Cutshort API Rate Limits: Quotas, Headers, and Backoff Guide

Endpoint category	Requests per minute	Daily limit
Candidate search	60	5,000
Candidate profile	120	10,000
Job management	30	1,000
Sourcing / shortlist	10	200
Invites	20	500 per job
Webhooks	30	500

Endpoint category

Requests per minute

Daily limit

Candidate search

5,000

Candidate profile

120

10,000

Job management

1,000

Sourcing / shortlist

200

Invites

500 per job

Webhooks

500

Enterprise plans have higher limits. Contact support to increase your quota.

Rate Limit Headers

Every API response includes headers that show your current usage window:

Header	Description
`X-RateLimit-Limit`	Maximum requests allowed in the current window
`X-RateLimit-Remaining`	Requests remaining in the current window
`X-RateLimit-Reset`	Unix timestamp when the window resets
`Retry-After`	Seconds to wait before retrying (only on 429)

Example response headers:

X-RateLimit-Limit: 60
X-RateLimit-Remaining: 42
X-RateLimit-Reset: 1705312800

Best Practices

Cache search results when the same query is run frequently.

Use per_page=50 to reduce the number of requests needed to paginate results.

Check X-RateLimit-Remaining before bulk operations.

Implement exponential backoff for 429 responses.

Distribute large batch operations over time rather than sending all at once.

Exponential Backoff Example

import time, random

def exponential_backoff(attempt: int, base_delay: float = 1.0) -> float:
    delay = base_delay * (2 ** attempt) + random.uniform(0, 1)
    return min(delay, 60)  # Cap at 60 seconds

# Usage
for attempt in range(5):
    try:
        result = make_api_call()
        break
    except RateLimitError:
        delay = exponential_backoff(attempt)
        print(f"Rate limited. Retrying in {delay:.1f}s")
        time.sleep(delay)

Overview

Candidates

Jobs

Sourcing

Webhooks

Cutshort API Rate Limits: Quotas, Headers, and Backoff Guide

Default Rate Limits

Rate Limit Headers

Best Practices

Exponential Backoff Example

​Default Rate Limits

​Rate Limit Headers

​Best Practices

​Exponential Backoff Example

Default Rate Limits

Rate Limit Headers

Best Practices

Exponential Backoff Example