> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://api.tryspecter.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Rate Limits & Credit Limits

> Two meters govern every request: how fast you can call (rate) and how much data you can pull (credits).

Two meters govern every request: how fast you can call (rate) and how much data you can pull (credits). Each has its own headers and error code.

## Rate limits

Each API key allows **15 requests per second**. Exceed it and requests return `429 RATE_LIMITED`; wait for the one-second window to reset, then retry.

### Headers

| Header                  | Meaning                             |
| ----------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| `X-RateLimit-Limit`     | Max requests per second             |
| `X-RateLimit-Remaining` | Requests left in the current window |
| `X-RateLimit-Reset`     | Seconds until reset                 |

### Notes

* Limits apply per API key, shared across your team; parallel jobs draw on the same budget.
* Bulk endpoints (up to 50 items per request) cut your request volume.

## Credit usage

Data is metered in credits per billing period. Every reference page states its exact cost in a note at the top.

### How credits are charged

Whether a call costs credits comes down to whether it manages configuration or retrieves data, and, for data, how much it returns. Every reference page states the exact figure in a "Costs ..." note at the top of its description; treat that as the source of truth.

**Free (no credits):**

* List management: get all, create, get, update, and delete lists.
* Saved-search management: get all, get, and delete a saved search.
* Account calls: [Get organization members](/api-reference/account/get-organization-members), [Get API call logs](/api-reference/account/get-api-call-logs), and Get credit balance.
* [Find company ID](/api-reference/companies/find-company-id) and [Resolve entity from text](/api-reference/companies/resolve-entity-from-text).
* The unauthenticated health check.

**Charged (data retrieval):**

* Enrichment and by-ID lookups are charged per matched result, so a miss costs nothing.
* Paginated feeds are charged per request, per page.
* List results and saved-search results are charged per result returned.
* Premium data (such as verified email and revenue signals) costs more per result.

Creating or editing a list or saved search never costs credits; you pay only when you pull data. When credits run out, requests return `402 OUT_OF_CREDITS` and stop until the allowance resets.

### Headers

The `X-CreditLimit-*` headers appear on `402` and `429` responses:

| Header                    | Meaning                      |
| ------------------------- | ---------------------------- |
| `X-CreditLimit-Limit`     | Total credits for the period |
| `X-CreditLimit-Remaining` | Credits left                 |
| `X-CreditLimit-Reset`     | Seconds until credits renew  |

### Best practices

* Track credit usage client-side (you know each call's cost up front) so a `402` never surprises you mid-run; `X-CreditLimit-Reset` tells you when it renews.
* Use bulk endpoints to cut both rate and credit usage.
* Use the free management and Account endpoints for dashboards and monitoring.
* Expect empty results (not errors) when data isn't available.