Broker’s API access rate limits breached

What this error means

Every API provider sets API limits. These limits are restrictions that a service provider puts on how often you can call its API. The main reason is to protect servers from too much load. We also apply our own API limits to our users.

This error says that the API limit set by your stock broker was breached by AutoTrader Web. This is a very unlikely case. Our own API rate limits are more stringent than the broker’s limits, so requests usually get held back before they reach the broker’s ceiling.

How this error can look

You may see this while placing orders or refreshing your portfolio, worded in a few ways. They all mean the same thing — requests were sent too fast:

Access rate limit reached (exceeding access rate) — too many requests were sent in a short time. Please wait a moment and try again.

With Angel Broking’s Smart API it can also read “Access denied because of exceeding access rate”. If you see “access rate”, “exceeding access rate” or “too many requests” anywhere in the message, this is the right article. Wait a few seconds and try again.

Solution

So far, we have only seen this with Angel Broking’s Smart API. After a careful study, we found a bug in the Smart API rate limit check. We have reported it to their team, and they are investigating it.

A few brokers (for example Upstox, Dhan and Kotak Neo) can also return their own “Too Many Requests” style message if requests come in too fast. AutoTrader Web paces its calls to stay below each broker’s limit, so this is uncommon. If you see it, retry after a short pause. If it keeps happening for any broker, please inform our support team.

This error is about calling the API too fast (too many requests in a short time). It is different from a daily cap on the total number of order requests. For Zerodha’s “Maximum allowed order request exceeded” error, see Kite: Maximum allowed order request exceeded.