Rate Limiting and Abuse Protection
Protect public endpoints and critical workflows from abuse and service degradation.
Recommended approach
- Apply per-IP and per-identity limits where relevant.
- Add endpoint-specific rules (auth, password reset, OTP, webhooks).
- Combine limits with anomaly detection and alerting.
Alternatives and when to choose them
- Gateway-only limiting for edge-managed services.
- Application-level only for internal/private APIs.
Implementation checklist
- Define policies by endpoint risk profile.
- Return consistent throttling errors and retry guidance.
- Track block rates and false positives.
Common pitfalls
- One global limit for all endpoints.
- No bypass/allowlist strategy for trusted integrations.