Why Am I Receiving a 429 'insufficient_quota' Error Despite Unused API Credits?

Below is an explanation of what might be happening and some steps you can take:

Explanation

Even though your dashboard shows that none of your credits have been used, the error message:

JSONCopied
{  
  "error": {  
    "message": "You exceeded your current quota, please check your plan and billing details.",  
    "type": "insufficient_quota",  
    "param": null,  
    "code": "insufficient_quota"  
  }  
}

indicates that your account has hit a quota limit. This may occur even if your purchased credits haven’t been spent by your API request usage. Some potential factors include:

• Plan vs. Credits: Your account’s available credits might be separate from the monthly usage quota defined by your current plan. Being on a free tier or an entry-level paid plan might result in lower usage or rate limits regardless of available credits.
• Different Limits: There are different quota limits (both usage and rate limits) such as the overall monthly usage limit and per-minute request limits. Even if your credits haven’t been consumed, you might have exceeded another numeric limit imposed on your account.
• Organization Budget Settings: If you are part of an organization, the billing or usage limits might be set at the organizational level. Other team members’ usage can also contribute to reaching a limit.

Resolution Steps

1. Verify Your Dashboard Details:

   • Check your usage and limits pages to see the current quota and whether you’ve reached any usage thresholds.

2. Evaluate Your Plan:

   • If you’re on a free or low-tier plan, your plan’s built-in usage limits might be lower than you expect. Consider upgrading to a paid plan if you require a higher quota.

3. Organization Settings:

   • If you’re part of a larger organization, reach out to your organization’s owner/administrator to review the quota settings and possibly adjust the usage limits for your project.

4. Rate Limit Considerations:

   • If your API call frequency is high (for example, using a loop without a proper backoff mechanism), you might be hitting a rate limit rather than a spending limit. Check if you’re inadvertently sending too many requests in a short timeframe and adjust your code to implement proper retry logic.

By following these steps, you should be able to pinpoint which quota or rate limit has been exceeded and make the necessary adjustments or contact support for further guidance.