Pattern 37 / EDGE
Use this when protecting services from abusive or accidental request floods.
Rate Limiting fits when protecting services from abusive or accidental request floods. Mechanism: track request counts/tokens per identity and reject or slow requests past a limit. Use it for public APIs, login endpoints, expensive queries, and multi-tenant systems. The toll: legitimate bursts can be throttled if limits are too blunt.
Public apis, login endpoints, expensive queries, and multi-tenant systems.
Token bucket allows short bursts but caps sustained traffic.
Describe the pressure first, then the mechanism, then the cost. That keeps the design grounded.
Same pressure family