A Beginner’s Guide to Shopify’s GraphQL Rate Limiting

1. Introduction
   • Importance of understanding rate limiting
   • Brief overview of GraphQL in Shopify
2. Shopify’s GraphQL Rate Limiting Explained
   • What is rate limiting and why does Shopify use it?
   • Understanding the cost-based rate limiting system
3. Setting Up Your Node.js Environment
   • Installing Node.js and necessary libraries
   • Setting up Shopify API credentials
4. Basics of Rate Limits in GraphQL
   • How rate limits work in Shopify’s GraphQL
   • Reading the rate limit headers
5. Strategies to Handle Rate Limits
   • Managing API calls within rate limits
   • Implementing retry logic in Node.js
6. Minimizing Query Costs
   • Designing low-cost queries
   • Utilizing query cost estimation
7. Efficient Pagination Techniques
   • Cursor-based pagination
   • Reducing page size to manage query costs
8. Monitoring and Adjusting API Consumption
   • Tools and practices for monitoring API usage
   • Adjusting strategies based on usage patterns
9. Best Practices for Managing Rate Limits
   • Code examples of best practices
   • When to use webhooks instead of polling
10. Handling Rate Limit Errors
    • Detecting and responding to rate limit errors
    • Example: Error handling in Node.js
11. Advanced Techniques and Tools
    • Using GraphQL’s features to optimize calls
    • Recommended tools for managing API calls
12. Conclusion
    • Recap of managing rate limits
    • Encouragement to practice and implement the learned strategies

const { Shopify } = require('@shopify/shopify-api');

const shop = 'your-shop-name.myshopify.com';
const accessToken = 'your-access-token';

const client = new Shopify.Clients.Graphql(shop, accessToken);

async function checkRateLimit() {
  const query = `
  {
    shop {
      products(first: 1) {
        edges {
          node {
            id
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }`;

  try {
    const response = await client.query({ data: query });
    console.log('Remaining API call credits:', response.extensions.cost.throttleStatus.currentlyAvailable);
    console.log(response);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Error:', error);
    if (error.response.extensions.cost.throttleStatus.maximumAvailable < 100) {
      console.log('Approaching rate limit, reducing query frequency...');
    }
  }
}

checkRateLimit();