Rate Limiting

To protect OpenAlgo from abuse and ensure fair usage, rate limits are enforced at both login and API levels. These limits are configurable via the .env file and apply globally per IP address.

UI Login Rate Limits

OpenAlgo applies two login-specific rate limits:

Scope	Limit	Description
Per Minute	5 per minute	Allows a maximum of 5 login attempts per minute
Per Hour	25 per hour	Allows a maximum of 25 login attempts per hour

These limits help prevent brute-force login attempts and secure user accounts.

API Rate Limits

OpenAlgo implements differentiated rate limiting for various types of operations:

Order Management APIs

Scope	Limit	Description
Per Second	10 per second	Order placement, modification, cancellation, and GTT writes

Applies to:

• /api/v1/placeorder - Place new orders

• /api/v1/modifyorder - Modify existing orders

• /api/v1/cancelorder - Cancel orders

• /api/v1/optionsorder and /api/v1/optionsmultiorder - Options execution

• /api/v1/placegttorder, /api/v1/modifygttorder, and /api/v1/cancelgttorder - GTT writes

ORDER_RATE_LIMIT does not cover every order-related route. /api/v1/basketorder, /api/v1/splitorder, /api/v1/cancelallorder, /api/v1/closeposition, and /api/v1/gttorderbook are decorated with API_RATE_LIMIT instead.

Smart Order API

Scope	Limit	Description
Per Second	10 per second	Position-aware smart order operations

Applies to:

• /api/v1/placesmartorder - Reconcile a symbol position to a target size

SMART_ORDER_RATE_LIMIT is independent from ORDER_RATE_LIMIT, even though both currently default to 10 per second.

General APIs

Scope	Limit	Description
Per Second	50 per second	All other API endpoints including market data

Applies to most other API endpoints including:

• Market data APIs (quotes, multiquotes, depth, history, ticker, intervals)

• Account APIs (funds, margin, positions, holdings)

• Information APIs (orderbook, tradebook, orderstatus, openposition)

• Search, symbol, expiry, instruments, option chain, and synthetic future

• Analyzer, ping, chart preferences, sandbox P&L, market holidays and timings

Endpoints With Their Own Limiter

Several resources do not use API_RATE_LIMIT. Each reads its own environment variable and falls back to the value shown when that variable is unset. These variables are not present in .sample.env, so the fallback is the effective default on a stock install.

Environment variable	Fallback	Applies to
GREEKS_RATE_LIMIT	30 per minute	/api/v1/optiongreeks
PORTFOLIO_API_RATE_LIMIT	10 per minute	/api/v1/portfolio/backtest, /api/v1/portfolio/holdings
PORTFOLIO_TEARSHEET_RATE_LIMIT	5 per minute	/api/v1/portfolio/tearsheet
SIP_API_RATE_LIMIT	10 per minute	/api/v1/sip/frequencies, /api/v1/sip/backtest
TELEGRAM_RATE_LIMIT	30 per minute	Telegram resources except broadcast
(hard-coded)	5 per minute	/api/v1/telegram/broadcast
WHATSAPP_RATE_LIMIT	30 per minute	/api/v1/whatsapp/notify

/api/v1/multioptiongreeks uses API_RATE_LIMIT, not GREEKS_RATE_LIMIT. /api/v1/portfolio/benchmarks also uses API_RATE_LIMIT.

Note that the in-code fallback for API_RATE_LIMIT itself is 10 per second, lower than the 50 per second that .sample.env ships. If API_RATE_LIMIT is absent from your .env, the effective limit is 10 per second, not 50.

Webhook APIs

Scope	Limit	Description
Per Minute	100 per minute	External webhook endpoints from trading platforms

Applies to:

• /strategy/webhook/<token> - Strategy RMS webhook from external platforms

• /chartink/webhook/<webhook_id> - ChartInk webhook from external platforms

These limits protect against external DoS attacks and webhook flooding.

