GraphQL Query Limitations

To ensure Thinkific remains stable and accessible to all sites, we have established limitations on incoming requests to our GraphQL API. 

In this article:

• Rate Limits
• Query Max Depth
• Max Page Size

Rate Limits

We rate limit calls to the GraphQL API based on the calculated cost of the data requested over a span of a minute. Thinkific assigns a point value (cost) to each API request based on the structure of the query provided. Requests that ask for more data will have a higher cost; it’s thus important to only request the values you will actually use.

Cost Limits

Notes:

• The maximum cost for a single request is 1000 points
• Customers on our Plus plan can access expanded limits upon request

Cost Calculation

The cost of a query is the sum of the cost of every field in the query and is based on the returned field type. This table describes the cost associated with each type:

Notes:

• A query's cost is divided by 100 before being applied towards the rate limit to normalize large numbers
• Thinkific reserves the right to set manual costs on fields

An example:

# Total Complexity = (100 + 100 + 625) / 100 = 9
query CommunityPosts($communityId: ID!) { # Query: 100
  community(id: $communityId) { # Object: 100
    spaces(first: 25) { # Connection: 25 * 25 = 625
      nodes {
        id
        posts(first: 25) { # Connection: 25
          nodes {
            id
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Knowing the cost of a query

Included in each response is detailed rate limiting information. You’ll find this under the extensions key. This includes:

• cost is the calculated cost of the current request
• remaining is how many points remain in the current window of time.
• resetAt is the time when the rate limit will reset
• limit is your current limit and  maximum number of points available in a time window.

An example:

Query:

# Get users and their courses
query UsersAndCoursesQuery {
  site {
    users(first: 25) {
      nodes {
        id
        firstName
        courses(first: 10) {
          nodes {
            id
            title
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Response:

{
  "data": {
    "site": {
      "users": {
        "nodes": [
          // 25 users
        ]
      }
    }
  },
    "extensions": {
      "rateLimit": {
        "cost": 206,
        "remaining": 1794,
        "resetAt": "2023-12-11T19:53:00.000Z",
        "limit": 2000
      }
    }
  }

Exceeding the Rate Limit

When you exceed your Rate Limit the API will stop returning data and will return a Rate Limit Exceeded error. This error will be returned in a 200 HTTPS Response with the following content:

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "API rate limit exceeded.",
      "extensions": {
        "code": "RATE_LIMITED"
      }
    }
  ],
  "extensions": {
    "rateLimit": {
      "cost": 104,
      "remaining": 0,
      "resetAt": "2023-12-13T15:48:00.000Z",
      "limit": 2000
    }
  }
}

Query Max Depth

Queries made with Thinkific’s GraphQL API are restricted to a maximum depth of 15. Anything above 15 will return an error with the code `MAX_DEPTH_EXCEEDED`. 

The following request’s depth is 15, and is the maximum depth allowed.

Max Page Size

Thinkific enforces a maximum page size of 100 items In order to prevent timeouts and potentially malicious queries. All requests must contain a `first` or `last` argument or will return a top-level error. As a best practice, use pagination for any request that could return a large number of items.