What is an API rate limit?

A rate limit is a cap on how many requests you can send to an API in a given time window. APIs run on servers with finite resources, so providers use rate limits to prevent any single integration from overwhelming their infrastructure. When you exceed the limit, the API returns a 429 Too Many Requests error.

What does a 429 error mean in automation?

A 429 error means you have exceeded the API's rate limit. The dangerous thing about 429 errors in automation is that they are often silent — most tools log the failure and move on, so your data simply does not sync without any obvious crash or alert. You need explicit handling to log, retry, or queue failed requests.

What are the rate limits for Notion, Stripe, and Attio?

Notion allows 3 requests per second per integration, with a 1,000 block and 500KB payload limit per request. Stripe allows 25 requests per second for most endpoints and up to 100/s for read operations. Attio allows 100 read requests and 25 write requests per second, with additional score-based limits on complex queries.

What is exponential backoff with jitter?

Exponential backoff means doubling the wait time on each retry after a rate limit error: 1s, 2s, 4s, 8s, and so on. Jitter adds a small random amount on top so that multiple retrying requests do not all land at exactly the same moment, which would recreate the rate limit problem. Always check for a Retry-After header first — most APIs send one that tells you exactly how long to wait.

How do queues help with API rate limits?

Instead of firing all requests simultaneously, a queue stores them and processes them at a controlled rate. If your limit is 3 requests per second, processing one request every 350ms keeps you safely under the limit regardless of how many arrive at once. In n8n you can use a Wait node between iterations; for production systems use BullMQ or a similar queue library.

Why do rate limit failures happen silently?

A 429 error is not a crash. Your automation keeps running — it just skips the request that got rate limited. Unless you explicitly handle 429 responses with retries or visible logging, the data simply does not sync. The automation dashboard looks healthy. The error is only visible in the data itself, often discovered only when a client notices records are missing or inconsistent.

API Rate Limits: What They Are, How They Silently Kill Automations, and How to Build Around Them

May 18, 2026 · ~10 min read · by Abhiman

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