Rate-limit aware agent scheduling
1 Jul 2026 · 6 min read
Agents need scheduling that respects model, tool, tenant, and vendor rate limits.
Rate limits are an execution constraint. Treating them as random tool failures creates retries, delays, and vendor incidents.
AstraRunner treats this as an execution-platform concern: the run needs durable state, traceable decisions, cost visibility, and enough structure for teams to review what happened after the agent finishes.
Patterns that work
- Model provider limits as shared capacity.
- Throttle by tenant and external service.
- Use backoff based on vendor response headers.
- Shift non-urgent work to later windows.
Implementation checklist
- Centralize limit tracking.
- Expose next eligible retry time.
- Avoid synchronized retries.
- Preserve context while waiting.
Watch outs
- Local retries can worsen global throttling.
- Different tools have different limit semantics.
- Delayed work still needs budget and approval context.
Related reading
How this fits the Astra stack
AstraRunner owns the operational path for agent work: orchestration, scheduling, approval gates, traces, costs, and role-agent handoffs. AstraMemory owns durable context and retrieval. AstraGenie turns those capabilities into product workflows for teams that want automation without rebuilding the platform layer.