Having money isn't enough — the AI also caps how fast you can use it. There are several separate gates, and hitting any one stops you cold (that's the dreaded "429" error). Let's trip every gate on purpose.
Each request uses tokens. Every request counts toward requests-per-minute and tokens-per-minute. Blow past either and you're blocked until the minute resets. Bigger requests also risk the context and budget gates.
Tap each and watch which gate slams first — they fail for totally different reasons.
You must process 5 jobs of 5,000 tokens each (25,000 tokens total). But TPM is 30,000 and RPM is 5 per minute. Plan how to send them without a 429. Pick a plan and run it!
Every real app has to live within rate limits. Here's how they cope, from naive to pro:
Hammer the API again right away. ✅ Simple. ⚠️ You stay blocked and can get throttled harder.
Wait a bit longer after each 429. ✅ Recovers smoothly. ⚠️ Slower overall.
Spread jobs over time / use a batch API. ✅ Never trips limits, often cheaper. ⚠️ Not instant.
You tripped every gate: context window, RPM, TPM, and budget. Now a "429" error will never confuse you — you'll know exactly which limit you hit and how to fix it (slow down, shrink the request, or wait for the reset).