Video narration
How can an API reject a request that’s perfectly valid? Picture a coffee shop that can safely serve only five customers per minute. Even if your order is correct, the shop pauses when too many people arrive at once. An API works similarly. Clients send requests, and the server counts them within a time period against a configured limit. Under the limit, requests go through. Cross it, and access is restricted, often with HTTP 429, Too Many Requests. That’s API rate limiting: controlling how fast one client can ask for service. So the request itself can be valid. The frequency is the problem. Wait, then retry according to the API’s guidance. Why reject a valid request? Because, like the coffee shop, the service is protecting its capacity and keeping access reliable for everyone. Send too many too quickly, and you get 429.