# api rate limit hit mid proposal answer regeneration causing failed run: how to fix it

Bulk answer regeneration fires many API calls fast and hits the limit. Throttle calls to a safe rate, checkpoint each regenerated answer, and resume from the checkpoint after a limit hit.

```text
api rate limit hit mid proposal answer regeneration causing failed run
```

## When to use this skill
- Bulk answer regeneration fails partway
- API 429s appear in the agent log

## When not to use this skill
- Regeneration completes but answers are worse (a quality issue)
- Regeneration never starts (a configuration issue)

## Tool compatibility
Agent answer regeneration throttling. Related area: agent frameworks.

Related area: proposal automation and agent-assisted RFP workflows.

Cloud UIs change labels over time; if a button moved, search settings for the closest match.

## Before you start
- Sign in to the tool and keep one tab open so sessions stay clean
- Copy the exact error text and note the time it happened
- Set aside 15 to 20 minutes; most of these resolve in a single pass

## Quick diagnosis
Make sure this is the right skill before you invest the 15 minutes.
- If you are dealing with bulk answer regeneration fails partway, start at step 1 below.
- If instead regeneration completes but answers are worse (a quality issue), stop here; you need a different skill.
- If neither quite matches, compare your screen against the verbatim error block at the top; that block is exactly what this skill covers.

## Fix it in steps
### 1. Throttle the call rate

```
Limit regeneration to a fixed number of calls per minute.
```
Expected: Expected: call rate stays under the documented limit.

### 2. Checkpoint each answer

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Save every regenerated answer as it completes.
```
Expected: Expected: progress survives a crash.

### 3. Back off on 429

```
On a rate limit response, wait and retry with increasing delays.
```
Expected: Expected: run pauses instead of dying.

### 4. Resume from the checkpoint

```
Restart after the last saved answer.
```
Expected: Expected: run completes without redoing work.

## Confirm each step worked
Run through this checklist before moving on. If a check fails, redo that step instead of pushing ahead.
- Step 1 (throttle the call rate): Expected: expected: call rate stays under the documented limit.
- Step 2 (checkpoint each answer): Expected: expected: progress survives a crash.
- Step 3 (back off on 429): Expected: expected: run pauses instead of dying.
- Step 4 (resume from the checkpoint): Expected: expected: run completes without redoing work.

## Quick recap
1. Throttle the call rate
2. Checkpoint each answer
3. Back off on 429
4. Resume from the checkpoint

## Still stuck?
Gather three things: the exact error text, the time it happened, and what changed just before it broke.
Check the vendor status page for an active incident. Then open a support ticket with those three things;
it cuts the back-and-forth in half. For agent runs, attach the last 50 lines of the agent log too,
since the loop or timeout signature in the log usually names the cause.

## Variant phrasings
### agent rate limit answer regeneration
Throttle plus checkpoints fix it. If this matches what you saw, the steps above apply as written.

### proposal answer regeneration 429
Backoff and resume. If this matches what you saw, the steps above apply as written.

## Why it happens
Regeneration is bursty by nature: the agent fires one call per answer as fast as possible. Without throttling, the burst trips the limit, and without checkpoints the retry redoes everything.

## Edge cases
- Read the API rate limit docs; the real limit is often lower than assumed
- Regenerate overnight or off peak when limits are effectively higher
- A run that 429s on the first call needs a lower rate, not more retries

## Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_gwzFcG_4qD_DUS0EU9EHCg