Rate limits

The Content API limits how much work your requests can do, to protect Swapcard servers from excessive or abusive calls. Check these limits before you run bulk imports or exports.

With GraphQL, one call can replace many REST calls: a single complex query can do the work of thousands of REST requests. The Content API therefore applies two kinds of limits:

• A cost-based limit: a budget of points you can spend per minute.
• Query limits: the maximum cost, depth and size of a single query.

Cost-based limit

The Content API gives each query a cost in points, based on its complexity (see how cost is calculated). By default, you can spend 60,000 points per minute.

Every API response includes headers that show your current usage:

Header	Description
X-RateLimit-Cost	The number of points the query cost.
X-RateLimit-Used	The number of points you have used in the current rate limit window.
X-RateLimit-Remaining	The number of points remaining in the current rate limit window.
X-RateLimit-Limit	The maximum number of points you can use per window.
X-RateLimit-Reset	The time at which the current window resets, in UTC epoch seconds.

tip

During bulk jobs, read X-RateLimit-Remaining on each response and pause until X-RateLimit-Reset when it runs low.

Query limits

Each query must stay within the following limits:

Limit	Maximum	Notes
Cost	10,000 points	A mutation costs 1,000 points, an object 2 points and a scalar 1 point. A depth factor of 1.5x is applied.
Depth	20 levels	Levels of nested objects.
Aliases	50 aliases
Tokens	2,000 tokens	A token is a field, an argument or an alias.
Directives	20 directives

Additional limits

• The request body must not exceed 1 megabyte.

Request higher limits

If your integration needs different limits, submit a request with details about your queries and use case.

warning

To guarantee service and prevent abuse, Swapcard may temporarily change the rate limit for some users without notice.