--- title: "Claude Code: API Error: Rate limit reached (429 fix)" canonical: https://relayswitch.io/fix/claude-code-rate-limit-reached generated: 2026-11-02T10:50:34.168Z source: https://api.relayswitch.io/v1/catalog base_url: https://api.relayswitch.io/v1 --- Fix # Claude Code "API Error: Rate limit reached": the 429 and the fix A 429 from the Claude API, printed by Claude Code. Below: what Anthropic’s docs say it is, the one header that tells you how long to wait, and a key where the limits are yours. [Get a key](https://app.relayswitch.io/console)[The switch](#switch) The error ## What the client prints text 1`API Error: Rate limit reached` 2 3`# The body behind that line, in the Claude API's error shape:` 4`{` 5 `"type": "error",` 6 `"error": {` 7 `"type": "rate_limit_error",` 8 `"message": "..."` 9 `},` 10 `"request_id": "req_..."` 11`}` ## What it means Anthropic's [API errors page](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/api/errors) (read 2026-10-31) defines 429 `rate_limit_error` as: your organization has hit a rate limit, reached its usage tier's monthly spend cap, or reached a spend limit on the Claude Code workspace. The [rate limits page](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/api/rate-limits) (same date) measures limits per model class in requests per minute, input tokens per minute and output tokens per minute, per organization, with a token bucket: a 60-requests-a-minute limit can be enforced as one request a second, so a burst trips it. Claude Code sends the conversation and file context on every turn, so a long session meets the input-token limit first. Cached reads do not count toward it on most models. One 429 is not a rate limit at all: the tier spend cap. The same page says that response carries no `retry-after` and keeps failing until 00:00 UTC on the first of the next month, with `error.details.error_code` set to `enforced_spend_limit_reached`. ## The retry rule When the response has a `retry-after` header, wait that many seconds before retrying (Anthropic's rate limits page, 2026-10-31). Earlier retries fail. Claude Code and the official SDK retry transient errors with exponential backoff and honour the header when it is present. No `retry-after` and a message about the monthly usage threshold means the spend cap: stop retrying, the clock is the calendar. A limit you hit every afternoon is a budget problem, not a backoff problem. The fix below moves the session to a key with its own limits. The structural fix ## A key that fails over, with limits you set A retry loop treats the symptom. On this key the next route is tried before the error reaches you, every limit is per key, and a failed request costs nothing. From the OpenAPI document, read 2026-10-31. Failover before you see it A route that fails with a 5xx or a 429 is retried on the next route for the same model. x-uplink-attempts on the answer counts the tries; the price is the model’s own either way. Your own fallback list models: \[...\] names up to 5 models tried in order once every route of the one before has failed before a byte was sent. Each bills at its own price when it answers. Failed requests are not charged A 429, 502 or 503 from this API charges nothing and carries retry-after: back off that long before trying again. Limits per key, set by you rpm from 1 to 100,000, tpm from 1 to 50,000,000 and concurrency from 1 to 10,000 on each key. Default: 600 requests a minute per key, 50 in flight per account. A budget per key budget\_usd plus a daily, weekly or monthly spend limit. The key stops at its own line with a 402; the rest of the balance is untouched. One request id x-uplink-request-id on every answer, errors included. Quote it and we find the call. Live ## Claude route, right now From `GET https://api.relayswitch.io/v1/status`, the public feed behind [/status](https://relayswitch.io/status), generated 2026-11-02T10:04:52.985Z. | Service | State | Last check | Latency | Checks today | Failures today | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Claude | Operational | Nov 2, 2026, 9:07 AM UTC | 7373 ms | 10 | 0 | Every hour the gateway counts the past hour’s real requests to this route: answered or failed. A request answered after a retry counts as answered. The daily real-model check: 305 of 339 models answered as before, generated 2026-11-02T10:04:52.980Z. Every verdict is on [/proof](https://relayswitch.io/proof). Live prices ## The ids this page is about, per million tokens The Claude ids Claude Code can run on this key, in the Anthropic Messages format it expects. | Model | Input | Output | Developer list in / out | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Claude Opus 5.5](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-opus-5-5)claude-opus-5-5 | $2.80 | $10.00 | $4.00 / $20.00 | | [Claude Sonnet 5.5](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-sonnet-5-5)claude-sonnet-5-5 | $1.20 | $3.00 | $2.00 / $10.00 | | [Claude Haiku 5.5](https://relayswitch.io/models/claude-haiku-5-5)claude-haiku-5-5 | $0.06 | $0.15 | $0.10 / $0.50 | Read from the catalog at render. A request that fails over bills at the price of the model that answered. The switch ## Two variables and Claude Code runs here bash 1`export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL="https://api.relayswitch.io/v1"` 2`export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="sk-relay-..."` 3`claude` Claude Code's [environment variables reference](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/env-vars) (read 2026-10-31) lists `ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL` as the way to route requests through a proxy or gateway and `ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN` as the value of the Authorization header. Nothing else changes: same tool, same model ids, same Messages format. The [Claude Code setup guide](https://relayswitch.io/guides/claude-code) has the settings.json form, a key for Claude Code alone with a budget, and the check that the request landed. Related - [Claude Code setup guide](https://relayswitch.io/guides/claude-code) - [Claude Code free tier](https://relayswitch.io/claude-code-free-tier) - [Claude API pricing hub](https://relayswitch.io/pricing/claude) - [Key budgets and limits](https://relayswitch.io/features/key-budgets) - [Routing and fallbacks](https://relayswitch.io/features/routing) - [Live status](https://relayswitch.io/status) Other errors - [OpenRouter 429: Provider returned error](https://relayswitch.io/fix/openrouter-429-provider-returned-error) - [Gemini API 429 RESOURCE\_EXHAUSTED](https://relayswitch.io/fix/gemini-api-429-resource-exhausted) - [Anthropic 529 overloaded\_error](https://relayswitch.io/fix/anthropic-529-overloaded) - [OpenRouter: No endpoints found](https://relayswitch.io/fix/openrouter-no-endpoints-found) - [All fix guides](https://relayswitch.io/fix) FAQs ## Questions From what people ask about this error. Open the console A key in under a minute [Get a key](https://app.relayswitch.io/console) Or email [hello@relayswitch.io](mailto:hello@relayswitch.io) ### ### ### ### ## A key that does not stop at one host Failover at the same price, limits and a budget per key, failed requests not charged. Card or crypto, no KYC, no subscription. [Live status](https://relayswitch.io/status)[Get a key](https://app.relayswitch.io/console)