Provider rate limiting

Default throttles for upstream APIs (SIMKL + Trakt + MDBList) and how to override them.

CrossWatch throttles requests to reduce upstream 429 Too Many Requests errors.

Sync may be slower.

It should be more reliable.

Defaults (no config needed)

These are the built-in defaults.

• SIMKL: 10 GET/sec, 1 write/sec

• MDBList: 10 GET/sec, 1 write/sec

• Trakt: 3.33 GET/sec, 1 write/sec

“Write” means any non-GET request.

That includes POST, PUT, and DELETE.

Override limits in config.json

You can override per-provider limits under *.rate_limit.

{
  "simkl": {
    "rate_limit": {
      "get_per_sec": 10,
      "post_per_sec": 1
    }
  },
  "mdblist": {
    "rate_limit": {
      "get_per_sec": 10,
      "post_per_sec": 1
    }
  },
  "trakt": {
    "rate_limit": {
      "get_per_sec": 3.33,
      "post_per_sec": 1
    }
  }
}

After changing config.json, restart CrossWatch.

Tuning tips

• Seeing 429 Too Many Requests? Lower the numbers.

• Want faster sync and you’re not getting limited? Increase slowly.

• If a provider changes limits, adjust here.

If you already use chunking (runtime.apply_chunk_*), treat rate limits as the first control.

Chunking reduces blast radius.

Rate limiting reduces request pressure.