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home / skills / jeremylongshore / claude-code-plugins-plus-skills / rate-limit-middleware

rate-limit-middleware skill

/skills/06-backend-dev/rate-limit-middleware

This skill helps you implement reliable rate limit middleware with production-ready configurations, patterns, and validation guidance for backend services.

npx playbooks add skill jeremylongshore/claude-code-plugins-plus-skills --skill rate-limit-middleware

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (1)
SKILL.md
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---
name: "rate-limit-middleware"
description: |
  Manage rate limit middleware operations. Auto-activating skill for Backend Development.
  Triggers on: rate limit middleware, rate limit middleware
  Part of the Backend Development skill category. Use when working with rate limit middleware functionality. Trigger with phrases like "rate limit middleware", "rate middleware", "rate".
allowed-tools: "Read, Write, Edit, Bash(cmd:*), Grep"
version: 1.0.0
license: MIT
author: "Jeremy Longshore <[email protected]>"
---

# Rate Limit Middleware

## Overview

This skill provides automated assistance for rate limit middleware tasks within the Backend Development domain.

## When to Use

This skill activates automatically when you:
- Mention "rate limit middleware" in your request
- Ask about rate limit middleware patterns or best practices
- Need help with backend skills covering node.js, python, go, database design, caching, messaging, and microservices architecture.

## Instructions

1. Provides step-by-step guidance for rate limit middleware
2. Follows industry best practices and patterns
3. Generates production-ready code and configurations
4. Validates outputs against common standards

## Examples

**Example: Basic Usage**
Request: "Help me with rate limit middleware"
Result: Provides step-by-step guidance and generates appropriate configurations


## Prerequisites

- Relevant development environment configured
- Access to necessary tools and services
- Basic understanding of backend development concepts


## Output

- Generated configurations and code
- Best practice recommendations
- Validation results


## Error Handling

| Error | Cause | Solution |
|-------|-------|----------|
| Configuration invalid | Missing required fields | Check documentation for required parameters |
| Tool not found | Dependency not installed | Install required tools per prerequisites |
| Permission denied | Insufficient access | Verify credentials and permissions |


## Resources

- Official documentation for related tools
- Best practices guides
- Community examples and tutorials

## Related Skills

Part of the **Backend Development** skill category.
Tags: nodejs, python, go, microservices, database

Overview

This skill automates common tasks for implementing and operating rate limit middleware in backend services. It provides step-by-step guidance, generates production-ready code and configurations, and validates setups against common standards. Use it to standardize request throttling across services and protect APIs from abuse.

How this skill works

The skill inspects your service architecture, chosen runtime (Node.js, Python, Go), and deployment context to recommend a rate-limiting strategy. It can generate middleware code, configuration snippets, and deployment notes for in-memory, Redis-backed, or distributed rate limits. It also performs basic validation of settings and surfaces common configuration errors with corrective suggestions.

When to use it

  • When you need to add or review rate limit middleware for APIs or microservices
  • When designing distributed throttling with Redis or other shared stores
  • When integrating rate limits with authentication, API gateways, or service mesh
  • When enforcing per-user, per-IP, or per-endpoint quotas
  • When troubleshooting unexpected 429 responses or uneven throttling behavior

Best practices

  • Prefer distributed stores (Redis) for multi-instance services to avoid inconsistent counters
  • Use token bucket or leaky bucket algorithms for smoother client experience
  • Apply limits at multiple layers: client, gateway, and service for defense in depth
  • Expose informative headers (Retry-After, X-RateLimit-*) and clear 429 responses
  • Provide configurable limits per plan or role and use gradual throttling for bursts

Example use cases

  • Generate Express.js middleware that enforces per-user and per-IP limits with Redis persistence
  • Create a Flask blueprint implementing token bucket per API key with configurable burst capacity
  • Audit existing rate limit settings and produce a validation report with recommended adjustments
  • Produce Kubernetes ConfigMap and Helm snippets for deploying Redis-backed rate limiting in a microservices cluster
  • Recommend an API gateway configuration (e.g., Kong/Envoy) to centralize rate limiting and reduce service load

FAQ

Can this skill generate code for my language/runtime?

Yes. It supports common backends such as Node.js, Python, and Go and will produce middleware patterns tailored to the chosen runtime.

How does it handle distributed rate limiting?

It recommends and generates patterns using a shared store like Redis (atomic counters or Lua scripts) and advises on consistency, latency, and failure modes.