# WhatsApp error 4: app rate limit reached — fix URL: https://wa.genuka.com/en/docs/errors/4 Language: English > WhatsApp error 4 (API Too Many Calls): the app hit its Meta API call rate limit. How it differs from 80007 and 130429, and how to retry safely. WhatsApp error 4 means the application calling Meta's API has reached its call rate limit. It is a temporary throttle: nothing is broken, you need to wait and send fewer requests. It applies to the application as a whole, not to one number or one WhatsApp account, which is what sets it apart from errors 80007 and 130429. ## What does error 4 mean? Meta lists it among the Cloud API's throttling errors: > "The app has reached its API call rate limit." > — [Meta, Cloud API error codes](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/support/error-codes#throttling-errors) The suggested fix: open the app in the App Dashboard, **Application Rate Limit** section, confirm the limit was reached, then try again later or reduce the frequency and number of requests. The Graph documentation calls this code "API Too Many Calls", a temporary throttling issue: "Wait and retry the operation, or examine your API request volume" ([Meta, Graph API error handling](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/guides/error-handling)). Its rate limit page adds that code 4 means the app whose token is used in the request has reached its limit ([Meta, Rate limits](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/overview/rate-limiting)). ### Four limits, four codes | Code | What is counted | Scope | | -------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------- | | **4** | The application's API calls | The whole application | | [80007](https://wa.genuka.com/en/docs/errors/80007) | An app's calls on a WhatsApp account: 200 per hour by default, 5,000 on an active account with a registered number | One app and one WhatsApp account | | [130429](https://wa.genuka.com/en/docs/errors/130429) | Messages per second: 80 by default | One number | | [131056](https://wa.genuka.com/en/docs/errors/131056) | Messages to the same recipient: one every 6 seconds | One sender and recipient pair | The figures come from Meta's platform overview ([Meta, About the platform](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/about-the-platform#rate-limits)). ## When does error 4 happen? * **A burst of calls that are not sends**: listing templates in a loop, re-reading every number's health on each dashboard load, uploading media back to back. * **Several services on the same app**: a campaign worker, a back office and a sync script sharing one token add up their calls. * **A retry loop with no delay**: each failure fires another call immediately, and the limit moves further away instead of closer. ### Where do you see it in Genuka WA? With Genuka WA, the Meta application making the call is Genuka's, as Tech Provider: the application limit does not depend on your volume alone. Genuka puts code 4 in the `retryable` class. | Channel | What you get | | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `POST /api/v1/messages` | `400`, `"error": "send_retryable"`, `meta.code: 4`, `meta.retryable: true` | | Campaign | Each recipient gets up to three attempts in total (two retries), waiting 0.25 to 0.5 s then 0.5 to 1 s, before turning `failed` | | `POST /api/v1/templates` | `422`, `"error": "meta_rejected"`, `meta.retryable: true` if Meta answered with a 4xx; `502` if it answered 429 or 5xx | That `502` arrives without a JSON body: our CDN replaces the response with the single line `error code: 502` ([API reference](https://wa.genuka.com/en/docs/api)). Treat it as a transient failure, without looking for `meta` in it. Genuka also limits the bursts it could cause on your behalf: `GET /api/v1/numbers?refresh=true` refuses the call (`400 too_many_connections`) above 25 numbers, so narrow it with `?companyId=`; and a template refresh processes WhatsApp accounts five at a time. ## How do I fix error 4? 1. **Retry with a growing delay, only when `meta.retryable` is `true`** or on a `5xx` with no JSON body. A single send is not retried by Genuka WA on your behalf: your code has to wait, doubling the delay on each attempt and adding a little randomness so your workers do not all restart together. For a send, retry only when `meta.code` is present (4, 80007, 130429…). A timeout between Genuka and Meta is also marked `retryable`, with no `meta.code`, even though Meta may already have accepted the message; the API has no idempotency key, and sending it again can deliver it twice. 2. **Drop unnecessary read calls.** `GET /api/v1/numbers` without `refresh=true` returns the stored state, kept current by Meta's webhooks. Template statuses arrive by [webhook](https://wa.genuka.com/en/docs/webhooks); the `POST /api/v1/templates/sync` refresh is a repair path, and once an hour is plenty ([API reference](https://wa.genuka.com/en/docs/api#templates)). 3. **If the error lasts more than an hour**, contact Genuka support with the `x-request-id` header and `meta.traceId`: Graph limits are counted over a rolling hour. If you call the Cloud API with your own app, the App Dashboard shows the app's current Application Rate Limit usage and the number of rate-limited users ([Meta, Rate limits](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/overview/rate-limiting)). **Node.js** ```ts const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, ms)); export async function callGenuka(path: string, body: unknown, maxAttempts = 5) { for (let attempt = 1; ; attempt++) { const response = await fetch(`https://wa.genuka.com/api/v1${path}`, { method: "POST", headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.GENUKA_WA_API_KEY}`, "Content-Type": "application/json", }, body: JSON.stringify(body), }); // A 5xx arrives without JSON: our CDN replaces it with "error code: 502". const json = await response.json().catch(() => null); if (response.ok) return json.data; // A send is only retried on a Meta code (4, 80007, 130429…): after a timeout, Meta may // already have accepted the message, and sending it again would deliver it twice. const retryable = path === "/messages" ? json?.meta?.retryable === true && json.meta.code !