Rate Limits and Quotas

The Student Data API enforces rate limits and daily quotas based on your subscription plan. These limits are enforced at the API Gateway level and cannot be bypassed.

Plan Tiers

Annual billing is available at a 20% discount.

Rate Limit vs. Burst Limit

• Rate Limit — Sustained requests per second averaged over time
• Burst Limit — Maximum concurrent requests in a short burst. Allows temporary spikes above the rate limit.
• Daily Quota — Total requests allowed in a 24-hour period (resets at midnight UTC)

When Limits Are Exceeded

If you exceed your rate limit or daily quota, the API returns a 429 Too Many Requests response:

HTTP/1.1 429 Too Many Requests
Retry-After: 1

{
  "message": "Rate limit exceeded"
}

Handling 429 responses:

1. Read the Retry-After header for the recommended wait time (in seconds)
2. Implement exponential backoff: wait 1s, then 2s, then 4s between retries
3. Do not retry immediately — rapid retries consume more of your quota
4. If you consistently hit limits, consider upgrading your plan

Checking Your Usage

You can monitor your API usage in several ways:

• Response headers — Each response includes usage information headers (when available)
• Admin portal — Your Triand administrator can view usage charts in the vendor management dashboard
• Stripe billing — Your Stripe dashboard shows billing-period usage

Best Practices

• Cache responses — Student data doesn't change frequently. Cache results for at least 15 minutes.
• Use incremental sync — The /v1/sections endpoint supports changesSince to only fetch updated records.
• Batch efficiently — Fetch multiple state IDs in a single /v1/sections call rather than making individual requests.
• Use appropriate limits — Request only the number of records you need with the limit parameter.
• Schedule bulk operations — Run large sync jobs during off-peak hours (evenings/weekends) to avoid competing with interactive usage.

Upgrading Your Plan

To upgrade your plan, contact your Triand administrator or email support@triand.com. Plan changes take effect immediately — your new rate limits and quotas apply right away. Billing is prorated for the current period.