What are API transaction limits, and how do they affect me?
Eniture Technology assigns an API transaction limit to every e-commerce store that uses one of its products. The limit sets a ceiling on the number of API requests that a store can make over a period of time. Once the limit is reached, additional API requests from the store are blocked until the limit is relieved.
The Purpose of API Transaction Limits
The purpose of the API transaction limits is to ensure platform stability, prevent abuse, and protect Eniture Technology's infrastructure from high volumes of nefarious traffic that may come from an individual store due to a hacking event. Without the limits, the number of API transactions from a hacked store can spike from a normal rate of 20 to 50 per minute to thousands per minute, overwhelming Eniture Technology's cloud-based resources and causing performance issues for other customers or service outages.
API transaction limits are commonplace in the cloud-based computing world. Shopify and BigCommerce enforce their own limits, as do the transportation providers Eniture Technology enables connections to for real-time shipping quotes and nearly every mature cloud-based computing resource.
How do API Transaction Limits Work
Eniture Technology's API transaction limits are measured in requests per minute and requests per hour. Each store is assigned to a tier according to its predicted number of transactions. Each successive tier increases the requests per minute and per hour. If a limit is exceeded, the store is blocked for the remainder of the measurement period.
Most often, the requests per minute limit is the one triggered. Here's an example of how the minute limit would be applied...
If the per minute limit is exceeded after 50 seconds, additional API requests from the store will be blocked for the remaining 10 seconds. After the remaining 10 seconds elapse, the store is automatically unblocked.
The same logic is applied if it is the per hour limit that is triggered.
How to Check if Your Store Encountered its Limit
Navigate to the Connection Settings page in app/plugin settings. Click the Test Connection button. If the store is currently blocked due to excessive API requests, you'll see an alert at the top of the page confirming it. The blocked period may only be seconds long, and by the time you check it, it may already have passed. We are working on ways to better inform stores when the API transaction limit is exceeded.
How to Request an API Transaction Limit Increase
To request an increase in the API transaction limits for your store, email support@eniture.com. A support ticket will be opened, and you'll receive a notification of the case number. Eniture Technology will review the request and take action as needed.