> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://vaquill.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Rate Limits

> Per-plan request limits and how to back off on a 429

Rate limits are enforced per API key and cap your request volume. If you exceed your per-minute, per-hour, or per-day ceiling, the call is rate limited.

## Limits by plan

| Plan         | Per minute | Per hour | Per day |
| ------------ | ---------- | -------- | ------- |
| API          | 30         | 500      | 2,000   |
| API Business | 150        | 2,500    | 10,000  |

<Note>
  Discovery endpoints (`/statutes/states`, `/statutes/codes`, `/statutes/coverage`) still count against these rate limits. Cache their responses rather than calling them on every request.
</Note>

## Handling a 429

When you exceed a limit the API returns `429` with a `Retry-After` header telling you how many seconds to wait. Respect it, and add exponential backoff so retries spread out under sustained pressure.

<CodeGroup>
  ```python Python theme={"theme":"github-dark"}
  import time
  import requests

  def search_with_retry(payload, max_retries=5):
      url = "https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1/statutes/search"
      headers = {
          "Authorization": "Bearer vq_key_...",
          "Content-Type": "application/json",
      }
      for attempt in range(max_retries):
          resp = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json=payload)
          if resp.status_code == 429:
              # Prefer the server hint, fall back to exponential backoff.
              retry_after = resp.headers.get("Retry-After")
              delay = int(retry_after) if retry_after else 2 ** attempt
              time.sleep(delay)
              continue
          resp.raise_for_status()
          return resp.json()
      raise RuntimeError("Rate limit: max retries exceeded")

  data = search_with_retry({"query": "data breach notification"})
  ```

  ```javascript JavaScript theme={"theme":"github-dark"}
  async function searchWithRetry(payload, maxRetries = 5) {
    const url = "https://api.vaquill.ai/api/v1/statutes/search";
    const headers = {
      Authorization: "Bearer vq_key_...",
      "Content-Type": "application/json",
    };

    for (let attempt = 0; attempt < maxRetries; attempt++) {
      const resp = await fetch(url, {
        method: "POST",
        headers,
        body: JSON.stringify(payload),
      });

      if (resp.status === 429) {
        const retryAfter = resp.headers.get("Retry-After");
        const delay = retryAfter ? Number(retryAfter) * 1000 : 2 ** attempt * 1000;
        await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, delay));
        continue;
      }
      if (!resp.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${resp.status}`);
      return resp.json();
    }
    throw new Error("Rate limit: max retries exceeded");
  }

  const data = await searchWithRetry({ query: "data breach notification" });
  ```
</CodeGroup>

<Tip>
  Smooth your request rate before you hit the ceiling. A small client-side delay between calls in a paging loop keeps you comfortably under the per-minute limit and avoids retries entirely.
</Tip>

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Errors" icon="triangle-exclamation" href="/docs/api-guide/errors">
    Every status code and how to recover from it.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>