Rate limits and query limits for the GraphQL API

Primary rate limit

Rate limits are disabled by default for GitHub Enterprise Server. Contact your site administrator to confirm the rate limits for your instance.

If you are a site administrator, you can set rate limits for your instance. For more information, see Configuring rate limits.

If you are developing an app for users or organizations outside of your instance, the standard GitHub rate limits apply. For more information, see Rate limits and query limits for the GraphQL API in the GitHub Free documentation.

Node limit

To pass schema validation, all GraphQL API calls must meet these standards:

• Clients must supply a first or last argument on any connection.
• Values of first and last must be within 1-100.
• Individual calls cannot request more than 500,000 total nodes.

Calculating nodes in a call

These two examples show how to calculate the total nodes in a call.

1. Simple query:

   query {
     viewer {
       repositories(first: 50) {
         edges {
           repository:node {
             name
   
             issues(first: 10) {
               totalCount
               edges {
                 node {
                   title
                   bodyHTML
                 }
               }
             }
           }
         }
       }
     }
   }

   Calculation:

   50         = 50 repositories
    +
   50 x 10  = 500 repository issues
   
               = 550 total nodes

2. Complex query:

   query {
     viewer {
       repositories(first: 50) {
         edges {
           repository:node {
             name
   
             pullRequests(first: 20) {
               edges {
                 pullRequest:node {
                   title
   
                   comments(first: 10) {
                     edges {
                       comment:node {
                         bodyHTML
                       }
                     }
                   }
                 }
               }
             }
   
             issues(first: 20) {
               totalCount
               edges {
                 issue:node {
                   title
                   bodyHTML
   
                   comments(first: 10) {
                     edges {
                       comment:node {
                         bodyHTML
                       }
                     }
                   }
                 }
               }
             }
           }
         }
       }
   
       followers(first: 10) {
         edges {
           follower:node {
             login
           }
         }
       }
     }
   }

   Calculation:

   50              = 50 repositories
    +
   50 x 20       = 1,000 pullRequests
    +
   50 x 20 x 10 = 10,000 pullRequest comments
    +
   50 x 20       = 1,000 issues
    +
   50 x 20 x 10 = 10,000 issue comments
    +
   10              = 10 followers
   
                    = 22,060 total nodes

Query optimization strategies

• Limit the number of objects: Use smaller values for first or last arguments and paginate through results.
• Reduce query depth: Avoid requesting deeply nested objects unless necessary.
• Filter results: Use arguments to filter data and return only what you need.
• Split large queries: Break up complex queries into multiple simpler queries.
• Request only required fields: Select only the fields you need, rather than requesting all available fields.

By following these strategies, you can reduce the likelihood of hitting resource limits and improve the performance and reliability of your API requests.