Tell a real rate limit from an empty balance, read your usage tier, and add retries with backoff so 429 errors stop breaking your app.
My app keeps getting 429 errors from OpenAI. Figure out why and fix it
How it works
- Read the exact error: Vovy finds the error in your logs or Sentry. "Rate limit reached" means too many requests. "insufficient_quota" means you are out of credits or hit a spend cap.
- Check your limits and tier: Vovy opens the Limits page and shows your requests and tokens per minute per model. New accounts start on low tiers that rise as you spend.
- Find the burst: Vovy asks Claude Code to look for loops, parallel calls or requests on every keystroke that fire many calls at once.
- Add retries with backoff: Claude Code wraps calls in retry logic that waits longer after each 429, respecting the retry-after header, so short bursts recover on their own.
- Confirm it is fixed: Vovy reruns the busy scenario and shows a card: errors before and after, plus whether you need to top up credits to reach a higher tier.
What you provide
- Your error logs or Sentry
- Access to your OpenAI account
- Your app's code
What you get
- The real cause of your 429s
- Retry logic with backoff
- A plan to raise your limits
FAQ
I just made the account. Why am I rate limited already?
Usually it is insufficient_quota: the account has no prepaid credits yet. Add credits and it clears.
How do I get higher limits?
OpenAI raises your usage tier automatically as you pay more over time. You can see the next tier's requirements on the Limits page.
Does Claude have the same issue?
Yes. Anthropic also returns 429 for rate limits, and a 529 overloaded error when its servers are busy. The same backoff helps.
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