---

name: deepgram-rate-limits description: | Implement Deepgram rate limiting and backoff strategies. Use when handling API quotas, implementing request throttling, or dealing with rate limit errors. Trigger with phrases like "deepgram rate limit", "deepgram throttling", "429 error deepgram", "deepgram quota", "deepgram backoff". allowed-tools: Read, Grep, Bash(curl:*) version: 1.0.0 license: MIT author: Jeremy Longshore jeremy@intentsolutions.io

Deepgram Rate Limits

Overview

Implement proper rate limiting and backoff strategies for Deepgram API integration.

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 queue to manage concurrent request limits.

Step 2: Add Exponential Backoff

Handle rate limit responses with intelligent retry.

Step 3: Monitor Usage

Track request counts and audio duration.

Step 4: Implement Circuit Breaker

Prevent cascade failures during rate limiting.

Output

• Rate-limited request queue
• Exponential backoff handler
• Usage monitoring dashboard
• Circuit breaker implementation

Examples

TypeScript Rate Limiter

// lib/rate-limiter.ts
interface RateLimiterConfig {
  maxConcurrent: number;
  maxPerMinute: number;
  retryAttempts: number;
  baseDelay: number;
}

export class DeepgramRateLimiter {
  private queue: Array<{
    fn: () => Promise<unknown>;
    resolve: (value: unknown) => void;
    reject: (error: Error) => void;
  }> = [];
  private activeRequests = 0;
  private requestsThisMinute = 0;
  private minuteStart = Date.now();
  private config: RateLimiterConfig;

  constructor(config: Partial<RateLimiterConfig> = {}) {
    this.config = {
      maxConcurrent: config.maxConcurrent ?? 50,
      maxPerMinute: config.maxPerMinute ?? 500,
      retryAttempts: config.retryAttempts ?? 3,
      baseDelay: config.baseDelay ?? 1000,
    };
  }

  async execute<T>(fn: () => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
      this.queue.push({
        fn,
        resolve: resolve as (value: unknown) => void,
        reject,
      });
      this.processQueue();
    });
  }

  private async processQueue() {
    // Reset minute counter if needed
    const now = Date.now();
    if (now - this.minuteStart >= 60000) {
      this.requestsThisMinute = 0;
      this.minuteStart = now;
    }

    // Check limits
    if (this.activeRequests >= this.config.maxConcurrent) return;
    if (this.requestsThisMinute >= this.config.maxPerMinute) return;
    if (this.queue.length === 0) return;

    const { fn, resolve, reject } = this.queue.shift()!;
    this.activeRequests++;
    this.requestsThisMinute++;

    try {
      const result = await this.executeWithRetry(fn);
      resolve(result);
    } catch (error) {
      reject(error instanceof Error ? error : new Error(String(error)));
    } finally {
      this.activeRequests--;
      this.processQueue();
    }
  }

  private async executeWithRetry<T>(
    fn: () => Promise<T>,
    attempt = 0
  ): Promise<T> {
    try {
      return await fn();
    } catch (error) {
      const isRateLimited = error instanceof Error &&
        (error.message.includes('429') || error.message.includes('rate limit'));

      if (isRateLimited && attempt < this.config.retryAttempts) {
        const delay = this.config.baseDelay * Math.pow(2, attempt);
        const jitter = Math.random() * 1000;
        await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, delay + jitter));
        return this.executeWithRetry(fn, attempt + 1);
      }

      throw error;
    }
  }

  getStats() {
    return {
      activeRequests: this.activeRequests,
      queuedRequests: this.queue.length,
      requestsThisMinute: this.requestsThisMinute,
    };
  }
}

Exponential Backoff with Jitter

// lib/backoff.ts
interface BackoffConfig {
  baseDelay: number;
  maxDelay: number;
  factor: number;
  jitter: boolean;
}

export class ExponentialBackoff {
  private attempt = 0;
  private config: BackoffConfig;

  constructor(config: Partial<BackoffConfig> = {}) {
    this.config = {
      baseDelay: config.baseDelay ?? 1000,
      maxDelay: config.maxDelay ?? 60000,
      factor: config.factor ?? 2,
      jitter: config.jitter ?? true,
    };
  }

  getDelay(): number {
    const exponential = this.config.baseDelay *
      Math.pow(this.config.factor, this.attempt);
    const capped = Math.min(exponential, this.config.maxDelay);

    if (this.config.jitter) {
      // Full jitter: random value between 0 and calculated delay
      return Math.random() * capped;
    }

    return capped;
  }

  increment(): void {
    this.attempt++;
  }

  reset(): void {
    this.attempt = 0;
  }

  async wait(): Promise<void> {
    const delay = this.getDelay();
    await new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, delay));
    this.increment();
  }
}

