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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.openlayer.com/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

A usage limit is a cap the gateway enforces in real time. Think of it as a budget for a key or team. When usage reaches the cap, the gateway stops forwarding requests from that key or team.

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Create a usage limit

On the Usage limits page, add a limit and choose:
  • Applies to: a single key or a whole team.
  • Metric: Cost (USD), Requests (number of API calls), or Tokens (input plus output).
  • Window: how often the cap resets.
    • Daily resets at midnight UTC.
    • Weekly resets Monday UTC.
    • Monthly resets on the 1st.
    • All time never resets.
  • Threshold: the number to cap at, such as 500 for a $500 monthly cost limit.
Creating a usage limit

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What happens at the limit

Once usage in the current window reaches the threshold, every further request from that key or team is refused with 429 Too Many Requests and is not sent to a provider. Usage starts fresh at the beginning of the next window. Callers see the 429 right away, so build a fallback or a clear error message into any app that might hit a cap.

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Key limits and team limits

A usage limit targets either one key or a team:
  • A team limit caps the combined usage of every key on the team.
  • A key limit caps that one key, on top of any team limit.
When both exist, a request is blocked as soon as either cap is reached. See Teams.

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Bake limits into invites

You can attach usage limits to an invite, so a new key arrives already capped before its first request.

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Watch usage against a limit

The Usage limits page shows each limit’s current usage against its threshold. See Usage & cost for the full picture. Usage limits page