> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://vastai-80aa3a82-examples-openclaw-openai-serverless.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Rate Limits and Errors

This page describes how Vast.ai public API errors and rate limits work, along with practical retry guidance.

## Error Responses

Error responses vary slightly by endpoint. The most common error response shape is:

```json theme={null}
{
  "success": false,
  "error": "invalid_args",
  "msg": "Human-readable description of the problem."
}
```

Some endpoints omit the boolean `success`.
Some omit `error` and return only `msg` or `message`.

## Rate Limits

### How rate limits are applied

Vast.ai applies rate limits **per endpoint** and **per identity**. This is enforced as a minimum interval between requests for a given endpoint and identity.

The identity is determined by: bearer token + session user + `api_key` query param + client IP.

Some endpoints also use **method-specific** limits (GET vs POST) and/or **max-calls-per-period** limits for short bursts.

### Rate limit response behavior

When you hit a rate limit, you will receive **HTTP 429**. The response body is often plain text (in certain cases JSON with `success`/`error`/`msg` like above) with one of the following messages:

```
API requests too frequent
```

or

```
API requests too frequent: endpoint threshold=...
```

The API does not currently set standard rate-limit headers (for example `Retry-After`), so clients should apply their own backoff strategy.

### How to reduce rate limit errors

* **Batch requests** where supported, rather than calling many single-item endpoints.
* **Reduce polling**: use longer polling intervals, or cache results client-side.
* **Spread traffic** over time: avoid bursts; use a queue or scheduler.

If you need higher limits for legitimate production usage, contact support with the endpoint(s), your expected call rate, and your account details.