// Usage
const backoff = new ExponentialBackoff();

async function transcribeWithBackoff(url: string) {
  const maxAttempts = 5;

  for (let i = 0; i < maxAttempts; i++) {
    try {
      return await transcribe(url);
    } catch (error) {
      if (i === maxAttempts - 1) throw error;

      if (error instanceof Error && error.message.includes('429')) {
        console.log(`Rate limited, waiting ${backoff.getDelay()}ms...`);
        await backoff.wait();
      } else {
        throw error;
      }
    }
  }
}

Circuit Breaker Pattern

// lib/circuit-breaker.ts
enum CircuitState {
  CLOSED = 'CLOSED',
  OPEN = 'OPEN',
  HALF_OPEN = 'HALF_OPEN',
}

interface CircuitBreakerConfig {
  failureThreshold: number;
  resetTimeout: number;
  halfOpenRequests: number;
}

export class CircuitBreaker {
  private state = CircuitState.CLOSED;
  private failures = 0;
  private lastFailure = 0;
  private halfOpenSuccesses = 0;
  private config: CircuitBreakerConfig;

  constructor(config: Partial<CircuitBreakerConfig> = {}) {
    this.config = {
      failureThreshold: config.failureThreshold ?? 5,
      resetTimeout: config.resetTimeout ?? 30000,
      halfOpenRequests: config.halfOpenRequests ?? 3,
    };
  }

  async execute<T>(fn: () => Promise<T>): Promise<T> {
    if (this.state === CircuitState.OPEN) {
      if (Date.now() - this.lastFailure > this.config.resetTimeout) {
        this.state = CircuitState.HALF_OPEN;
        this.halfOpenSuccesses = 0;
      } else {
        throw new Error('Circuit breaker is OPEN');
      }
    }

    try {
      const result = await fn();

      if (this.state === CircuitState.HALF_OPEN) {
        this.halfOpenSuccesses++;
        if (this.halfOpenSuccesses >= this.config.halfOpenRequests) {
          this.state = CircuitState.CLOSED;
          this.failures = 0;
        }
      }

      return result;
    } catch (error) {
      this.recordFailure();
      throw error;
    }
  }

  private recordFailure() {
    this.failures++;
    this.lastFailure = Date.now();

    if (this.failures >= this.config.failureThreshold) {
      this.state = CircuitState.OPEN;
      console.log('Circuit breaker OPENED');
    }
  }

  getState(): CircuitState {
    return this.state;
  }
}

Usage Monitor

// lib/usage-monitor.ts
interface UsageStats {
  requestCount: number;
  audioSeconds: number;
  errorCount: number;
  rateLimitHits: number;
  startTime: Date;
}

export class DeepgramUsageMonitor {
  private stats: UsageStats = {
    requestCount: 0,
    audioSeconds: 0,
    errorCount: 0,
    rateLimitHits: 0,
    startTime: new Date(),
  };

  recordRequest(audioSeconds: number = 0) {
    this.stats.requestCount++;
    this.stats.audioSeconds += audioSeconds;
  }

  recordError(isRateLimit: boolean = false) {
    this.stats.errorCount++;
    if (isRateLimit) {
      this.stats.rateLimitHits++;
    }
  }

  getStats(): UsageStats & { audioDuration: string; uptimeHours: number } {
    const uptimeMs = Date.now() - this.stats.startTime.getTime();

    return {
      ...this.stats,
      audioDuration: this.formatDuration(this.stats.audioSeconds),
      uptimeHours: uptimeMs / 3600000,
    };
  }

  private formatDuration(seconds: number): string {
    const hours = Math.floor(seconds / 3600);
    const minutes = Math.floor((seconds % 3600) / 60);
    return `${hours}h ${minutes}m`;
  }

  shouldAlert(): boolean {
    // Alert if rate limit hit rate exceeds 10%
    const hitRate = this.stats.rateLimitHits / this.stats.requestCount;
    return hitRate > 0.1 && this.stats.requestCount > 10;
  }
}

Python Rate Limiter

# lib/rate_limiter.py
import asyncio
import time
from collections import deque
from typing import Callable, TypeVar

T = TypeVar('T')

class RateLimiter:
    def __init__(
        self,
        max_concurrent: int = 50,
        max_per_minute: int = 500
    ):
        self.max_concurrent = max_concurrent
        self.max_per_minute = max_per_minute
        self.semaphore = asyncio.Semaphore(max_concurrent)
        self.request_times: deque = deque()

    async def execute(self, fn: Callable[[], T]) -> T:
        await self._wait_for_rate_limit()

        async with self.semaphore:
            self.request_times.append(time.time())
            return await fn()

    async def _wait_for_rate_limit(self):
        now = time.time()

        # Remove requests older than 1 minute
        while self.request_times and now - self.request_times[0] > 60:
            self.request_times.popleft()

        # Wait if at limit
        if len(self.request_times) >= self.max_per_minute:
            wait_time = 60 - (now - self.request_times[0])
            if wait_time > 0:
                await asyncio.sleep(wait_time)

Resources

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

Next Steps

Proceed to deepgram-security-basics for security best practices.