How do I configure rate limiting on Consumer Groups?

Before 3.4, the recommended way to configure rate limiting on Consumer Groups was to use the /consumer_groups/{id}/overrides/plugins/rate-limiting-advanced endpoint, combined with the enforce_consumer_groups option on a global plugin instance. Both were deprecated in 3.4.

If you’re upgrading and used this approach, switch to scoping the Rate Limiting plugin directly to the Consumer Group instead.

Note: If dynamic ordering is configured anywhere in the Workspace, there are limitations with executing the Rate Limiting plugin at the Consumer or Consumer Group level. Plugins may not work if they are Consumer/Consumer Group scoped. This has been fixed in 3.14.

1. Create a Consumer Group if you haven’t already, for example free-tier:

   curl -X POST http://localhost:8001/consumer_groups \
     --data name=free-tier

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2. Add Consumers to the group:

   curl -X POST http://localhost:8001/consumer_groups/free-tier/consumers \
     --data consumer.username=my-consumer

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3. Scope the Rate Limiting plugin to the Consumer Group. For example, to allow 10 requests per minute using the local policy:

   curl -X POST http://localhost:8001/consumer_groups/free-tier/plugins \
     --data name=rate-limiting \
     --data config.minute=10 \
     --data config.policy=local

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The plugin now enforces the rate limit for all Consumers in the free-tier group.