Rate limits

The public Autheo Testnet JSON-RPC endpoints enforce per-IP rate limits to ensure fair access for all developers.

What triggers rate limiting

High-frequency polling (e.g., checking balance every 100ms)
Large eth_getLogs queries spanning many blocks
Burst traffic from scripts without backoff logic

Handling 429 responses

When you receive a 429 Too Many Requests HTTP response, implement exponential backoff:

async function rpcWithRetry(provider, method, params, maxRetries = 5) {
  for (let attempt = 0; attempt < maxRetries; attempt++) {
    try {
      return await provider.send(method, params);
    } catch (err) {
      if (err.status === 429 || err.code === "SERVER_ERROR") {
        const delay = Math.min(1000 * 2 ** attempt, 30_000);
        console.warn(`Rate limited, retrying in ${delay}ms...`);
        await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, delay));
      } else {
        throw err;
      }
    }
  }
  throw new Error("Max retries exceeded");
}

Best practices to reduce API usage

Use WebSocket subscriptions instead of polling

Public WebSocket endpoints are not currently offered on Mainnet or Testnet (see Network endpoints). This pattern applies to a node you run yourself. Against the public endpoints, poll at a modest interval and cache what you can.

Instead of calling eth_getBlockNumber every few seconds, subscribe to new blocks:

const wsProvider = new ethers.WebSocketProvider("ws://127.0.0.1:8546");
wsProvider.on("block", (blockNumber) => {
  console.log("New block:", blockNumber);
});

Paginate eth_getLogs in reasonably sized chunks

// Instead of one huge query from block 0 to latest:
const logs = await contract.queryFilter("Transfer", 0, "latest"); // ❌ may hit limits

// Use paginated chunks:
for (let from = 0; from < currentBlock; from += 5000) {
  const to = Math.min(from + 4999, currentBlock);
  const chunk = await contract.queryFilter("Transfer", from, to); // ✅
}

Cache immutable data Contract ABIs, deployed addresses, and historical block data don’t change. Cache them locally rather than re-fetching on every request. Load balance across endpoints Distribute requests across the public mainnet endpoints. Never mix networks in the same pool, since each endpoint serves a different chain ID:

const endpoints = [
  "https://rpc1.autheo.com",
  "https://rpc2.autheo.com",
  "https://rpc3.autheo.com"
];

let index = 0;
function getProvider() {
  const url = endpoints[index % endpoints.length];
  index++;
  return new ethers.JsonRpcProvider(url);
}

Production workloads

For applications that require consistent high-volume access, use a managed node provider (InfStones, Zeeve) which offers dedicated capacity with SLA guarantees. See hosting options for details.

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What triggers rate limiting

Handling 429 responses

Best practices to reduce API usage

Production workloads

​What triggers rate limiting

​Handling 429 responses

​Best practices to reduce API usage

​Production workloads

What triggers rate limiting

Handling 429 responses

Best practices to reduce API usage

Production workloads