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429 Too Many Requests

429 reports that the client sent too many requests within the server's chosen counting scope.

Difficulty
intermediate
Published
July 13, 2026
Last reviewed
Review due
  • status codes
  • rate limits
  • retries

Meaning

429 Too Many Requests indicates that the user sent too many requests in a server-defined period. HTTP does not define how the server identifies a user, counts requests, or coordinates limits across servers.

HTTP/1.1 429 Too Many Requests
Retry-After: 120
Content-Type: application/problem+json

{"detail":"Request limit reached."}

Expected result: a client can wait 120 seconds before another attempt. The field is guidance for this response, not a guarantee that a later request will succeed or that every client shares one quota.

Retry behavior

Retry-After is optional and can contain a delay in seconds or an HTTP date. A client should apply bounded backoff, respect method semantics, and avoid synchronizing many retries at one instant.

Caching

RFC 6585 prohibits caches from storing a 429 response. An application can still maintain its own rate-limit state independently from an HTTP cache.

Primary sources