Webhook Rate Limiter (Ainoflow Guard)
Webhook Rate Limiter (Ainoflow Guard) Stop webhook flooding before it starts. Add production-grade rate limiting to any n8n webhook in minutes - reject abusive traffic before expensive workflow logic executes. ✨ Key Features ⚡ Edge-style decisions** - Allow/deny checked before any business logic runs 🛡️ Burst protection** - Configurable limits (requests per time window) 🔄 Stateless** - No queues, databases, or counters needed in n8n 📡 Proxy-aware** - Correct IP extraction behind Cloudflare, nginx, load balancers 🔑 Dual identity modes** - Rate limit by IP address or API key ⏱️ Retry-After headers** - Proper 429 responses with retry guidance 💥 Fail-open** - Guard outage doesn't block your production traffic 🔧 Auto-setup** - Guard policy auto-creates on first request 🎯 How It Works Webhook receives POST request Identity extracted from headers: API key (x-api-key) → per-client limiting Client IP (X-Forwarded-For / x-real-ip) → per-IP limiting Guard decides allow or deny: POST /api/v1/guard/{route:identity}/counter Checks against configured rate limit policy Allowed → your business logic executes → 200 OK Denied → immediate 429 Too Many Requests + Retry-After header Client → Webhook → Identity → Guard → Allowed? → Business Logic → 200 OK ↓ NO 429 + Retry-After 🔧 Setup Requirements Ainoflow** - Sign up free for Guard API access. Free plan available. That's it. One credential, one API. ⚡ Quick Start 1. Import workflow and set Ainoflow Bearer credential on GuardCheck node 2. Edit Config node with your limits: | Variable | Default | Description | |----------|---------|-------------| | rate_limit | 30 | Max requests per window | | window_sec | 60 | Window in seconds | | identity_mode | ip | ip or apiKey | | route_name | webhook | Endpoint name | 3. Replace BusinessLogic node with your workflow Access original request: const body = $('Webhook').first().json.body; const headers = $('Webhook').first().json.headers; 4. Activate and test 🧪 Testing Burst Test Bash (Linux/macOS): for i in {1..50}; do curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}\n" \ -X POST https://your-n8n.com/webhook/rate-limited-endpoint \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"test": true}' done PowerShell (Windows): 1..50 | ForEach-Object { (Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://your-n8n.com/webhook/rate-limited-endpoint" -Method POST -Body '{"test":true}' -ContentType "application/json" -UseBasicParsing).StatusCode } Expected: First 30 → 200, remaining → 429 Proxy Test curl -H "X-Forwarded-For: 1.2.3.4, 5.6.7.8" \ -X POST https://your-n8n.com/webhook/rate-limited-endpoint Identity key should use 1.2.3.4 (first IP from chain). 💬 Response Examples Allowed (200 OK) { "ok": true, "data": { "message": "Request processed successfully" } } Denied (429 Too Many Requests) Headers: Retry-After: 17 { "ok": false, "error": "rate_limited", "retryAfter": 17 } 🏗️ Workflow Architecture | Section | Nodes | Description | |---------|-------|-------------| | Rate Limit Check | Webhook → Config → BuildIdentity → GuardCheck → IfAllowed | Extract identity, check Guard | | Allowed Path | BusinessLogic → RespondOk | Your logic + 200 response | | Denied Path | BuildDeniedResponse → RespondRateLimited | 429 + Retry-After | Total: 9 nodes. Minimal by design. 🔒 What This Protects Against ✅ Webhook flooding - bot traffic, retry storms hitting your endpoint ✅ Credit burn - one runaway loop = €500+ OpenAI/Twilio bill overnight ✅ Automation overload - uncontrolled DB writes, external API hammering ✅ Accidental loops - webhook chains triggering each other endlessly ❌ What This Does NOT Replace Cloudflare / WAF (network-level protection) Bot detection (behavioral analysis) Layer 3/4 DDoS mitigation Authentication (who is the user?) Guard handles application-level rate decisions, not network security. 🔑 Identity Modes IP Mode (default) Best for public webhooks where clients don't have API keys. X-Forwarded-For: 1.2.3.4, 5.6.7.8 → identity = "1.2.3.4" x-real-ip: 10.0.0.1 → identity = "10.0.0.1" ⚠️ IP addresses can be shared (NAT, mobile carriers, offices). API Key Mode Best for authenticated endpoints with per-client keys. x-api-key: client_abc123 → identity = "client_abc123" Falls back to IP if header is missing. 🛠️ Customization Rate Limit Presets | Use Case | rate_limit | window_sec | Result | |----------|-----------|------------|--------| | Burst protection | 30 | 60 | 30/min | | API rate limiting | 100 | 3600 | 100/hour | | LLM cost protection | 10 | 60 | 10/min | | Daily limit | 1000 | 86400 | 1000/day | Multiple Endpoints Use different route_name values to create separate rate limits: Config A: route_name = "orders" → key = "orders:1.2.3.4" Config B: route_name = "payments" → key = "payments:1.2.3.4" Each route has independent counters. Fail-Open vs Fail-Closed Default: Fail-open - Guard API uses failOpen=true, so Guard outage doesn't block traffic. To switch to fail-closed: change failOpen query parameter to false in GuardCheck node. Combine with Shield (Dedup Protection) Getting duplicate webhook deliveries? Add Ainoflow Shield before your business logic - one trigger, one execution, guaranteed. Guard + Shield = rate limiting + deduplication on the same endpoint. ⚠️ Important Notes Guard policy auto-creates** on first request with rateMax/rateWindow parameters allowPolicyOverwrite=true* is set for easy demo/testing - Config node values always apply. *Production:** set to false in GuardCheck query params to lock policy and prevent hidden config drift Denied requests not counted** - only successful requests increment the counter Window resets atomically** - no gradual decay, clean reset every N seconds No state in n8n** - all rate limiting state lives in Guard API 5-second timeout** - GuardCheck has 5s timeout to prevent blocking 💼 Need Customization? Want to add temporary bans, cost protection mode, multi-tier rate limiting, or per-client usage dashboards? Ainova Systems - We build custom AI automation infrastructure and safety layers for production workflows. Tags: webhook, rate-limiting, security, guard, burst-protection, api-protection, ainoflow, production, webhook-security, cost-control. An n8n automation workflow template by Dmitrij Zykovic.
Dmitrij Zykovic
web
free
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