agents under runtime cost or rate-limit policies — agents see this
  as a `PolicyViolationError`. Numeric ceilings are not publicly documented.
sources:
  - https://waxell.ai/docs
  - https://waxell.ai/docs/observe/overview
  - https://waxell.ai/docs/observe/features/cost-management
  - https://waxell.ai/docs/observe/features/governance
headers:
  requestId: X-Request-Id
responseCodes:
  throttled: 429
  quotaExceeded: 429
  unauthorized: 401
limits:
  - name: Observe API requests (per API key)
    scope: key
    metric: varies
    limit: 'see /docs/observe/api/rate-limits (gated)'
    notes: Tenant-scoped throttle attached to the wax_sk_ key; numeric ceilings not published.
  - name: Policy check throttling
    scope: account
    metric: varies
    limit: 'governed by configured Rate Limit / Cost Management policies'
    notes: Governance policies can return a `throttle` decision that is enforced inside the SDK.
  - name: Runtime cost-budget throttle
    scope: account
    metric: varies
    limit: 'configurable budget, raises PolicyViolationError when exceeded'
    notes: Cost policies block or throttle runs when configured token / dollar budgets are exceeded.
policies:
  - name: PolicyViolationError on throttle/block
    description: Throttle and block decisions raise `PolicyViolationError` inside the Waxell SDK; callers should catch and back off.
  - name: Decision actions
    description: The policy engine returns one of seven actions — allow, warn, redact, throttle, block, skip, retry — only the latter three are throttle-equivalent.
  - name: Mid-execution governance
    description: With `mid_execution_governance=True`, policies are re-evaluated between agent steps so long-running agents can be throttled mid-run.
  - name: Kill switch
    description: Operators can flip a kill switch policy that immediately blocks all runs for an agent or tenant.
  - name: Retry guidance
    description: Standard exponential backoff is recommended on HTTP 429; `retry_after_seconds` may be returned on policy decisions.