Rate Limits

Rate limits protect both the platform and your WhatsApp number — sending too fast is the fastest way to get a number banned. Limits are enforced per Device Key.

Limits

The single-send and verify paths have a tighter 20/min burst ceiling on top of the global 120/min. This stops a script from using single-send as an unpaced bulk channel — for real volume, use bulk send, which runs through a paced, anti-ban queue.

Handling 429

When you exceed a limit you get 429 RATE_LIMITED with a Retry-After header (seconds):

HTTP/1.1 429 Too Many Requests
Retry-After: 12

{ "success": false, "error": { "code": "RATE_LIMITED", "message": "Rate limit exceeded" } }

Back off for the number of seconds in Retry-After, then retry. A simple, robust client:

async function callRapiwa(url, body, key) {
  for (let attempt = 0; attempt < 5; attempt++) {
    const res = await fetch(url, {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${key}`, 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      body: JSON.stringify(body),
    })
    if (res.status !== 429) return res
    const wait = Number(res.headers.get('Retry-After') || 5)
    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, wait * 1000))
  }
  throw new Error('Rate limited: gave up after retries')
}

Best practices

• Never hammer single-send in a tight loop. Use bulk send for broadcasts — it paces sends for you.
• Respect Retry-After instead of retrying immediately.
• Warm up new devices gradually; the engine also enforces warm-up and daily caps behind the scenes.