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Rate Limits

Talonic meters usage in credits, not request quotas. Every account starts with 5,000 free credits per month (a hard cap: the API returns 429 when they run out, until the monthly reset or a credit purchase), then you pay as you go with prepaid credits. Separate abuse-protection rate limits apply per API key on a rolling window; they exist to keep the platform healthy and are not pricing.

Credit metering

Every operation costs credits (1,000 credits = 1): 100 credits per page ingested, 20 credits per AI-resolved structuring cell, registry-resolved cells free. See pricing for the full rate card. When your balance reaches zero, the API returns 429 until your free credits reset or you buy credits inside the platform.

Abuse-protection limits

Default operational limits are generous and independent of what you pay. If a legitimate workload hits them, contact info@talonic.ai and we raise them. Enterprise contracts include custom quotas.

LimitDefaultEnterprise
Requests per minute30Custom
Max file size50 MBCustom
Concurrent extractions5Custom
Schemas50Unlimited
Sources10Unlimited

Rate limit headers

Every API response includes rate limit headers so you can monitor usage proactively. Check these headers to avoid hitting limits during bulk extraction workloads.

HeaderDescription
X-RateLimit-LimitMaximum requests per minute for your API key
X-RateLimit-RemainingRequests remaining in the current window
X-RateLimit-ResetUnix timestamp when the window resets
Retry-AfterSeconds to wait before retrying (only on 429)

Handling 429 responses

When you receive a 429 Too Many Requests response, read the Retry-After header and wait that many seconds before retrying. Implement exponential backoff with jitter for resilience. See the error handling guide for a full retry strategy.

Best practices

Batch documents using source ingestion instead of individual extract calls. Use webhooks to receive results asynchronously rather than polling jobs. Cache schema responses to avoid unnecessary reads.

Frequently asked questions

What happens when I hit a rate limit?+
The API returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header indicating seconds to wait. Your request is not processed: retry after the specified delay.
Can I increase my rate limits?+
Rate limits exist to protect the platform from abuse; they are not pricing. If a legitimate workload hits them, contact info@talonic.ai and we raise them. Enterprise contracts include custom quotas.
Do rate limits apply to all endpoints?+
Yes. Rate limits apply globally across all API endpoints for a given API key. Read-only endpoints (GET) share the same quota as write endpoints.
Are rate limits per API key or per workspace?+
Rate limits are per API key. If you have multiple keys in the same workspace, each key has its own independent rate limit.