Rate Limits

Each API key has a rate limit of 100 requests per minute (a 60-second sliding window). Keys scoped to narrower permissions get tier-specific limits:

Key scope	Limit
Read access (default keys include this)	100 requests/minute
Write-only	60 requests/minute
Delete-only	30 requests/minute

A key’s limit follows its most permissive scope, and keys with a custom limit keep that instead. The X-RateLimit-Limit header on every response tells you your key’s exact limit.

X-RateLimit-Limit: 100
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 98
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1640995260

Header	Meaning
`X-RateLimit-Limit`	Maximum requests allowed in the current window.
`X-RateLimit-Remaining`	Requests remaining in the current window.
`X-RateLimit-Reset`	Unix timestamp (seconds) when a full window will have elapsed. Because the window slides, capacity frees up continuously as requests age out — this is the latest you’d need to wait.

What happens at the limit

When you hit the limit, subsequent requests return 429 Too Many Requests with a Retry-After header (seconds until capacity frees up):

HTTP/1.1 429 Too Many Requests
Retry-After: 12

{
  "success": false,
  "error": "Rate limit exceeded",
  "message": "Maximum 100 requests per 60 seconds",
  "code": "RATE_LIMIT_EXCEEDED",
  "statusCode": 429,
  "retryAfter": 12
}

Handling 429s correctly

Monitor X-RateLimit-Remaining on every response

Don’t wait for a 429 - track the remaining counter and start backing off when it gets low (e.g. below 10).

Implement exponential backoff for 429 responses

Standard pattern: on 429, sleep for the Retry-After seconds (or for an initial delay of 1s, doubling each retry up to a cap). Retry the same request. Never retry tighter than once per second.

Use caching to reduce API calls

Cache hierarchy data for 5–10 minutes (it changes infrequently). Cache historical stats for completed date ranges indefinitely.

Batch operations when possible

Prefer one large date-range query over many small ones. Use hierarchy filters (organization_id, brand_id, campaign_id) to reduce data volume per request.

Need a higher limit?

If your integration’s design genuinely requires more than 100 requests/minute per key, contact support@politicalcomms.com with details on your use case. We can issue keys with elevated limits for production integrations that demonstrate good caching and batching practices.

Introduction

Webhooks

Endpoints

What happens at the limit

Handling 429s correctly

Need a higher limit?

​What happens at the limit

​Handling 429s correctly

​Need a higher limit?

What happens at the limit

Handling 429s correctly

Need a higher limit?