Reference library

Reliability & rate limiting

Retries, exponential backoff, circuit breakers, token buckets, and idempotent handlers.

57 matches
Reliability & rate limiting medium

At Least Once with Idempotent Consumer in Python

Implements a thread-safe idempotent consumer that processes each unique message exactly once, even when a producer sends duplicates under an at-least-once delivery model.

idempotency at-least-once threading
Python
import threading
import time
import uuid
from collections import Counter


class IdempotentConsumer:
    def __init__(self):
        self.processed = set()
        self._lock = threading.Lock()

    def consume(self, message_id, payload):
        with self._lock:
            if message_id in self.processed:
          …
14 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

Build a Rate Limiter Decorator in Python

This code defines a reusable rate limiter decorator that caps function calls within a sliding time window using a deque and monotonic time.

rate-limiting decorator time
Python
import time
from collections import deque


def rate_limiter(max_calls: int, period: float):
    calls = deque()

    def decorator(func):
        def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
            now = time.monotonic()
            while calls and now - calls[0] >= period:
                calls.popleft()
            if len(ca…
13 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

Build a queue-based admission control system in Python

Implement a simple bounded-queue admission controller that accepts or rejects incoming requests based on current queue capacity.

admission-control queue rate-limiting
Python
from collections import deque
import time


class AdmissionControl:
    """Simple admission control using a bounded queue.

    Requests arrive at the queue; they are admitted in FIFO order.
    If the queue is full, the incoming request is rejected.
    """

    def __init__(self, capacity: int):
        self.capacit…
15 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

Chaos Inject Random Failures in Python

Simulate random failures in a Python function to test error handling and resilience, using random thresholds and controllable success rates.

chaos-engineering random resilience
Python
import random


def unreliable_function(success_rate: float = 0.7) -> str:
    """Simulate a function that sometimes fails."""
    if random.random() > success_rate:
        raise ConnectionError("Simulated network failure")
    return "Operation completed successfully"


if __name__ == "__main__":
    random.seed(42)…
15 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting medium

Circuit breaker failure threshold count in Python

Track consecutive or time-windowed failures with a deque to open a circuit breaker and auto-recover to half-open after a cooldown.

circuit-breaker resilience deque
Python
from collections import deque
from time import time, sleep


class CircuitBreaker:
    def __init__(self, failure_threshold: int = 5, recovery_time: float = 10.0):
        self.failure_threshold = failure_threshold
        self.recovery_time = recovery_time
        self.failures: deque[float] = deque()
        self.st…
15 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

Exactly Once Processing Dedupe Mock in Python

Implements a streaming deduplicator using a set and queue to guarantee each item is processed exactly once while preserving insertion order.

deduplication exactly-once streaming
Python
from collections import deque

class DedupeStream:
    def __init__(self):
        self.seen = set()
        self.queue = deque()

    def add(self, item):
        if item not in self.seen:
            self.seen.add(item)
            self.queue.append(item)
            print(f"Processed: {item} (exactly once)")
      …
14 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

Fixed Window Counter Rate Limiting in Python

A simple fixed window counter rate limiter that allows a maximum number of requests per 60-second window, with a mock time simulation.

rate-limiting fixed-window time
Python
from collections import deque
from time import time

class FixedWindowCounter:
    def __init__(self, max_requests):
        self.max_requests = max_requests
        self.window_start = int(time())
        self.window_count = 0

    def allow_request(self):
        current_time = int(time())
        if current_time >=…
12 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting medium

GCRA generic cell rate algorithm in Python

Mock implementation of the Generic Cell Rate Algorithm (GCRA) for traffic shaping and rate limiting.

gcra rate-limiting traffic-shaping
Python
from collections import deque
import time

class GCRA:
    def __init__(self, rate, burst):
        self.tau = burst
        self.T = rate
        self.t = 0
        self.LCT = 0

    def add_cell(self, arrival_time):
        if arrival_time <= self.t:
            return False
        arrived_early = (arrival_time - s…
13 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

