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Known limits

What the API doesn't do, so you can set the right expectations with your users.

/docs/concepts/known-limits.md

Routing

  • Cars only. Footpaths, cycleways, steps and pedestrian streets aren't in the road network, so there are no walking or cycling routes.
  • No live traffic. Times come from typical road speeds, so trips in busy hours take longer. Present ETAs as estimates.
  • No road closures or hazards. conditions reports "assessed": false, so don't describe a route as safe or passable.
  • No turn restrictions or turn penalties. A route can include a turn that's illegal on the ground.
  • One route per request. There are no alternative routes.
  • Stops aren't reordered. Work out the best visiting order yourself first. A matrix gives you the travel times to do that.
  • Small disconnected roads are removed. A point on a small island or an isolated road may fail to snap, or may snap to a road far away.
  • Cross-island routes can include ferry segments where they're mapped.

car_night

car_night can be approximate. When GET /v2/info marks it "approximate": true, the engine can't model night speeds, so its times are the same as car.

Geocoding

  • Results depend on OpenStreetMap. A place may be missing or named differently from how people say it.
  • Reverse results vary in detail. See GET /v2/reverse.

Your key

Your key can have its own limits, on top of the request limits every key has. No call or header reports them or your usage, so email contact@sieitz.com to ask what applies to your key.

  • Speed limit. Responses reach you more slowly, with no error. Set timeouts that allow for this, especially on large matrix and isochrone responses.
  • Monthly data cap. This counts the bytes in your requests and responses, in decimal units (1 GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes). The count starts again at 00:00 UTC on the 1st of each month, which is 08:00 in the Philippines.

Once a key passes its cap, one of two things happens, depending on how the key is set up:

What you see What it means What to do
429 with data_cap_exceeded Requests are refused until the cap is raised or the month ends Don't retry. Tell your users, and email us to raise the cap.
Slower responses, with no error Requests still work, at a reduced speed, until the cap is raised or the month ends Allow for the slower speed, and email us to raise the cap.

Usage takes a couple of minutes to update, so a key can go slightly over its cap before either one starts.