Strategy RMS Browser APIs

Scope	Limit	Description
Per Minute	200 per minute	Session-authenticated Strategy RMS configuration, operator, and detail calls

Applies to:

• /strategy/api/strategies - List and create strategies

• /strategy/api/strategies/<id> - Read, update, or delete a strategy

• /strategy/api/strategies/<id>/start and /stop - Browser lifecycle controls

• /strategy/api/strategies/<id>/orderbook, /tradebook, and /positions - Broker-backed detail data

These are browser/session endpoints, not the public RESTX API. The nine API-key routes at /api/v1/strategy/* use API_RATE_LIMIT; see the Strategy RMS API.

Configuration via .env

You can adjust the rate limits by editing the following variables in your .env file:

# Login rate limits
LOGIN_RATE_LIMIT_MIN="5 per minute"
LOGIN_RATE_LIMIT_HOUR="25 per hour"
RESET_RATE_LIMIT="15 per hour"

# API rate limits
API_RATE_LIMIT="50 per second"
ORDER_RATE_LIMIT="10 per second"
SMART_ORDER_RATE_LIMIT="10 per second"
WEBHOOK_RATE_LIMIT="100 per minute"
STRATEGY_RATE_LIMIT="200 per minute"

RESET_RATE_LIMIT (default 15 per hour) applies to the password-reset flow, not to the v1 API.

These limits follow Flask-Limiter syntax and support formats like:

• 10 per second

• 100 per minute

• 1000 per day

• 10 per second;40 per minute (compound: both limits enforced simultaneously)

What Happens When Limits Are Exceeded

If a client exceeds any configured rate limit:

1. The server will respond with HTTP status 429 Too Many Requests

2. Further requests will be blocked until the moving window permits another request

Clients should not require a Retry-After header because header emission is not explicitly enabled in limiter.py.

Error Response

{
  "status": "error",
  "message": "Rate limit exceeded. Please try again later."
}

Security Impact

The rate limiting implementation provides essential protection:

Critical Protection

Protection	Description
External DoS Attacks	Webhook endpoints are protected from unlimited external requests
System Overload	Strategy operations are protected from flooding
Resource Exhaustion	Prevents accidental system overwhelming

Attack Vector Mitigation

Attack	Protection
Webhook Flooding	External platforms cannot flood webhook endpoints
Strategy Abuse	Prevents rapid strategy creation/deletion attempts
Order Flooding	Prevents overwhelming the order management system

Implementation Details

Rate Limiting Strategy

OpenAlgo uses the moving-window strategy for rate limiting, which provides more accurate rate limiting compared to fixed-window approaches.

Storage Backend

Rate limit counters are stored in memory (memory://), which means:

• Fast performance with minimal latency

• Counters reset when the application restarts

• Suitable for single-user deployments

Key Function

Rate limits are applied per IP address using get_remote_address as the key function. Each unique IP address has its own rate limit counter.

Recommendations

For API Consumers

• Avoid retrying failed login attempts rapidly

• Spread out API requests using sleep/delay logic or a rate-limiter in your client code

• Use queues or batching when dealing with large volumes of data or orders

• Implement exponential backoff when receiving 429 errors

For Webhook Integration

• Ensure webhook calls are spread out appropriately

• Implement retry logic with delays for webhook failures

• Monitor webhook success rates to detect rate limiting

For Strategy Management

• Avoid rapid creation/deletion of strategies

• Batch symbol configuration operations when possible

• Implement proper error handling for strategy operations

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

"Rate limit exceeded" errors

• Check your request frequency

• Implement proper retry logic with delays

• Consider using batch operations

Webhook failures

• Verify webhook rate limits are appropriate for your platform

• Check if external platforms are respecting rate limits

• Monitor webhook logs for patterns

Strategy operation failures

• Ensure strategy operations are not happening too rapidly

• Check for automated scripts that might be creating excessive requests

• Verify proper error handling in strategy management code

Customization

To modify rate limits:

1. Update the values in your .env file

2. Restart the application for changes to take effect

Example customization:

# Increase webhook rate limit for high-frequency platforms
WEBHOOK_RATE_LIMIT="200 per minute"

# Decrease strategy operations for tighter control
STRATEGY_RATE_LIMIT="100 per minute"

# Increase order rate limit for active trading
ORDER_RATE_LIMIT="20 per second"

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