Health Check Mark Unhealthy Stop Traffic Mock in Python

Simulates a health check with a 20% failure rate and automatically stops traffic when the service is unhealthy.

health-check reliability traffic-management
Python
import time
import random

class HealthCheck:
    def __init__(self):
        self.is_healthy = True
        self.stop_traffic = False

    def check_health(self):
        # Simulate health check with random failure rate (20% chance unhealthy)
        self.is_healthy = random.random() > 0.2
        return self.is_heal…
12 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

How to Build a Rate Limiter in Python

A beginner-friendly token bucket rate limiter with retry logic for handling API rate limits in Python.

rate-limiting token-bucket retry
Python
import time
import random

class RateLimiter:
    """Simple token bucket rate limiter for beginners."""
    
    def __init__(self, max_tokens=5, refill_rate=1.0):
        self.max_tokens = max_tokens
        self.tokens = max_tokens
        self.refill_rate = refill_rate  # tokens per second
        self.last_refill …
14 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

How to Build a Rate Limiter in Python

Implements a simple sliding-window rate limiter that caps the number of calls per period, used to throttle processing of a data list.

rate-limiting time sliding-window
Python
import time

class RateLimiter:
    def __init__(self, max_calls, period):
        self.max_calls = max_calls
        self.period = period
        self.timestamps = []

    def allow(self):
        now = time.time()
        self.timestamps = [t for t in self.timestamps if now - t < self.period]
        if len(self.tim…
11 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting medium

How to Cap Retry Attempts in Python with a Decorator

Build a reusable retry decorator that caps attempts, adds delays, and lets flaky services fail fast instead of hanging.

retry decorator resilience
Python
import random
from functools import wraps
from time import sleep


def retry(max_attempts, delay=0.1):
    def decorator(func):
        @wraps(func)
        def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
            attempts = 0
            while attempts < max_attempts:
                try:
                    return func(*args, **kw…
12 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

How to Deduplicate Messages in Python by ID

This code consumes a mock inbox of JSON messages and deduplicates them by message ID, keeping either the first or last occurrence.

deduplication inbox json
Python
import json
from collections import OrderedDict

mock_inbox = [
    {"id": 1, "message": "hello", "timestamp": "2024-01-01T10:00:00Z"},
    {"id": 2, "message": "world", "timestamp": "2024-01-01T10:01:00Z"},
    {"id": 1, "message": "hello", "timestamp": "2024-01-01T10:00:00Z"},
    {"id": 3, "message": "test", "times…
14 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting medium

How to Implement Graceful Degradation with Feature Disabling in Python

A pattern that disables enhanced features and falls back to basic functionality when a dependency fails, with mock-based testing.

graceful-degradation feature-flags resilience
Python
import random
from unittest.mock import patch


class EnhancedFeature:
    """A feature that can gracefully degrade when a dependency is unavailable."""

    def __init__(self):
        self.feature_enabled = True

    def get_enhanced_data(self):
        """Simulate an enhanced feature that depends on external data."…
11 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting medium

How to Implement Hedged Requests in Python

This code demonstrates a hedged request pattern using threading, which sends duplicate calls and returns the first result that arrives within a timeout.

hedged-requests threading timeout
Python
import time
from unittest.mock import Mock

def hedged_request(call, timeout=0.05):
    """Execute two duplicate calls, return first result within timeout."""
    result_container = {}

    def run_and_store():
        result_container['result'] = call()
        result_container['done'] = True

    # Simulate slow cal…
15 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

How to Implement Message Visibility Timeout Renewal in Python

Simulate queue message visibility control with timeout renewal using a simple Python class that tracks received time and visibility state.

visibility-timeout queue sqs
Python
import time
import uuid

class Message:
    def __init__(self, body, visibility_timeout=30):
        self.body = body
        self.visibility_timeout = visibility_timeout
        self.receipt_handle = str(uuid.uuid4())
        self.received_at = time.time()
        self.deleted = False

    def is_visible(self):
     …
12 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting medium

