Handle Rate Limits for LLMs and AI APIs Calls

The adoption of Large Language Models (LLMs) and other AI APIs is skyrocketing. From chatbots to document parsing, they power countless applications. But with their power comes a common challenge: rate limits.

Rate limits are restrictions placed by providers on how many requests you can make within a certain timeframe. While they may seem like roadblocks, understanding and handling them is key to building scalable, reliable applications.

What Are Rate Limits?

Rate limits define the maximum number of requests you can send to an API within a fixed period (per second, per minute, or per day).

• LLMs may limit the number of tokens per minute.
• Translation APIs may limit characters per second.
• Speech APIs may limit audio length per request.

Once these limits are exceeded, requests fail with errors such as 429 Too Many Requests.

Why Rate Limits Matter

• Service reliability: Prevents apps from breaking during peak traffic.
• Cost control: Many limits are tied to pricing tiers, helping avoid unexpected bills.
• Scalability: Applications designed with rate limits in mind can handle growth smoothly.
• Fair access: Limits protect providers’ infrastructure so every user gets consistent service.

Strategies to Handle Rate Limits

1. Implement Retry Logic: Back off and retry after a cooldown period. Use exponential backoff to avoid sending too many requests too quickly.
2. Batch Requests: Send multiple items in one request instead of making many small ones (e.g., translate a full paragraph instead of each sentence).
3. Queue and Throttle: Introduce a queue to regulate traffic and process requests steadily, staying under provider-imposed limits.
4. Monitor Usage: Track API consumption in real time and set alerts before limits are exceeded.
5. Distribute Workloads Across Providers: Use multiple providers for the same feature. If one reaches its cap, reroute traffic to another.

How Eden AI Helps Manage Rate Limits

Instead of manually managing providers and limits, Eden AI offers a unified API that connects you to multiple AI services (LLMs, vision, speech, translation).

With Eden AI, you can:

• Access several providers with one integration.
• Dynamically switch or distribute requests to avoid hitting caps.
• Monitor usage in one place.
• Automatically fallback to alternatives if one provider enforces stricter limits.

Conclusion

Rate limits are part of working with AI APIs, but they don’t have to slow you down. By implementing retries, batching, queues, monitoring, and multi-provider strategies, you can build reliable, scalable applications. With Eden AI’s unified API, these practices become easier to apply, letting you focus on building value for your users.