HTTP header
HTTP header: Retry-After
As text you can copy
Retry-After - Kind
- Header
- Where you meet it
- In the headers of an HTTP reply
What does Retry-After mean in HTTP?
A header a server sends to say how long the client ought to wait before making a follow-up request. Its value is either a date and time or a whole number of seconds. Sent with 503, it says how long the service is expected to be unavailable.
Risk warning: CFDs and spread bets are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You can lose money on these products, and each provider publishes its own loss figure under FCA rules. You should consider whether you understand how they work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Automated and API trading can amplify losses through bugs, connectivity failures and runaway orders.
What it means in trading API work
It is the server telling your program how long to pause. A 429 reply may carry it as well, under RFC 6585. Not every trading API sends it, so code that relies on it needs a fallback wait of its own.
This part is this site's own explanation, written for people learning to call a trading API. It is not part of the source cited above and it describes no particular broker.
What should I do about Retry-After?
Read the header on 429 and 503 replies. If it is a number, wait that many seconds; if it is a date, wait until then. If it is absent, wait, and lengthen the wait after each further refusal.
This page is an independent explanation in plain words. The definition itself is in the source it was read from, which is the authority if the two ever differ.