Add Rate Limiting to API Requests

[DevPatel1023]

Description

• Our system currently does not have a rate limit mechanism to control the number of API requests made within a specific time window. This can lead to server overload, degraded performance, or potential abuse of the service.

Problem

• High-frequency requests from clients can overwhelm the backend.

• There’s no safeguard against brute-force or DDoS-like behavior.

• Users could unintentionally exceed resource limits and affect system stability.

Proposed Solution

• Implement a rate-limiting layer to restrict the number of requests per user/IP/API key over a defined time interval. Possible approaches include:

• Using a middleware-based rate limiter (e.g., express-rate-limit for Node.js, django-ratelimit for Django, etc.)

• Storing request counts in Redis or another in-memory data store.

• Returning appropriate HTTP status codes (429 Too Many Requests) when limits are exceeded.