---

name: speak-rate-limits description: 'Handle Speak API rate limits with exponential backoff, request queuing, and optimization strategies.

Use when implementing rate limits features,

or troubleshooting Speak language learning integration issues.

Trigger with phrases like "speak rate limits", "speak rate limits".

' allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash(npm:), Bash(curl:), Grep version: 1.14.0 license: MIT author: Jeremy Longshore jeremy@intentsolutions.io tags:

• saas
• speak
• api compatibility: Designed for Claude Code

---

Speak Rate Limits

Overview

Handle Speak API rate limits with exponential backoff, request queuing, and optimization strategies.

Prerequisites

• Completed speak-install-auth setup
• Valid API credentials configured
• Understanding of Speak API patterns

Instructions

Rate Limit Overview

Tier	Assessments/min	Conversations/min	Audio upload/min
Free	10	5	10
Pro	60	30	60
Enterprise	300	150	300

Rate-Limited Client

class RateLimitedSpeakClient {
  private lastRequest = 0;
  private minDelay: number;

  constructor(private client: SpeakClient, requestsPerMinute: number = 60) {
    this.minDelay = 60000 / requestsPerMinute;
  }

  private async throttle() {
    const elapsed = Date.now() - this.lastRequest;
    if (elapsed < this.minDelay) {
      await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, this.minDelay - elapsed));
    }
    this.lastRequest = Date.now();
  }

  async assessPronunciation(config: PronunciationConfig) {
    await this.throttle();
    return this.retryOn429(() => this.client.assessPronunciation(config));
  }

  private async retryOn429<T>(fn: () => Promise<T>, maxRetries = 3): Promise<T> {
    for (let i = 0; i < maxRetries; i++) {
      try {
        return await fn();
      } catch (err: any) {
        if (err.response?.status === 429 && i < maxRetries - 1) {
          const wait = parseInt(err.response.headers['retry-after'] || String(2 ** i));
          console.log(`Rate limited. Waiting ${wait}s...`);
          await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, wait * 1000));
          continue;
        }
        throw err;
      }
    }
    throw new Error('Max retries exceeded');
  }
}

Batch Assessment Queue

async function batchAssess(client: RateLimitedSpeakClient, recordings: Recording[]) {
  const results = [];
  for (const rec of recordings) {
    const result = await client.assessPronunciation({
      audioPath: rec.path, targetText: rec.text, language: rec.lang,
    });
    results.push({ ...rec, score: result.score });
    console.log(`Assessed "${rec.text}": ${result.score}/100`);
  }
  return results;
}

Output

• Limits implementation complete
• Speak API integration verified
• Production-ready patterns applied

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Solution
401 Unauthorized	Invalid API key	Verify SPEAK_API_KEY environment variable
429 Rate Limited	Too many requests	Wait Retry-After seconds, use backoff
Audio format error	Wrong codec/sample rate	Convert to WAV 16kHz mono with ffmpeg
Session expired	Timeout after 30 min	Start a new conversation session

Resources

• Speak Website
• OpenAI Realtime API
• Speak GPT-4 Blog

Next Steps

See speak-prod-checklist for production readiness.

Examples

Basic: Apply rate limits with default configuration for a standard Speak integration.

Advanced: Customize for production with error recovery, monitoring, and team-specific requirements.