Rate Limiting controls how frequently a node can make outbound requests within a configured time window, preventing an automation from exceeding an external API's limits and causing avoidable run failures.
Overview
Rate Limiting (node-level) controls how frequently a node can make requests within a configured time window, preventing your automation from exceeding an external service's API limits.
Many third-party APIs cap the number of requests they will accept in a given period. When an automation sends requests faster than that cap, the API returns errors (typically 429 Too Many Requests) and the run fails. Node-level Rate Limiting lets you configure a ceiling per node, so the automation automatically waits when the limit is reached rather than hammering the API until it errors.
Note: This is node-level rate limiting, configured in the node's settings panel. It is separate from the Rate Limiting Policy in the API Manager, which controls inbound traffic to your own APIs.
Use Cases
Staying within an API's request quota: Asana allows 1,500 requests per minute. A For Loop over a large task list could generate hundreds of requests in seconds. Configuring a Rate Limit of 1,500 requests per 1 minute on the Asana node ensures the loop respects the limit without the automation developer manually adding Delay nodes between iterations.
Configuration
Field | Description |
|---|---|
Rate Limit Toggle | Enable or disable rate limiting for this node independently of other nodes |
Duration | The numeric length of the rate limit window (combined with Unit below) |
Unit | The time unit for the window: Seconds, Minutes, or Hours |
Number of Requests | Maximum number of requests the node may make within the Duration window |
Wait for Next Window | When enabled, the automation pauses automatically when the limit is hit and resumes once the window resets, rather than erroring |
Rate Limiting configuration fields panel showing Duration, Unit, Number of Requests, and Wait for Next Window settings
Steps to Configure Rate Limiting
Select the node on the canvas.
Open the node's configuration panel and navigate to the Rate Limiting section.
Toggle Rate Limiting on.
Set the Duration and Unit to match the upstream API's rate limit window.
Set the Number of Requests to the maximum allowed within that window.
Notes
Rate limiting at the node level prevents a class of errors that are otherwise hard to diagnose in high-throughput automations. To configure it effectively:
Match the Duration and Number of Requests exactly to the upstream API's documented limit — don't guess.
Enable "Wait for Next Window" in most cases — erroring and retrying wastes run time; waiting is safer and quieter.
Use Rate Limiting inside For Loops where each iteration hits the same external API; without it, a loop over 10,000 items will exhaust most API rate limits immediately.
Check the external service's documentation for their rate limit scope (per user, per workspace, or per IP) before configuring — the right numbers depend on how the limit is applied.
Rate limiting at the node level is an alternative to adding Delay nodes between loop iterations — cleaner, configurable, and self-documenting in the node's settings panel.