mcpbeat

API Rate Limiting

secondsky/api-rate-limiting

Implements API rate limiting using token bucket, sliding window, and Redis-based algorithms to protect against abuse. Use when securing public APIs, implementing tiered access, or preventing denial-of-service attacks.

This is a copy. The original lives at comeonoliver/api-rate-limiting.

496 tokens
context cost
the whole folder, loaded on every use
1
files
instructions only
0
copies elsewhere
how many repositories repackaged it
202
stars on the repo
on the repository, not the skill itself

Install

one command, takes just this skill from the repository
npx skills add https://github.com/secondsky/claude-skills --skill api-rate-limiting

The instruction itself

7 sections, as written by the author

API Rate Limiting

Protect APIs from abuse using rate limiting algorithms with per-user and per-endpoint strategies.

Algorithms

| Algorithm | Pros | Cons |

|-----------|------|------|

| Token Bucket | Handles bursts, smooth | Memory per user |

| Sliding Window | Accurate | Memory intensive |

| Fixed Window | Simple | Boundary spikes |

Token Bucket (Node.js)

class TokenBucket {
  constructor(capacity, refillRate) {
    this.capacity = capacity;
    this.tokens = capacity;
    this.refillRate = refillRate; // tokens per second
    this.lastRefill = Date.now();
  }

  consume() {
    this.refill();
    if (this.tokens >= 1) {
      this.tokens--;
      return true;
    }
    return false;
  }

  refill() {
    const now = Date.now();
    const elapsed = (now - this.lastRefill) / 1000;
    this.tokens = Math.min(this.capacity, this.tokens + elapsed * this.refillRate);
    this.lastRefill = now;
  }
}

Express Middleware

const rateLimit = require('express-rate-limit');

const limiter = rateLimit({
  windowMs: 15 * 60 * 1000, // 15 minutes
  max: 100,
  standardHeaders: true,
  message: { error: 'Too many requests, try again later' }
});

app.use('/api/', limiter);

Response Headers

X-RateLimit-Limit: 100
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 45
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1705320000
Retry-After: 60

Tiered Limits

| Tier | Requests/Hour |

|------|---------------|

| Free | 100 |

| Pro | 1,000 |

| Enterprise | 10,000 |

Best Practices

  • Use Redis for distributed rate limiting
  • Include proper headers in responses
  • Return 429 status with Retry-After
  • Implement tiered limits for different plans
  • Monitor rate limit metrics
  • Test under load

How to use it

Copy the folder

Take secondsky/api-rate-limiting from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.

Check the name does not clash

The agent identifies a skill by the name field in its header. Two skills with the same name cannot sit side by side — one of them will be ignored.