Introduction to Leaky Bucket Algorithm

Tadashi Shigeoka ·  Thu, April 8, 2021

I’ll introduce what I researched about the Leaky Bucket algorithm.

Background: Shopify API Adopts the Leaky Bucket Algorithm

The leaky bucket algorithm

All Shopify APIs use a leaky bucket algorithm to manage requests. This algorithm lets your app make an unlimited amount of requests in infrequent bursts over time.

Quote from: The leaky bucket algorithm - Shopify API rate limits

List of Reference Articles on Leaky Bucket Algorithm

Here’s a list of articles I read to understand the Leaky Bucket algorithm:

Wikipedia's Leaky Bucket

The Japanese Wikipedia version of “Leaky Bucket” is written simply, so if you want to know more details, please read the English Wikipedia version of “Leaky bucket”.

Leaky Bucket Implementation Case Studies

There was a case where PAY.JP adopted the leaky bucket algorithm for introducing Rate Limits, so I read these articles as well.