assemblyai-rate-limits

name	assemblyai-rate-limits
description	Implement AssemblyAI rate limiting, backoff, and queue-based throttling. Use when handling rate limit errors, implementing retry logic, or managing concurrent transcription throughput. Trigger with phrases like "assemblyai rate limit", "assemblyai throttling", "assemblyai 429", "assemblyai retry", "assemblyai backoff".
allowed-tools	Read, Write, Edit
version	1.0.0
license	MIT
author	Jeremy Longshore <[e-mail]>
tags	["saas","ai","speech-to-text","assemblyai","transcription"]
compatible-with	claude-code

AssemblyAI Rate Limits

Overview

Handle AssemblyAI rate limits with exponential backoff, queue-based throttling, and concurrency management. AssemblyAI auto-scales limits for paid users.

Prerequisites

• assemblyai package installed
• Understanding of async/await patterns

Rate Limit Tiers (Actual)

Async Transcription API

Endpoint	Free	Pay-as-you-go
POST /v2/transcript	5/min	Scales with usage
GET /v2/transcript/:id	No hard limit	No hard limit
POST /v2/upload	5/min	Scales with usage

Streaming (WebSocket)

Metric	Free	Pay-as-you-go
New streams/min	5	100 (auto-scales)
Concurrent streams	~5	Unlimited (auto-scales 10% every 60s at 70% usage)

LeMUR

Metric	Free	Paid
Requests/min	Limited	Scales with usage
Max audio input	100 hours per request	100 hours per request

Note: AssemblyAI auto-scales paid limits. At 70%+ utilization, the new session rate limit increases by 10% every 60 seconds with no ceiling cap.

Instructions

Step 1: Exponential Backoff with Jitter

import { AssemblyAI, type Transcript } from 'assemblyai';

const client = new AssemblyAI({
  apiKey: process.env.ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY!,
});

  (): <> {
   ( attempt = ; attempt <= config.; attempt++) {
     {
        client..({
        : audioUrl,
        ...options,
      });
    }  (: ) {
       (attempt === config.)  err;

       status = err. ?? err.;
      
       (status && status !==  && (status <  || status >= ))  err;

       exponentialDelay = config. * .(, attempt);
       jitter = .() * config.;
       delay = .(exponentialDelay + jitter, config.);

      .();
        ( (r, delay));
    }
  }
    ();
}