The Instant Classification API enforces two types of limit: a usage quota for free-tier accounts and a per-minute rate limit for all accounts.
Free-tier quota
New accounts start on the free tier. Free-tier accounts are limited to 20 classification requests in total. When your quota is exhausted, the API returns 402:
{
"detail": "Usage quota exceeded. Contact support for elevated access."
}
The free tier gives you 20 requests to evaluate the API. If you’re building an integration, contact support for a paid account before you start development.
Per-minute rate limit
All accounts — free and paid — are subject to a per-minute rate limit on the classification endpoint. The limit is 5 requests per minute, applied per authenticated user.
When you exceed the per-minute limit, the API returns 429:
HTTP/1.1 429 Too Many Requests
How the two limits interact
| Account type | Usage quota | Per-minute rate limit |
|---|
| Free | 20 requests total | 5 requests/minute |
| Paid | Unlimited | 5 requests/minute |
Backing off
Retry 429 responses with exponential backoff:
attempt 1 → wait 2 s
attempt 2 → wait 4 s
attempt 3 → wait 8 s
attempt 4 → give up, surface the error
Do not retry 402 (quota exceeded). The request will fail the same way until your account is upgraded to a paid plan.
Checking your limits
Call GET /api/v1/utils/public-config to see the current free quota:
curl -sS "https://instant-classification-api.thedatacity.com/api/v1/utils/public-config"
{
"free_quota_limit": 20,
"free_quota_scope": "lifetime"
}
