Preemptive rate limit headers missing from response from Graph API query

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Preemptive rate limit headers missing from response from Graph API query

Rick Huang 61

Hello,

We've received a few 429s with Retry-After headers indicating hitting a rate limit after an API call. We found several documentation pages mentioning headers that get returned in responses prior to the 429 that can help identify incoming rate limiting:

x-ms-throttle-limit-percentage: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/throttling-limits#regular-responses-requests
RateLimit-*: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/dev/general-development/how-to-avoid-getting-throttled-or-blocked-in-sharepoint-online#ratelimit-headers---preview

However, we seem to hit the 429 rate limits before ever seeing any of these headers in the responses leading up to the rate limit-- we would have expected when we get close to the quota limit to receive these rate limits.

Under what exact conditions can we expect to see these headers returned before hitting the rate limit?

One example query that hit the rate limit-- client-request-id: 0786e6ff-15e7-497b-b507-0f04d905e111, request was made to list drives for a specific site, expanding the "list" attribute.

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Answer 1

Srinivasa Rao Darna 6,761 Microsoft External Staff

Hi @Rick Huang ,

As documentation suggests RateLimit headers are currently under preview release only,

These headers are currently in beta and subject to change, if applications to take advantage of these headers to avoid hitting throttle, have to make use of https://graph.microsoft.com/beta APIs.
The RateLimit headers are returned on a best-efforts basis, so applications may not receive the headers under all conditions.
When an application consumes 80% or more of its app 1 minute limit, the RateLimit-Limit, RateLimit-Remaining and RateLimit-Reset are returned.
There are other limits that aren't presented in the RateLimit headers, so applications can get throttled even before reaching the limit described in the RateLimit headers and thus don't see these headers in your response.

Hope this helps.
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Rick Huang 61 Reputation points

2022-09-12T15:44:45.233+00:00
Got it, thanks for the response. Two follow-up questions:

Under https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/graph/throttling-limits#regular-responses-requests we also see "x-ms-resource-unit" and "x-ms-throttle-limit-percentage" but don't see these headers in our responses as well. Are these headers also only provided only under the beta API, or is it a specific endpoint that also returns these?

Is there any timeline targeted when the RateLimit* headers can be found in the v1.0 API (and no longer only under beta)?
Srinivasa Rao Darna 6,761 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-09-12T17:58:22.417+00:00

Hi @Rick Huang ,

Each Graph resource endpoint has their specific headers returned in the response when throttling happens, x-ms-resource-unit are specific to AzureAD resources.

SharePoint rate limits are one of the most requested feature from the days of SharePoint REST APIs, throttling happens on number of factors, also /beta APIs make to v1.0 happen based on the feedbacks Microsoft receives and in the past not all /beta APIs made to v1.0.

Once an API or feature is made to v1.0 from /beta it will be published in API changelog.

Hope this helps.
If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".
Rick Huang 61 Reputation points

2022-09-12T18:10:23.49+00:00
Got it, thanks again for the quick follow-up! Just want to double-confirm--

x-ms-resource-unit is specific only for Azure AD, so is x-ms-throttle-limit-percentage, x-ms-throttle-limit-scope, and x-ms-throttle-limit-information also only applicable to Azure AD resources and not every Graph resource endpoint?

Are the Sharepoint REST API rate limits also not directly specified in the documentation? I see the documentation only lists a variety of Graph resource endpoint rate limiting

Since there is no set timeline for the RateLimit-* headers to be in v1.0 just yet-- we think we would find these headers to be incredibly helpful in understanding rate limits for our application, so we would love to stay posted on the updates for the changelog there.
Srinivasa Rao Darna 6,761 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2022-09-13T08:08:06.397+00:00

Hi @Rick Huang ,

As you confirmed the information is helpful to you, can you mark the answer as . And it will be helpful people looking for similar queries, Thanks!

Yes, x-ms-resource-unit, x-ms-throttle-limit-percentage, x-ms-throttle-limit-scope, and x-ms-throttle-limit-information are specific to Azure AD resources.

For SharePoint REST API v1 there are no rate limits published, though they are currently supported, Microsoft efforts are put in enhance and improve Microsoft Graph API, behind the scenes Graph APIs backed by SharePoint REST API v2. Hence the limits applicable to Microsoft Graph APIs also applicable to SharePoint REST API v2.

Hope this helps.
If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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Preemptive rate limit headers missing from response from Graph API query

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