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Limits by endpoint

Rate limits are applied per API key, not per IP. Each key has its own independent counter per endpoint.
EndpointLimitWindow
/api/agent/lookup60 requests1 minute
/api/agent/validate60 requests1 minute
/api/agent/breaches60 requests1 minute
/api/agent/ip60 requests1 minute
/api/agent/phone60 requests1 minute
/api/agent/domain30 requests1 minute
/api/agent/company30 requests1 minute
/api/agent/google30 requests1 minute
/api/agent/darkweb30 requests1 minute
/api/agent/monitors60 requests1 minute
/api/agent/lists60 requests1 minute
/api/webhooks/*30 requests1 minute
Enterprise plans get 10× the above limits (e.g. 600/min for lookup, 300/min for domain).

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Response headers

Every response includes rate limit headers:
HeaderDescriptionExample
X-RateLimit-LimitMax requests in the current window60
X-RateLimit-RemainingRequests remaining42
X-RateLimit-ResetUnix timestamp when the window resets1716134460
When you’re rate limited (HTTP 429), an additional header is returned:
HeaderDescriptionExample
Retry-AfterSeconds until you can retry12

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Handling rate limits

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Exponential backoff

The recommended strategy is exponential backoff with the Retry-After header: 
import time
import requests

def lookup_with_retry(email, api_key, max_retries=3):
    url = "https://encrata.com/api/agent/lookup"
    headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}"}

    for attempt in range(max_retries):
        resp = requests.post(url, headers=headers, json={"email": email})

        if resp.status_code == 429:
            retry_after = int(resp.headers.get("Retry-After", 2 ** attempt))
            time.sleep(retry_after)
            continue

        return resp.json()

    raise Exception("Max retries exceeded")

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Best practices

Respect Retry-After

Always use the Retry-After header value instead of a fixed delay.

Spread requests

Distribute requests evenly across the window rather than bursting.

Use bulk endpoints

For high-volume lookups, use bulk endpoints instead of individual calls.

Monitor remaining

Check X-RateLimit-Remaining to preemptively slow down before hitting limits.