Rate Limits

The Creatorlayer API enforces rate limits per API key to ensure fair use and service stability.

---

Limits

Tier	Requests / minute	Burst	Applies to
Pilot	60	10	All pilot lender keys
Production	300	50	Production keys (post-pilot)

Limits apply per API key. All endpoints share the same quota.

---

Rate limit headers

Every API response includes headers showing your current usage:

Header	Meaning
X-RateLimit-Limit	Maximum requests allowed per minute
X-RateLimit-Remaining	Requests remaining in the current window
X-RateLimit-Reset	Unix timestamp when the window resets

---

When you are rate limited

A 429 Too Many Requests response is returned with a Retry-After header:

HTTP/1.1 429 Too Many Requests
Retry-After: 8
X-RateLimit-Limit: 60
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 0
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1742394120

{
  "error": "rate_limited",
  "message": "Too many requests. Retry after 8 seconds."
}

Always honour Retry-After — retrying immediately will extend your backoff window.

---

Avoiding rate limits

Use idempotency keys

If a request times out, retry with the same Idempotency-Key rather than creating a new request. This avoids burning quota on duplicate verifications.

Poll efficiently

When polling for verification status, use a minimum interval of 5 seconds between requests. Most verifications complete within 30–90 seconds after the creator completes consent.

# Recommended polling pattern
while true; do
  STATUS=$(curl -s https://api.creatorlayer.eu/api/v1/verifications/VRF_ID \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" | jq -r '.status')
  [ "$STATUS" = "completed" ] && break
  sleep 5
done

Use webhooks instead of polling

The most efficient approach is to register a webhook endpoint and stop polling entirely — see Getting Started § Set up webhooks.

---

Limit increases

If your integration requires higher limits, contact hello@creatorlayer.eu with your expected request volume and use case. Production keys with higher limits are available post-pilot.