What is throttling in API-based extraction?

Parthiban Kannan

Updated on February 9, 2026

< 1 min read

Throttling is when an API limits the number of requests within a time period.
If limit is exceeded, the API blocks calls or returns 429 error.
In my project, CRM API allowed only 100 requests per minute.
During full extraction refresh initially failed due to too many calls.
We added delay and retry logic inside Power Query function.
Pagination was adjusted to reduce request frequency.
Incremental refresh pulled only new records to avoid hitting limits.
Sometimes we scheduled refresh during off-peak API hours.
Monitoring logs helped identify throttling patterns.
So throttling requires controlled request handling to ensure stable extraction.