ratelint

Rate limiting & API throttling anti-pattern analyzer -- detects missing rate limits, brute force exposure, no backoff strategies, unbounded queues, retry storm vulnerability, and flow control gaps

RateLint -- Rate Limiting & API Throttling Anti-Pattern Analyzer

RateLint scans codebases for rate limiting anti-patterns, missing throttling middleware, brute force exposure, unprotected endpoints, missing backoff strategies, unbounded queues, retry storm vulnerability, and flow control gaps. It uses regex-based pattern matching against 90 rate-limiting-specific patterns across 6 categories, lefthook for git hook integration, and produces markdown reports with actionable remediation guidance. 100% local. Zero telemetry.

Commands

Free Tier (No license required)

ratelint scan [file|directory]

One-shot rate limiting quality scan of files or directories.

How to execute:

bash

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/dispatcher.sh" --path [target]

What it does:

1. Accepts a file path or directory (defaults to current directory)
2. Discovers all source files (skips .git, node_modules, binaries, images, .min.js)
3. Runs 30 rate limiting quality patterns against each file (free tier limit)
4. Calculates a rate limiting quality score (0-100) per file and overall
5. Grades: A (90-100), B (80-89), C (70-79), D (60-69), F (<60)
6. Outputs findings with: file, line number, check ID, severity, description, recommendation
7. Exit code 0 if score >= 70, exit code 1 if rate limiting quality is poor
8. Free tier limited to first 30 patterns (RL + BF categories)

Example usage scenarios:

• "Scan my code for missing rate limits" -> runs ratelint scan .
• "Check this file for throttling issues" -> runs ratelint scan src/server.ts
• "Find brute force exposure" -> runs ratelint scan src/
• "Audit rate limiting in my project" -> runs ratelint scan .
• "Check for missing API throttling" -> runs ratelint scan .

Pro Tier ($19/user/month -- requires RATELINT_LICENSE_KEY)

ratelint scan --tier pro [file|directory]

Extended scan with 60 patterns covering rate limiting, brute force, throttling, and backoff.

How to execute:

bash

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/dispatcher.sh" --path [target] --tier pro

What it does:

1. Validates Pro+ license
2. Runs 60 rate limiting patterns (RL, BF, TH, BP categories)
3. Detects missing throttling and backpressure patterns
4. Identifies backoff and retry anti-patterns
5. Full category breakdown reporting

ratelint scan --format json [directory]

Generate JSON output for CI/CD integration.

bash

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/dispatcher.sh" --path [directory] --format json

ratelint scan --format html [directory]

Generate HTML report for browser viewing.

bash

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/dispatcher.sh" --path [directory] --format html

ratelint scan --category TH [directory]

Filter scan to a specific check category (RL, BF, TH, BP, QO, DD).

bash

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/dispatcher.sh" --path [directory] --category TH

Team Tier ($39/user/month -- requires RATELINT_LICENSE_KEY with team tier)

ratelint scan --tier team [directory]

Full scan with all 90 patterns across all 6 categories including queue overflow and retry backoff.

How to execute:

bash

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/dispatcher.sh" --path [directory] --tier team

What it does:

1. Validates Team+ license
2. Runs all 90 patterns across 6 categories
3. Includes queue/buffer overflow checks (unbounded queues, missing max size)
4. Includes retry & backoff checks (infinite retry loops, missing jitter, no circuit breaker)
5. Full category breakdown with per-file results

ratelint scan --verbose [directory]

Verbose output showing every matched line and pattern details.

bash

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/dispatcher.sh" --path [directory] --verbose

ratelint status

Show license and configuration information.

bash

bash "<SKILL_DIR>/scripts/dispatcher.sh" status

Check Categories

RateLint detects 90 rate limiting anti-patterns across 6 categories:

Category	Code	Patterns	Description	Severity Range
Rate Limit Configuration	RL	15	Missing rate limits on API endpoints, no limit headers, unbounded request acceptance, excessively high limits	medium -- critical
Brute Force Protection	BF	15	No login attempt limiting, missing account lockout, password reset flood, OTP brute force, disabled CAPTCHA	high -- critical
Throttling & Backpressure	TH	15	No request throttling, missing debounce, unbounded event handlers, no load shedding, disabled throttle	medium -- critical
Backoff & Retry	BP	15	No backpressure signaling, unbounded worker pools, missing flow control, disabled backpressure mechanisms	medium -- critical
Queue & Buffer Overflow	QO	15	Unbounded queues, no max queue size, memory exhaustion from queue growth, missing overflow handling	medium -- critical
DDoS & Abuse Prevention	DD	15	No exponential backoff, infinite retry loops, missing jitter, aggressive retry intervals, disabled circuit breaker	medium -- critical

Tier-Based Pattern Access

Tier	Patterns	Categories
Free	30	RL, BF
Pro	60	RL, BF, TH, BP
Team	90	RL, BF, TH, BP, QO, DD
Enterprise	90	RL, BF, TH, BP, QO, DD + priority support

Scoring

RateLint uses a deductive scoring system starting at 100 (perfect):

Severity	Point Deduction	Description
Critical	-25 per finding	Security vulnerability or guaranteed failure (unlimited retries, unbounded pools)
High	-15 per finding	Significant gap that will allow abuse (missing auth rate limit, no brute force protection)
Medium	-8 per finding	Moderate concern (missing throttle, no backoff strategy)
Low	-3 per finding	Informational / best practice suggestion

Grading Scale

Grade	Score Range	Meaning
A	90-100	Excellent rate limiting practices
B	80-89	Good practices with minor issues
C	70-79	Acceptable but needs improvement
D	60-69	Poor rate limiting quality
F	Below 60	Critical throttling problems

• Pass threshold: 70 (Grade C or better)
• Exit code 0 = pass (score >= 70)
• Exit code 1 = fail (score < 70)

Configuration

Users can configure RateLint in ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

json

{
  "skills": {
    "entries": {
      "ratelint": {
        "enabled": true,
        "apiKey": "YOUR_LICENSE_KEY_HERE",
        "config": {
          "severityThreshold": "medium",
          "ignorePatterns": ["**/test/**", "**/fixtures/**", "**/*.test.*"],
          "ignoreChecks": [],
          "reportFormat": "text"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Important Notes

• Free tier works immediately with no configuration
• All scanning happens locally -- no code is sent to external servers
• License validation is offline -- no phone-home or network calls
• Pattern matching only -- no AST parsing, no external dependencies beyond bash
• Supports scanning all file types in a single pass
• Git hooks use lefthook which must be installed (see install metadata above)
• Exit codes: 0 = pass (score >= 70), 1 = fail (for CI/CD integration)
• Output formats: text (default), json, html

Error Handling

• If lefthook is not installed and user tries hooks, prompt to install it
• If license key is invalid or expired, show clear message with link to https://ratelint.pages.dev/renew
• If a file is binary, skip it automatically with no warning
• If no scannable files found in target, report clean scan with info message
• If an invalid category is specified with --category, show available categories

When to Use RateLint

The user might say things like:

• "Scan my code for missing rate limits"
• "Check my API throttling"
• "Find brute force exposure"
• "Detect missing backoff strategies"
• "Are there any unthrottled endpoints?"
• "Check for missing rate limiting middleware"
• "Audit my rate limiting practices"
• "Find retry storm vulnerabilities"
• "Check for queue overflow risks"
• "Scan for rate limiting anti-patterns"
• "Run a rate limiting quality audit"
• "Generate a rate limiting quality report"
• "Check if my login endpoint has brute force protection"
• "Find endpoints without rate limits"
• "Check my code for missing exponential backoff"