#API: How to prevent hitting the requests per day rate limits?

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still crane
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I just noticed that you can hit the Requests Per Day rate limit without having reached the next usage tier to increase that limit. What happens in that case? You are just locked out of the API until tomorrow?

I'm wondering how are could you make a product that will be used by thousands of users with this rate limit?

I researched about adding retries and more mitigation practices but that won't prevent reaching the Requests Per Day limit.

brazen mortarBOT
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Hi @still crane. I'm kapa.ai, your friendly support bot. I will try to answer your question by searching through the knowledge base. :wave:

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If you've hit the Requests Per Day rate limit, you will indeed be unable to make further requests until the next day. This is because the rate limits are designed to prevent misuse and ensure fair access to the API for all users.

To manage a product used by thousands of users within this rate limit, there are several strategies you can consider:

  1. Increase your usage tier: If you're consistently hitting your rate limit, you might need to increase your usage tier. This will give you a higher rate limit, allowing you to serve more users. You can view your current rate limits, your current usage tier, and how to raise your usage tier/limits in the Limits section (https://platform.openai.com/account/limits) of your account settings [source (https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6891753-what-are-the-best-practices-for-managing-my-rate-limits-in-the-api#h_66df1d47c0)].

  2. Implement a usage limit for individual users: To protect against high-volume misuse, consider setting a usage limit for individual users within a specified time frame (daily, weekly, or monthly). You could also implement a hard cap or a manual review process for users who exceed the limit [source (https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/rate-limits)].

  3. Proactively add delay between requests: If you're constantly hitting the rate limit, then backing off, then hitting the rate limit again, it's possible that a good fraction of your request budget will be 'wasted' on requests that need to be retried. To avoid this, calculate your rate limit and add a delay equal to its reciprocal to each request. This can help you operate near the rate limit ceiling without hitting it and incurring wasted requests [source (https://cookbook.openai.com/examples/how_to_handle_rate_limits#how-to-maximize-throughput-of-batch-processing-given-rate-limits)].

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  1. Retry with exponential backoff: This strategy involves performing a short sleep when a rate limit error is hit, then retrying the unsuccessful request. If the request is still unsuccessful, the sleep length is increased and the process is repeated. This continues until the request is successful or until a maximum number of retries is reached. Note that unsuccessful requests contribute to your per-minute limit, so continuously resending a request won’t work [source (https://cookbook.openai.com/examples/how_to_handle_rate_limits#retrying-with-exponential-backoff)].

Remember, the goal is to manage your usage effectively to stay within the rate limits while still providing a good user experience. If you're still having trouble, consider reaching out to OpenAI support for further assistance.

Note: you can ask me a follow up question by @ mentioning me again :speech_balloon: