Daily Archives: July 12, 2026

Token Buckets vs. Fixed Windows for API Rate Limiting with RESTful JSON API Pro Plugin

Rate limiting sounds simple until a real API receives real traffic. The obvious approach is a fixed window: allow 100 requests per minute, count requests until the minute ends, then reset the counter. That works until a client sends 100 requests at 12:00:59 and another 100 at 12:01:00. Technically each minute stayed within the limit,…