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exa-rate-limits

tessl install github:jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills --skill exa-rate-limits
github.com/jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills

Implement Exa rate limiting, backoff, and idempotency patterns. Use when handling rate limit errors, implementing retry logic, or optimizing API request throughput for Exa. Trigger with phrases like "exa rate limit", "exa throttling", "exa 429", "exa retry", "exa backoff".

Review Score

84%

Validation Score

12/16

Implementation Score

73%

Activation Score

100%

Exa Rate Limits

Overview

Handle Exa rate limits gracefully with exponential backoff and idempotency.

Prerequisites

  • Exa SDK installed
  • Understanding of async/await patterns
  • Access to rate limit headers

Instructions

Step 1: Understand Rate Limit Tiers

TierRequests/minRequests/dayBurst
Free601,00010
Pro30010,00050
Enterprise1,000100,000200

Step 2: Implement Exponential Backoff with Jitter

async function withExponentialBackoff<T>(
  operation: () => Promise<T>,
  config = { maxRetries: 5, baseDelayMs: 1000, maxDelayMs: 32000, jitterMs: 500 }
): Promise<T> {
  for (let attempt = 0; attempt <= config.maxRetries; attempt++) {
    try {
      return await operation();
    } catch (error: any) {
      if (attempt === config.maxRetries) throw error;
      const status = error.status || error.response?.status;
      if (status !== 429 && (status < 500 || status >= 600)) throw error;

      // Exponential delay with jitter to prevent thundering herd
      const exponentialDelay = config.baseDelayMs * Math.pow(2, attempt);
      const jitter = Math.random() * config.jitterMs;
      const delay = Math.min(exponentialDelay + jitter, config.maxDelayMs);

      console.log(`Rate limited. Retrying in ${delay.toFixed(0)}ms...`);
      await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, delay));
    }
  }
  throw new Error('Unreachable');
}

Step 3: Add Idempotency Keys

import { v4 as uuidv4 } from 'uuid';
import crypto from 'crypto';

// Generate deterministic key from operation params (for safe retries)
function generateIdempotencyKey(operation: string, params: Record<string, any>): string {
  const data = JSON.stringify({ operation, params });
  return crypto.createHash('sha256').update(data).digest('hex');
}

async function idempotentRequest<T>(
  client: ExaClient,
  params: Record<string, any>,
  idempotencyKey?: string  // Pass existing key for retries
): Promise<T> {
  // Use provided key (for retries) or generate deterministic key from params
  const key = idempotencyKey || generateIdempotencyKey(params.method || 'POST', params);
  return client.request({
    ...params,
    headers: { 'Idempotency-Key': key, ...params.headers },
  });
}

Output

  • Reliable API calls with automatic retry
  • Idempotent requests preventing duplicates
  • Rate limit headers properly handled

Error Handling

HeaderDescriptionAction
X-RateLimit-LimitMax requestsMonitor usage
X-RateLimit-RemainingRemaining requestsThrottle if low
X-RateLimit-ResetReset timestampWait until reset
Retry-AfterSeconds to waitHonor this value

Examples

Queue-Based Rate Limiting

import PQueue from 'p-queue';

const queue = new PQueue({
  concurrency: 5,
  interval: 1000,
  intervalCap: 10,
});

async function queuedRequest<T>(operation: () => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
  return queue.add(operation);
}

Monitor Rate Limit Usage

class RateLimitMonitor {
  private remaining: number = 60;
  private resetAt: Date = new Date();

  updateFromHeaders(headers: Headers) {
    this.remaining = parseInt(headers.get('X-RateLimit-Remaining') || '60');
    const resetTimestamp = headers.get('X-RateLimit-Reset');
    if (resetTimestamp) {
      this.resetAt = new Date(parseInt(resetTimestamp) * 1000);
    }
  }

  shouldThrottle(): boolean {
    // Only throttle if low remaining AND reset hasn't happened yet
    return this.remaining < 5 && new Date() < this.resetAt;
  }

  getWaitTime(): number {
    return Math.max(0, this.resetAt.getTime() - Date.now());
  }
}

Resources

  • Exa Rate Limits
  • p-queue Documentation

Next Steps

For security configuration, see exa-security-basics.