Understanding Clay's Rate Limit: Notion API and Enforcements

For HTTP API columns, why can I not lower the rate limit and duration, I don't want to get rate limitted while using the Notion API which has a limit of 3r/s and I cannot lower it below 5r/s. Why is that enforced in clay and is there a workaround / exception that can be made for certain applications?

10 comments

Channeled
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We understand your concern about the rate limit for HTTP API columns in Clay. The minimum rate limit is set to 5 requests per second to ensure proper functionality of our system. While we don't currently offer a way to lower this limit further, you can still work within these constraints for APIs with stricter limits like Notion. Here are a couple of suggestions: 1. Set the request limit and duration in the HTTP API settings to match Notion's limit. For example, you could set 3 requests per 1000 ms. 2. Implement additional logic in your workflow to pause between requests if needed. If these solutions don't meet your needs, you may need to request human assistance for a more tailored solution. You can do this by clicking on "Talk to a person" in this chat.
Sources: HTTP API integration overview | Documentation | Clay University HTTP API with JWT authentication | Documentation | Clay University
Michael J.
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I tried adding a custom rate limit but I cannot, it doesn't allow anything below 5r/s.
kushagra
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work around that i have seen most people use and personally do too is an n8n or make workflow - so trigger the workflow in n8 via clay, handle the api calls in n8n, send data back to clay via webhook and then lookup in original table, it is slightly complicated workflow to achieve something simple - hopefully the rate limits are lowered sometime in the near future maybe support can answer better.
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Bo (.
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Sorry about that. Just to understand better — could you share more details on how you’re using the HTTP API with Notion? That’ll help us see if there’s a workaround or a better approach we can suggest.
Michael J.
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Bo (. I am using it to write mutli-select values to a multi-select property in a notion database. Notion's API limits are about 3r/s, so Clay's minimum limit is actually throttling the Notion API and I get rate limited after a certain amount of calls.
Michael J.
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thanks for the info kushagra I'll look into creating this
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Bo (.
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Got it - Thanks for sharing. Let us know how the workaround goes !:)
Michael J.
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Bo (. This is a complicated workaround for what should be a native feature, what are the reasons why we can't lower the rate in clay..?
Bo (.
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Hey, Totally hear you—it’s a fair point. Lowering the rate limit would require a significant change to our infrastructure, and that’s not something the team is able to be working on right now. It’s definitely on our radar, but there’s no clear timeline for it yet.
Michael J.
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Got it, thanks for the update. Looking forward to when that may be rolled out.