What is API Rate Limiting? — UK Software Development Guide
Direct Answer
API rate limiting is the practice of restricting the number of requests a client can make to an API within a defined time window. Rate limiting prevents abuse, protects backend systems from overload, and ensures fair resource distribution across multiple API consumers.
Api-rate-limiting in the UK
API rate limiting is relevant to UK software in several ways. Cyber Essentials requires protecting services from malicious traffic — rate limiting is a key control. FCA operational resilience (PS21/3) requires APIs to be protected against overload scenarios. UK government APIs have explicit rate limits: HMRC MTD API has rate limits per client ID; Companies House API limits to 600 requests per 5 minutes; NHS Spine has per-endpoint rate limits. ClickMasters implements rate limiting on all production APIs as standard — using token bucket algorithm at the API gateway layer.
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