---
title: "Limits"
url: https://services.dev/docs/operate/limits
captured: [operate-limits.txt]
---
# Limits

URL: https://services.dev/docs/operate/limits

> Every ceiling a live Service meets, where it is set and what happens at it. Requests per key, AI per job and per day, file sizes, the buyer's own bounds and your plan's limits. At every limit nothing already running stops, and each answer names its next move.

A limit answers one question: what happens at the ceiling? The same rule holds at every one of them: nothing already running stops, and the answer says what to do next, in the same shape every other answer has.

## Every limit

| Limit | Default | At it | Set by |
|---|---|---|---|
| writes per key | 25 a second live, 10 in test | 429 `rate_limited`, with `Retry-After` and `next` | `Brand.limits.writes`, up to 100 |
| reads per key | 100 a second live, 25 in test | 429 `rate_limited` | `Brand.limits.reads`, up to 500 |
| AI per job | a fifth of the price | `ai.exhausted`, then `'ask'`, `'person'` or `'end'`: the buyer is never billed for AI | [`price.ai`](https://services.dev/docs/money/prices.md#nothing-on-effort) |
| AI per day, the whole brand | none | AI steps wait with `ai.capped` until the next day or a raise; deadlines keep counting | `Brand.ai.daily` |
| a file | 50 MB, and 500 MB a job | 413 `file_too_large`, naming the field | — |
| what a buyer will pay | the order's `max_usd` | OFFER with the price, never a charge past it | the buyer |
| what an agent may spend | its delegated key's cap | OFFER, and `hand_to_person` past the cap | the party who delegated it: `dlg_` |
| a member's load | the Pool's integrity limits | the Task goes to the next eligible member | [integrity](https://services.dev/docs/people/pool/integrity.md) |
| members, tenants, regions, audit log | your plan | OFFER for the plan that seats the next one | [your plan's limits](https://services.dev/docs/money/plans.md#limits) |

A limit set in a file is checked by `check` before a deploy, so a ceiling you write never surprises a buyer.

## At the rate limit

A seller's agent loads its pipeline into api.forsale in one burst. The 26th write in a second answers:

```bash
curl -i https://api.forsale/deals -H "authorization: Bearer sk_live_…" -d @account-26.json   # the 26th write this second
```

```json title="429 · magic values: none"
{
  "type": "BLOCKED",
  "category": "rate_limit",
  "code": "rate_limited",
  "reason": "This key sent 26 writes in one second; it may send 25.",
  "param": null,
  "next": { "do": "retry", "after_seconds": 1 },
  "doc_url": "https://api.forsale/docs/errors/rate_limited",
  "request_id": "req_9Fw2Lk",
  "simulated": false
}
```

Every answer carries `RateLimit-Limit`, `RateLimit-Remaining` and `RateLimit-Reset`, so a client slows before it is refused. An order sent again with the same `Idempotency-Key` never acts twice, so retrying is always safe.

## Where you stand

```bash
npx services.dev limits --live
```

```txt title="magic values: none"
api.forsale · live · Team
  writes    25 a second per key · the busiest key used 25 at 14:02:11 · 3 answered 429
  reads     100 a second per key · peak 41
  AI        $40.00 a deal, from deal.ts's price.ai · 2 deals reached it this month · ai.exhausted asked you to fund each one, in the console
  AI, all   none set · this month $3,912.40 on 1,204 deals
  members   50 of 50 in closers, a Pool you own · 2 applicants waiting · Scale seats any number
  files     50 MB a file · 500 MB a deal
  at a limit nothing running stops: a write retries, a deal waits on your answer, an applicant waits for a seat
```

## At a plan limit

api.forsale's closers Pool is full on Team. The next verified closer waits on the door, told only that a seat will open, and the console carries the OFFER:

```bash
open https://api.forsale/console/limits
```

```txt title="magic values: none"
  limit    closers · 50 of 50 members · Team's limit for a Pool you own · 2 verified applicants waiting
  offer    OFFER · Scale · because closers is at its member limit · cure: upgrade to Scale, or let a member go before you seat the next
  members  the applicants read "verified · you'll hear when a seat opens" on closers.deals, and nothing else
```

Your coding agent accepts an OFFER up to `owner.agent.offers_up_to`; above it, the OFFER waits for you. Members are never shown your plan, and no member is charged for a seat.

## Controls

| Call (CLI) | API | Event | On the console | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| `limits` | `GET /owner/limits` | `limit.reached` | `/console/limits` | every plan |
| `plan upgrade <plan>` | `POST https://services.dev/v1/plan` | `plan.accepted` | `/console/limits` | every plan |

---

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