== undefined : response.status >= 500 || json?.meta?.retryable === true; if (!retryable || attempt >= maxAttempts) { throw new Error(`${response.status} ${json?.error ?? "no JSON body"} (Meta ${json?.meta?.code ?? "-"})`); } const base = Math.min(30_000, 1_000 * 2 ** (attempt - 1)); await sleep(base / 2 + Math.random() * (base / 2)); } } ``` **Python** ```python import os import random import time import requests def call_genuka(path: str, body: dict, max_attempts: int = 5) -> dict: for attempt in range(1, max_attempts + 1): response = requests.post( f"https://wa.genuka.com/api/v1{path}", headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['GENUKA_WA_API_KEY']}"}, json=body, timeout=30, ) try: payload = response.json() except ValueError: # A 5xx arrives without JSON: our CDN replaces it with "error code: 502". payload = {} if response.ok: return payload["data"] meta = payload.get("meta") or {} # A send is only retried on a Meta code (4, 80007, 130429…): after a timeout, Meta may # already have accepted the message, and sending it again would deliver it twice. if path == "/messages": retryable = bool(meta.get("retryable")) and meta.get("code") is not None else: retryable = response.status_code >= 500 or bool(meta.get("retryable")) if not retryable or attempt == max_attempts: raise RuntimeError(f"{response.status_code} {payload.get('error', 'no JSON body')} (Meta {meta.get('code')})") base = min(30.0, 2 ** (attempt - 1)) time.sleep(base / 2 + random.random() * base / 2) ``` **PHP** ```php true, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true, CURLOPT_USERAGENT => "acme-crm/1.0 (+https://example.com)", CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [ "Authorization: Bearer " . getenv("GENUKA_WA_API_KEY"), "Content-Type: application/json", ], CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS => json_encode($body), ]); $raw = curl_exec($ch); $status = curl_getinfo($ch, CURLINFO_RESPONSE_CODE); // 0 when the request never completed curl_close($ch); // A 5xx arrives without JSON: our CDN replaces it with "error code: 502". $json = is_string($raw) ? json_decode($raw, true) : null; if (!is_array($json)) $json = []; if ($status >= 200 && $status < 300) return $json["data"]; // A send is only retried on a Meta code (4, 80007, 130429…): after a timeout, Meta may // already have accepted the message, and sending it again would deliver it twice. $meta = $json["meta"] ?? []; $retryable = $path === "/messages" ? !empty($meta["retryable"]) && isset($meta["code"]) : $status === 0 || $status >= 500 || !empty($meta["retryable"]); if (!$retryable || $attempt >= $maxAttempts) { throw new RuntimeException("$status " . ($json["error"] ?? "no JSON body") . " (Meta " . ($meta["code"] ?? "-") . ")"); } $base = min(30.0, 2 ** ($attempt - 1)); usleep((int) (($base / 2 + mt_rand() / mt_getrandmax() * $base / 2) * 1_000_000)); } } ``` **curl** ```bash # A single attempt: read meta.retryable before deciding to try again. curl -s -X POST https://wa.genuka.com/api/v1/messages \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $GENUKA_WA_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "connectionId": "con_1", "to": "+237690000001", "text": "Your parcel is on its way." }' \ | jq '{error, code: .meta.code, retryable: .meta.retryable}' ``` ## How do I prevent error 4? * **Prefer webhooks to polling.** Message statuses, template reviews and quality changes arrive on their own; asking for them in a loop burns the limit for nothing. * **Send bulk through a campaign.** Genuka paces the send to the number's throughput and handles retries recipient by recipient — see [campaigns over the API](https://wa.genuka.com/en/docs/guides/campaigns-api). * **Never retry at a fixed interval.** Three attempts one second apart replay the same burst at the same moment. ## Related error codes * [80007](https://wa.genuka.com/en/docs/errors/80007): an app's call limit on one WhatsApp account. * [130429](https://wa.genuka.com/en/docs/errors/130429): a number's messages-per-second throughput. * [131056](https://wa.genuka.com/en/docs/errors/131056): too many messages to the same recipient in a short time. ## FAQ ### Does error 4 come from my Genuka API key? No. It is a Meta code, relayed in `meta.code`. It concerns the Meta application making the call, Genuka's, not your key. ### How long should I wait? Meta gives no fixed duration for code 4: Graph limits are computed over a rolling hour. Start with a growing delay, from one to thirty seconds, and cut down your calls; if the error lasts more than an hour, tell support. ### Is a message refused with code 4 billed? Meta did not accept it, so there is no message to bill. On the Genuka WA side, only messages Meta accepted count against your plan's quota. ## Sources * [Meta — Error codes](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/support/error-codes) * [Meta — Graph API, Handling errors](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/guides/error-handling) * [Meta — Graph API, Rate limits](https://developers.facebook.com/docs/graph-api/overview/rate-limiting) * [Meta — About the platform, rate limits](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/about-the-platform#rate-limits)