Request Throttling

Controlling and Limiting Traffic

Tyk supports controlling and limiting traffic for throttling and spike arrest use cases. Spike arrest sets a limit on the number of requests that can be processed within a specified time interval. If the incoming request rate exceeds this limit, then excess requests are throttled to ensure availability of the API server.

From v2.8, when hitting quota or rate limits, the Gateway can automatically queue and auto-retry client requests.

Throttling can be configured at a key or policy level via the following two fields:

1. throttle_interval: Interval (in seconds) between each request retry.
2. throttle_retry_limit: Total request retry number.

Can I disable Request Throttling?

Yes, you can. If you set throttle_interval and throttle_retry_limit values to smaller than 0, the feature will not work. The default value is -1 and means it is disabled by default.

Set Request Throttling with the Dashboard

1. At the key level: From System Management > Keys > Add Key or open an existing key. Or At the policy level: From System Management > Policies > Add Policy or open an existing policy.

2. Ensure the new key or policy has access to the APIs you wish it work with by selecting the API from Access Rights > Add Access Rule and click Add.

3. From the Throttling section, select the Throttle interval and the Throttle retry limit values.

4. Save the token/policy.

Set Request Throttling in the object

Get the policy object with GET /api/portal/policies/ or the key’s session object via GET /api/apis/{API-ID}/keys/ and then set two fields, throttle_interval and throttle_retry_limit in the object and create a new object or update the exsiting one.