How to Fix OpenClaw Rate Limiting Errors

# Search logs for 429 errors:
grep -i "429\|rate.limit" ~/.openclaw/logs/openclaw.log | tail -20

# Example output:
# 2025-03-01T10:23:45 ERROR: Anthropic API returned 429
# {"error": {"type": "rate_limit_error", "message": "Rate limit exceeded"}}

# Check which provider:
grep -i "rate.limit" ~/.openclaw/logs/openclaw.log | grep -oE "(anthropic|openai|google)" | sort | uniq -c

# Check rate limit headers in response:
curl -I https://api.anthropic.com/v1/messages \
  -H "x-api-key: $ANTHROPIC_API_KEY" \
  | grep -i "rate-limit"

# Anthropic: Check usage dashboard
# https://console.anthropic.com/settings/usage
# Look for:
# - Requests per minute (RPM) limit
# - Tokens per minute (TPM) limit
# - Current usage percentage

# OpenAI: Check rate limits page
# https://platform.openai.com/account/rate-limits
# Note tier limits:
# - Free: 3 RPM, 40K TPM
# - Tier 1: 500 RPM, 600K TPM
# - Tier 2: 5000 RPM, 5M TPM

# Calculate your request rate:
grep "API request" ~/.openclaw/logs/openclaw.log | \
  awk -F: '{print $1":"$2}' | \
  uniq -c | \
  sort -rn | \
  head -10
# Shows requests per minute

# Edit OpenClaw retry config:
nano ~/.openclaw/.env

# Add retry settings:
ENABLE_RETRY=true
MAX_RETRIES=5
RETRY_BASE_DELAY=1000  # Start with 1 second
RETRY_MAX_DELAY=60000  # Cap at 60 seconds
RETRY_EXPONENTIAL_BACKOFF=true
RETRY_JITTER=true  # Add randomness to prevent thundering herd

# Only retry on specific errors:
RETRY_ON_ERRORS=429,503,500

# Example retry delays:
# Attempt 1: 1s + jitter
# Attempt 2: 2s + jitter
# Attempt 3: 4s + jitter
# Attempt 4: 8s + jitter
# Attempt 5: 16s + jitter

# Set request queue limits:
nano ~/.openclaw/.env

# Add:
MAX_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS=5  # Max parallel LLM requests
REQUEST_QUEUE_SIZE=100  # Buffer incoming requests
QUEUE_TIMEOUT=60000  # Fail if queued > 60s

# Per-provider rate limits:
ANTHROPIC_MAX_RPM=50  # Requests per minute
ANTHROPIC_MAX_TPM=100000  # Tokens per minute
OPENAI_MAX_RPM=100
OPENAI_MAX_TPM=500000

# Enable request pacing:
ENABLE_REQUEST_PACING=true
MIN_REQUEST_INTERVAL=100  # Minimum 100ms between requests

# Configure multiple API keys:
nano ~/.openclaw/.env

# Add multiple keys:
ANTHROPIC_API_KEYS=sk-ant-api03-key1,sk-ant-api03-key2,sk-ant-api03-key3

# Enable round-robin rotation:
ENABLE_KEY_ROTATION=true
KEY_ROTATION_STRATEGY=round_robin  # Or: random, least_used

# Monitor per-key usage:
ENABLE_KEY_USAGE_TRACKING=true

# Automatically disable keys hitting limits:
AUTO_DISABLE_RATE_LIMITED_KEYS=true
KEY_COOLDOWN_PERIOD=300  # Wait 5 min before retrying

# Check key rotation status:
curl http://localhost:3000/api/keys/status | jq .

# Enable rate limit metrics:
nano ~/.openclaw/.env
ENABLE_RATE_LIMIT_METRICS=true

# Log rate limit warnings:
grep "approaching.rate.limit\|rate.limited" ~/.openclaw/logs/openclaw.log

# Create monitoring script:
cat > monitor-rate-limits.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
RATE_LIMIT_COUNT=$(grep -c "429" ~/.openclaw/logs/openclaw.log)
if [ "$RATE_LIMIT_COUNT" -gt 10 ]; then
  echo "Rate limit errors: $RATE_LIMIT_COUNT" | \
    mail -s "OpenClaw Rate Limit Alert" admin@example.com
fi
EOF
chmod +x monitor-rate-limits.sh

# Run every 5 minutes:
(crontab -l ; echo "*/5 * * * * /path/to/monitor-rate-limits.sh") | crontab -