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What is Rate Limiting?

Rate limiting is a technique used to control how many requests a user, device, or IP address can make to a server within a set period of time. When that limit is reached, additional requests are blocked, delayed, or returned with an error until the time window resets. 

It is commonly used by websites, APIs, and online services to prevent abuse, protect server resources, and keep performance stable for all users. Without it, a single source could flood a server with traffic, slowing or crashing it for everyone else. 

Rate limiting is a key tool against certain types of bot traffic, since automated systems can send far more requests per second than a human user would. It also plays a role in security by slowing down brute-force login attempts and other repetitive attack methods. 

From a user perspective, you may encounter rate limiting as a temporary error or cooldown message when a service decides you have sent too many requests in a short window of time.