CodeRabbit Rate Limits

Overview

CodeRabbit rate limits apply at two levels: (1) CodeRabbit's own processing limits on how many reviews it can run concurrently, and (2) GitHub API rate limits when you build automation that queries CodeRabbit review data. This skill covers both and provides patterns for handling limits gracefully.

Prerequisites

• CodeRabbit installed on repository
• GitHub CLI (gh) or API access for automation
• Understanding of GitHub rate limit headers

Rate Limit Tiers

CodeRabbit Review Processing

Factor	Limit	Notes
Concurrent reviews per org	Varies by plan	Free: 1, Pro: 5, Enterprise: custom
Max PR size	~3000 files	Larger PRs may timeout
Re-review cooldown	~30 seconds	Between @coderabbitai full review commands
Command rate	~10/minute/repo	PR comment commands

GitHub API (Affects Automation Scripts)

Tier	Rate Limit	Reset Window
Unauthenticated	60 req/hour	Rolling
Personal Access Token	5,000 req/hour	Rolling
GitHub App	5,000 req/hour/installation	Rolling
gh CLI	5,000 req/hour	Rolling

Instructions

Step 1: Check Current GitHub API Rate Limit

set -euo pipefail
# Check your current rate limit status
gh api rate_limit --jq '{
  core: {
    limit: .resources.core.limit,
    remaining: .resources.core.remaining,
    reset: (.resources.core.reset | todate)
  },
  search: {
    limit: .resources.search.limit,
    remaining: .resources.search.remaining,
    reset: (.resources.search.reset | todate)
  }
}'

Step 2: Handle Rate Limits in Automation Scripts

#!/bin/bash
# rate-safe-query.sh - GitHub API queries with rate limit awareness
set -euo pipefail

ORG="${1:?Usage: $0 <org> <repo>}"
REPO="${2:?Usage: $0 <org> <repo>}"

# Check remaining rate limit before bulk queries
REMAINING=$(gh api rate_limit --jq '.resources.core.remaining')
echo "GitHub API calls remaining: $REMAINING"

if [ "$REMAINING" -lt 100 ]; then
  RESET=$(gh api rate_limit --jq '.resources.core.reset | todate')
  echo "WARNING: Low rate limit. Resets at $RESET"
  echo "Consider waiting or reducing query scope."
  exit 1
fi

# Safe pagination: process in small batches
PAGE=1
PER_PAGE=10
while true; do
  RESULT=$(gh api "repos/$ORG/$REPO/pulls?state=closed&per_page=$PER_PAGE&page=$PAGE" --jq 'length')
  [ "$RESULT" -eq 0 ] && break

  gh api "repos/$ORG/$REPO/pulls?state=closed&per_page=$PER_PAGE&page=$PAGE" \
    --jq '.[].number' | while read -r PR_NUM; do
    # Process each PR
    echo "Processing PR #$PR_NUM"

    # Rate-limit-safe: check remaining before each sub-query
    SUB_REMAINING=$(gh api rate_limit --jq '.resources.core.remaining')
    if [ "$SUB_REMAINING" -lt 50 ]; then
      echo "Rate limit low ($SUB_REMAINING remaining). Pausing..."
      sleep 60
    fi

    gh api "repos/$ORG/$REPO/pulls/$PR_NUM/reviews" \
      --jq '[.[] | select(.user.login=="coderabbitai[bot]")] | length' 2>/dev/null
  done

  PAGE=$((PAGE + 1))
  [ "$PAGE" -gt 5 ] && break   # Safety limit
done

Step 3: Handle CodeRabbit Command Rate Limits

# If you send too many @coderabbitai commands in quick succession,
# CodeRabbit may not respond to all of them.

# Best practices:
1. Wait for CodeRabbit to finish one command before sending another
2. Don't spam "full review" -- one is enough, it processes the latest
3. Use "summary" instead of "full review" if you just want the walkthrough
4. Wait 2-5 minutes after PR push for the initial review before using commands

# Rate limit symptoms:
# - CodeRabbit doesn't respond to a command
# - Review appears incomplete
# - Multiple partial reviews on the same PR

# Fix: Wait 1-2 minutes and resend the command once.

Step 4: Efficient Bulk Queries with GraphQL

set -euo pipefail
ORG="${1:-your-org}"
REPO="${2:-your-repo}"

# GraphQL uses far fewer API calls than REST for bulk data
# One GraphQL call = data that would take 20+ REST calls
gh api graphql -f query='
query($owner: String!, $repo: String!) {
  repository(owner: $owner, name: $repo) {
    pullRequests(last: 20, states: [MERGED, CLOSED]) {
      nodes {
        number
        title
        reviews(first: 5) {
          nodes {
            author { login }
            state
            submittedAt
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}' -f owner="$ORG" -f repo="$REPO" --jq '
  .data.repository.pullRequests.nodes[] |
  {
    pr: .number,
    title: .title,
    coderabbit_reviews: [.reviews.nodes[] | select(.author.login == "coderabbitai")] | length,
    coderabbit_state: ([.reviews.nodes[] | select(.author.login == "coderabbitai")] | last | .state) // "none"
  }'

Step 5: Cache CodeRabbit Metrics

#!/bin/bash
# cache-coderabbit-metrics.sh - Cache review data to avoid repeated API calls
set -euo pipefail

ORG="${1:?Usage: $0 <org> <repo>}"
REPO="${2:?Usage: $0 <org> <repo>}"
CACHE_FILE="/tmp/coderabbit-metrics-$ORG-$REPO.json"
CACHE_TTL=3600  # 1 hour

# Check cache freshness
if [ -f "$CACHE_FILE" ]; then
  CACHE_AGE=$(( $(date +%s) - $(stat -c %Y "$CACHE_FILE" 2>/dev/null || stat -f %m "$CACHE_FILE") ))
  if [ "$CACHE_AGE" -lt "$CACHE_TTL" ]; then
    echo "Using cached data (age: ${CACHE_AGE}s)"
    cat "$CACHE_FILE"
    exit 0
  fi
fi

echo "Fetching fresh data..."
METRICS=$(gh api graphql -f query='
query($owner: String!, $repo: String!) {
  repository(owner: $owner, name: $repo) {
    pullRequests(last: 50, states: [MERGED, CLOSED]) {
      totalCount
      nodes {
        number
        reviews(first: 5) {
          nodes {
            author { login }
            state
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}' -f owner="$ORG" -f repo="$REPO" --jq '
  .data.repository.pullRequests | {
    total: .totalCount,
    reviewed: [.nodes[] | select([.reviews.nodes[] | select(.author.login == "coderabbitai")] | length > 0)] | length,
    approved: [.nodes[] | select([.reviews.nodes[] | select(.author.login == "coderabbitai" and .state == "APPROVED")] | length > 0)] | length
  }')

echo "$METRICS" | tee "$CACHE_FILE"

Output

• GitHub API rate limit status checked
• Automation scripts with rate limit awareness
• CodeRabbit command rate limits documented
• Efficient GraphQL queries for bulk data
• Caching strategy to reduce API calls

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Solution
gh api returns 403	Rate limit exceeded	Wait for reset or use GraphQL
CodeRabbit ignores command	Too many commands	Wait 1-2 min, resend once
Bulk script fails mid-run	Rate limit hit during iteration	Add rate limit check in loop
GraphQL query fails	Malformed query	Validate query in GitHub GraphQL Explorer
Stale cached data	Cache TTL too long	Reduce TTL or force refresh

Resources

• GitHub Rate Limits
• GitHub GraphQL API
• CodeRabbit Review Commands

Next Steps

For security configuration, see coderabbit-security-basics.