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api-rate-limit-handler

authentic

Implement bounded, idempotency-aware API throttling, backoff, and retry handling for 429 and transient 5xx responses.

When to use

• Use when calling external APIs that enforce rate limits (OpenAI, Stripe, GitHub, etc.)
• Use when you receive 429 Too Many Requests or 5xx errors and need graceful recovery
• Use when building a client that must respect `Retry-After` headers
• Use when designing a system that fans out to multiple API providers
• Use when the user says "handle rate limits", "add retry logic", "backoff strategy", or "don't get throttled"

When not to use

• This skill does not replace environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
• Token bucket is approximate for distributed systems — use Redis-backed rate limiting for multi-instance deployments (for example the `upstash-ratelimit` skill, or any shared-store limiter).
• Some APIs use non-standard rate limit headers; check provider documentation.
• The elapsed-time cap shown here bounds retry waits, not a single hung network call; combine it with an `AbortSignal` or client timeout.

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