> The full index of these docs is at [llms.txt](https://u22a8.ai/llms.txt).

# Rate limits

How A8 limits requests and tokens per organization, the headers that report the limits, and how to raise them.

A **rate limit** caps how much an organization sends to A8 in a minute. Each organization has two: requests per minute (RPM) and input tokens per minute (TPM). A request over either returns `429`.

## 1 How limits work

- **Per organization.** Every key and every interface of an organization draws on the same limits.
- **Input tokens.** TPM counts the tokens A8 reads, as `usage` reports them. The output count is always `0`.
- **Every call counts.** Judging, teaching and retracting each count as one request. A call over MCP counts the same as one over HTTP.
- **A rolling minute.** The limits refill continuously, so a burst at the start of a minute draws on the same budget as an even spread.

## 2 Tiers

| Tier    | Qualification                        | RPM                       | TPM                     |
| ------- | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------- | ----------------------- |
| Preview | Every organization in the A8 preview | TBD (requests per minute) | TBD (tokens per minute) |

*Table 1.* Rate limits by tier. Tiers beyond the preview are TBD (tiers and their qualification).

## 3 Response headers

Every response carries the rate-limit headers the OpenAI API sends, under the same names, on every interface. Clients and gateways that read them from OpenAI read them from A8 unchanged.

| Header                           | Meaning                                                           |
| -------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `x-ratelimit-limit-requests`     | The organization’s RPM                                            |
| `x-ratelimit-limit-tokens`       | The organization’s TPM                                            |
| `x-ratelimit-remaining-requests` | Requests left in the current minute                               |
| `x-ratelimit-remaining-tokens`   | Input tokens left in the current minute                           |
| `x-ratelimit-reset-requests`     | Time until the request budget refills, as a duration such as `1s` |
| `x-ratelimit-reset-tokens`       | Time until the token budget refills, as a duration such as `12s`  |
| `retry-after`                    | On a `429`: the seconds to wait before retrying                   |

*Table 2.* Rate-limit headers. The six `x-ratelimit-*` headers are on every response; `retry-after` is on a `429`.

The SDKs retry a `429` twice by default, waiting for `retry-after` each time. To read the headers yourself, ask the SDK for the raw response:

**Python**

```python
raw = client.chat.completions.with_raw_response.create(**request)

print(raw.headers["x-ratelimit-remaining-requests"])  # left this minute
resp = raw.parse()  # the usual response object
```

**TypeScript**

```typescript
const { data: resp, response } = await client.chat.completions
  .create(request)
  .withResponse();

console.log(response.headers.get("x-ratelimit-remaining-requests"));
```

## 4 Stay within the limits

- **Spread a batch.** A regression suite of many subjects runs within RPM when its requests are spread across the minute.
- **Pace by the headers.** `x-ratelimit-remaining-tokens` says how much of the minute’s budget is left.
- **Reuse verdicts.** The same request against the same pinned version returns the same verdict. A suite that stores verdicts by request sends each request once.

## 5 Raise your limits

Write to <integrations@u22a8.ai> from an owner or admin of the organization. Name the organization, the RPM and TPM it needs, and the workload behind them.

## Next steps

- [Errors](https://u22a8.ai/docs/errors.md): Every status A8 returns for a failed request, with its body, its cause and its fix, and how each SDK raises it.
- [Pricing](https://u22a8.ai/docs/pricing.md): What A8 costs per million input tokens, what counts as a token in a verdict, and how billing works.
- [API overview](https://u22a8.ai/docs/api-overview.md): What every request to A8 shares, from the base URL and authentication to the request parts and the response fields.