Deepgram Rate Limits

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Prerequisites
• Instructions
• Output
• Error Handling
• Examples
• Resources

Overview

Implement proper rate limiting and backoff strategies for Deepgram API integration including request queuing, exponential backoff, circuit breaker pattern, and usage monitoring.

Prerequisites

• Deepgram API key configured
• Understanding of your plan's rate limits
• Monitoring infrastructure (optional but recommended)

Deepgram Rate Limits

Plan	Concurrent Requests	Requests/Minute	Audio Hours/Month
Pay As You Go	100	1000	Unlimited
Growth	200	2000	Included hours
Enterprise	Custom	Custom	Custom

Instructions

Step 1: Implement Request Queue

Create a DeepgramRateLimiter class that manages concurrent request limits and per-minute quotas with automatic queue processing.

Step 2: Add Exponential Backoff

Handle 429 responses with exponential backoff (base delay * 2^attempt) plus random jitter to avoid thundering herd.

Step 3: Implement Circuit Breaker

Use CLOSED -> OPEN -> HALF_OPEN state machine to prevent cascade failures. Open after 5 consecutive failures, attempt recovery after 30s.

Step 4: Monitor Usage

Track request counts, audio duration, error rates, and rate limit hits. Alert when hit rate exceeds 10%.

Output

• Rate-limited request queue with concurrent/per-minute limits
• Exponential backoff handler with configurable base/max delay
• Circuit breaker with three-state pattern
• Usage monitoring with alert thresholds

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Resolution
429 Too Many Requests	Rate limit exceeded	Backoff and retry, check queue config
Circuit breaker OPEN	Consecutive failures	Wait for reset timeout, check API status
Queue growing unbounded	Sustained high load	Increase limits or scale horizontally
Inaccurate usage stats	Counter reset missed	Check minute window reset logic

Examples

Basic Rate Limiter Usage

const limiter = new DeepgramRateLimiter({ maxConcurrent: 50, maxPerMinute: 500 });  # HTTP 500 Internal Server Error
const result = await limiter.execute(() => client.listen.prerecorded.transcribeUrl(url, opts));

Backoff Configuration

const backoff = new ExponentialBackoff({ baseDelay: 1000, maxDelay: 60000, factor: 2, jitter: true });  # 1000: 60000: 1 second in ms

See detailed implementation for advanced patterns.

Resources

• Deepgram Pricing & Limits
• Rate Limiting Best Practices
• API Usage Dashboard