How to Implement a Bulkhead Pattern with Threading in Python

Implement a bulkhead pattern in Python that isolates concurrent tasks with a bounded semaphore, limiting active workers to prevent resource exhaustion.

bulkhead threading semaphore
Python
import threading
import time
import random


class Bulkhead:
    def __init__(self, workers: int):
        self._semaphore = threading.BoundedSemaphore(workers)
        self._lock = threading.Lock()
        self._active = 0

    def run(self, task):
        with self._semaphore:
            with self._lock:
          …
12 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting medium

How to Implement a Circuit Breaker in Python

A Python dataclass that provides circuit breaker logic with closed, open, and half-open states to fail fast on repeated errors.

circuit-breaker resilience fault-tolerance
Python
from dataclasses import dataclass
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
import time


@dataclass
class CircuitBreaker:
    failure_threshold: int = 3
    timeout_seconds: float = 5.0
    failures: int = 0
    state: str = "closed"
    last_failure: datetime = None

    def call(self, func):
        if self.state ==…
14 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

How to Implement a Dead Letter Queue Replay in Python

A mock Dead Letter Queue that stores failed messages with retry attempts and replays them with a simple retry counter.

dead-letter-queue queue retry
Python
import json
from collections import deque

class DeadLetterQueue:
    def __init__(self):
        self.messages = deque()
    
    def add_message(self, message_id, payload, attempts=3):
        """Add a message to the DLQ with retry metadata."""
        self.messages.append({
            "id": message_id,
           …
12 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

How to Implement a Rate Limiter in Python

A beginner-friendly Python class that tracks call timestamps with a deque to allow or block calls based on a max rate per time period.

rate-limit deque time
Python
import time
from collections import deque


class RateLimiter:
    """Simple rate limiter for beginners."""

    def __init__(self, max_calls: int, period_seconds: float):
        self.max_calls = max_calls
        self.period = period_seconds
        self.calls = deque()

    def allow(self) -> bool:
        """Retur…
15 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

How to Implement a Sliding Window Counter in Python

This code implements an approximate sliding window counter using a deque of time-based buckets to track event counts within a recent time window.

sliding-window rate-limiting deque
Python
from collections import deque
from time import time


class SlidingWindowCounter:
    def __init__(self, window_size, bucket_size=1):
        self.window_size = window_size
        self.bucket_size = bucket_size
        self.buckets = deque()

    def _evict_expired(self, now):
        while self.buckets and self.buck…
12 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting medium

How to Implement a Sliding Window Log Rate Limiter in Python

Implements a sliding window log rate limiter in Python using a deque of timestamps to enforce a maximum request count within a rolling time window.

rate-limiting sliding-window deque
Python
from collections import deque
from datetime import datetime, timedelta
from time import sleep


class SlidingWindowLog:
    def __init__(self, window_seconds: int, max_requests: int):
        self.window_seconds = window_seconds
        self.max_requests = max_requests
        self.timestamps = deque()

    def allow_…
14 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting easy

How to Implement a Temporary Block in Python

Build a reusable PenaltyBox class that temporarily blocks access after a failure and reports remaining lockout time.

rate-limiting penalty-box lockout
Python
class PenaltyBox:
    def __init__(self, block_seconds: int = 30):
        self.block_seconds = block_seconds
        self._blocked_until = 0.0
        self._attempts = 0

    def try_access(self, current_time: float) -> bool:
        if self._blocked_until and current_time < self._blocked_until:
            return Fa…
13 0 Open
Reliability & rate limiting medium

How to Implement a Token Bucket Rate Limiter per Client IP in Python

Implements a simple sliding-window rate limiter using a dictionary of timestamp lists per client IP to limit requests per window.

rate-limiting sliding-window ip
Python
from time import time
from collections import defaultdict

class RateLimiter:
    def __init__(self, max_requests: int, window_seconds: int):
        self.max_requests = max_requests
        self.window_seconds = window_seconds
        self.clients = defaultdict(list)

    def allow(self, ip: str) -> bool:
        now…
12 0 Open

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Reliability & rate limiting — Python code examples

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