name: WP Engine API Rate Limits
description: Rate limiting policies for the WP Engine Hosting Platform REST API v1.
url: https://developers.wpengine.com/docs/managed-hosting-platform/api
version: "1.17.0"

general:
  description: The WP Engine API enforces rate limits per account and per IP address. When limits are exceeded, the API responds with HTTP 429 Too Many Requests. Developers should implement retry logic with exponential backoff to handle rate limit errors gracefully.
  errorCode: 429
  errorMessage: Too Many Requests
  retryStrategy: exponential backoff

limits:
  - name: General API Rate Limit
    description: General per-account rate limit applying to most API endpoints.
    scope: account
    header: Retry-After
    notes: Exact numeric thresholds are not publicly documented. Contact WP Engine support for specifics.

  - name: Install Creation Throttle
    description: Install (environment) creation operations are throttled to prevent cluster degradation.
    scope: account
    operations:
      - POST /installs
    notes: Batch creation of installs can impact cluster performance; requests are throttled accordingly.

  - name: Domain Creation Succession Limit
    description: Domain creation and update operations enforce succession limits to prevent abuse.
    scope: install
    operations:
      - POST /installs/{install_id}/domains
      - PUT /installs/{install_id}/domains/{domain_id}
    notes: Rapid successive domain operations are restricted.

  - name: Cache Purge Rate Limits
    description: Cache purging operations have type-specific rate limits for object cache, page cache, and CDN cache.
    scope: install
    types:
      - name: Object Cache Purge
        operation: POST /installs/{install_id}/purgeCache
        cacheType: object
      - name: Page Cache Purge
        operation: POST /installs/{install_id}/purgeCache
        cacheType: page
      - name: CDN Cache Purge
        operation: POST /installs/{install_id}/purgeCache
        cacheType: cdn
    notes: Each cache type has its own rate limit. Purging all cache types simultaneously counts against each respective limit.

pagination:
  description: API responses are paginated using offset-based pagination.
  maxLimit: 100
  defaultLimit: 100
  parameters:
    - name: limit
      description: Number of results per page (maximum 100)
      type: integer
      maximum: 100
    - name: offset
      description: Starting position for results
      type: integer
      minimum: 0

headers:
  - name: Authorization
    description: Basic Auth credentials encoded as base64(username:password)
    required: true
    format: "Basic <base64-encoded-credentials>"

errorHandling:
  - code: 429
    message: Too Many Requests
    action: Implement exponential backoff and retry after the period indicated in Retry-After header
  - code: 401
    message: Unauthorized
    action: Verify API credentials are valid and properly base64-encoded
  - code: 403
    message: Forbidden
    action: Verify the authenticated user has permission for the requested resource