Rate limits

The BSR enforces rate limits to prevent abuse and ensure availability for all users.

Where rate limits apply

Public BSR (buf.build)

All users accessing the public BSR are subject to rate limits. Rate limits apply to all traffic against the public BSR (buf.build), including Community, Teams, Pro, and Enterprise plan users.

Pro and Enterprise instances

Pro and Enterprise customers have access to dedicated instances without rate limits. We encourage these users to use their dedicated instances for production workloads.

Limits

Note: Burst capacity allows you to make multiple requests quickly, then wait for your rate limit to replenish.

General API requests

All Connect services have a default rate limit:

• Limit: 30 requests per second
• Burst: 60 requests

Code generation

Unauthenticated requests

• Limit: 10 requests per hour
• Burst: 10 requests

Authenticated requests

• Limit: 960 requests per hour
• Burst: 120 requests

Buf CLI usage

Each buf generate command that uses remote plugins counts as one request, with a maximum of 20 plugins per request.

Examples:

• buf.gen.yaml with 15 remote plugins = 1 request
• buf.gen.yaml with 22 remote plugins = Request rejected

FileDescriptorSetService

• Limit: 1 request per second
• Burst: 2 requests

Monitoring your rate limit

Check these response headers to monitor your current rate limit status:

Header	Description
X-RateLimit-Limit	Total requests allowed in the current time window
X-RateLimit-Remaining	Remaining requests in the current time window
X-RateLimit-Reset	Seconds until the rate limit window resets
Retry-After	When rate limited, seconds to wait before retrying

Exceeding the rate limit

Requests that exceed a rate limit return HTTP status code 429 with X-RateLimit-Remaining set to 0. Wait for the number of seconds specified in the Retry-After header before retrying.

Increasing your rate limit

1. Authenticate your requests - Increases rate limits for certain services.
2. Upgrade to Pro or Enterprise - Access dedicated instances without rate limits.
3. Contact us if you believe you're hitting limits inappropriately.

For questions about rate limits or to discuss your specific needs, contact us.