Rate limits
Every request is throttled, and some actions carry a per-account quota. These are the defaults a new account starts with; an account may be granted a higher limit. Going over a rate limit returns 429 Too Many Requests with a Retry-After header (seconds to wait); a resource quota at its cap returns 409 Conflict. The same values are available as JSON at GET /rate-limits.
Request throttles
Applied to every request: by client IP before you authenticate, by account once you send a valid access token. The authenticated allowance is the higher of the two, so signing in raises your ceiling. Auth flows carry their own tighter limits.
| Limit | Applies | Allowance | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unauthenticated requests | Per IP | 60 requests per minute | Baseline ceiling on every request made without a valid access token, counted per client IP. Authenticated requests use the higher per-account limit instead. |
| Authenticated requests | Per account | 120 requests per minute | Baseline ceiling on every request carrying a valid access token, counted per account. |
| Login attempts | Per IP | 10 requests per minute | Sign-in attempts per client IP. |
| Sign-ups | Per IP | 5 requests per hour | Account registrations per client IP. |
| Password-reset requests | Per IP | 3 requests per hour | Password-reset emails requested per client IP. |
Per-user quotas
Charged once a request is attributed to your account. Rate quotas reset over a rolling window; resource quotas cap how many of a thing you can own at once, so deleting one frees a slot.
| Quota | Type | Default limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emote slots | Resource | 50 | Channel emote slots this user holds. |
| Clips created | Resource | 300 | Live clips this user has created across all streamers. |
| Clip creation rate | Rate | 20 requests per hour | Clips this user may create per hour. |
| Moderator slots | Resource | 25 | Moderators this user's channel has appointed. |
| Friends | Resource | 1000 | Confirmed friends this user holds. |
| Friend request rate | Rate | 30 requests per hour | Friend requests this user may send per hour. |
| Blocked users | Resource | 1000 | Users this user has blocked. |
| DM send rate | Rate | 30 requests per minute | Direct messages this user may send per minute. |
| API keys | Resource | 10 | API keys this user holds. |
| Thumbnail pick rate | Rate | 30 requests per hour | VOD thumbnail frames this user may pick per hour. |
| Subscription creation rate | Rate | 5 requests per 24 hours | New subscriptions this user may start per day. |
| Tip send rate | Rate | 10 requests per minute | Tips this user may send per minute. |
| Tip send daily cap | Rate | 60 requests per 24 hours | Tips this user may send per day. |
| Wallet top-up rate | Rate | 10 requests per 24 hours | Wallet top-ups this user may start per day. |
| Forum post rate | Rate | 15 requests per hour | Forum posts this user may create per hour. |
| Forum comment rate | Rate | 10 requests per minute | Forum comments this user may create per minute. |
| Forum vote rate | Rate | 60 requests per minute | Forum votes this user may cast per minute. |
| Forum report rate | Rate | 20 requests per hour | Forum reports this user may file per hour. |
| Forum link-unfurl rate | Rate | 20 requests per minute | Forum link previews this user may fetch per minute. |
| Forum creation rate | Rate | 5 requests per 24 hours | Forums this user may create per day. |
| Forum tag mint rate | Rate | 10 requests per 24 hours | New forum tags this user may mint per day. |
| Forum tag apply rate | Rate | 30 requests per minute | Forum tag applications this user may make per minute. |
| Text rooms created | Resource | 25 | Live text rooms this user created. |
| Lenses created | Resource | 25 | Live moderation lenses this user created. |