Error 429

429 Too Many Requests

The 429 Too Many Requests status code indicates that the client has sent too many requests in a specified amount of time, as determined by the server's rate-limiting rules. The server may include a Retry-After header in the response to specify when the client can try again.

For more details, refer to RFC 6585 ↗.

Common use cases

Servers use this status code to prevent excessive API requests from overloading the system. For example, a client making repeated API calls within a short time frame may trigger a 429 response. Websites or services may impose rate limits to manage traffic spikes or prevent abuse, temporarily blocking excessive requests from users.

Cloudflare-specific information

• Cloudflare API limits

API token limits

Type	Limit
Client API per user	1200/5 minutes
Client API per IP	200/second
GraphQL	Varies by query cost. Max 320/5 min
User API token quota	50
Account API token quota	500

Note

The global rate limit for the Cloudflare API is 1200 requests per five minute period per user, and applies cumulatively regardless of whether the request is made via the dashboard, API key, or API token.

If you exceed this limit, all API calls for the next five minutes will be blocked, receiving a HTTP 429 - Too Many Requests response.

Some specific API calls have their own limits and are documented separately, such as the following:

• Cache Purge APIs
• GraphQL APIs: 300 GraphQL queries over 5-minute window
• Rulesets APIs
• Lists API: 10,000 list changes in five minutes
• Gateway Lists API: 60 list updates per minute

Enterprise customers can also contact Cloudflare Support to raise the Client API per user, GraphQL, or API token limits to a higher value.

• Website end users

Cloudflare will generate a 429 response when a request is being rate limited ↗. If visitors to your site encounter this error, it will be visible in the Rate Limiting Analytics dashboard.