Rate limits
Rate limits
Clearway enforces rate limits to protect merchants and the platform. When exceeded, the API returns:
Code
HTTP status 429. Back off and retry with exponential delay. Reuse the same Idempotency-Key when retrying money-moving calls for the same user intent.
Merchant HTTP API — API key (api-*)
Server integrations authenticate with API keys on {docsEnv.apiHost}. Each operation name gets its own bucket per merchant account:
| Bucket | Limit | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Per operation | 60 requests / 60 seconds | Each POST …/<FUNCTION_NAME> (for example LIST_PRODUCTS, CREATE_PAYMENT_LINK) |
The action name is derived from the handler (for example list-products, create-payment-link). Hitting the limit on one operation does not consume quota on another.
This is enforced during API key verification before your handler runs. Edge protection (Cloudflare) may apply additional limits.
Dashboard session paths (extra limits)
When the dashboard or a session-backed proxy calls GCF (Clerk JWT, not a raw API key on api-*), handlers may apply additional session-only limits. Examples:
| Handler | Session limit |
|---|---|
CREATE_PAYMENT_LINK | 30 / 60 seconds |
CREATE_CHECKOUT_SESSION | 30 / 60 seconds |
LIST_PRODUCTS | 60 / 60 seconds |
| Catalog writes | 20 / 300 seconds |
LIST_ORDERS | 60 / 60 seconds |
These do not replace the API key bucket when you call {docsEnv.apiBaseUrl} directly with a key.
Dashboard API Sandbox Arena
The interactive API Sandbox inside the dashboard (/developer/api/sandbox) uses a separate Arena execute limit:
| Limit | Window |
|---|---|
| 20 requests | 60 seconds |
Arena traffic is session-backed testing — not the same as production api-* integrations. See Dashboard vs API.
Playground on this docs site
The API Reference playground calls {docsEnv.apiHost} from your browser:
- Use Sandbox or test keys only (
{docsEnv.keyPrefixExample}) - Never paste live keys into the playground
Next steps
- Errors — full error code list
- Dashboard vs API — Arena vs
api-* - Getting started — first call