TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview
The Stack Internal Premium API ("Premium API") allows customers to programmatically interact with their Stack Internal site. Access to the Premium API is sold as a specific volume of calls as a monthly allotment, and is co-terminous with an existing Stack Internal Enterprise subscription.
During the term of any agreement for which a customer has purchased the Premium API add-On, Stack Exchange, Inc. ("Stack") provides ongoing coverage and technical support for the Premium API service described herein.
Customers should report all support issues related to the Premium API to Stack by opening a ticket on our support portal.
Purchasing and entitlement
Customers sign up for a subscription for a specific monthly volume of Premium API calls, defined as "Subscription Tiers". There are no credits given back to the customer if the full monthly allotment isn't used in a given month.
Subscription tiers
The following tiers are available for the Premium API SKU.
| Subscription tier | Monthly calls |
|---|---|
| Up to 5,000 | 5,000 |
| Up to 10,000 | 10,000 |
| Up to 25,000 | 25,000 |
| Up to 100,000 | 100,000 |
| Up to 250,000 | 250,000 |
| Up to 500,000 | 500,000 |
| Up to 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Up to 5,000,000 | 5,000,000 |
Delivery of entitlement
Provisioning Stack Internal Premium API: The entitlement is enabled following the executed order form. Stack Overflow product support will enable the entitlement within the customer’s Stack Internal Enterprise site. A dedicated email is then sent to the customer to confirm the Premium API is ready and provide links to relevant documentation.
Usage, monitoring, and upgrades
Premium API call usage is monitored monthly against a customer's purchased allotment to prevent use in excess. Accounts that consistently exceed their limits will be identified for a potential tier upgrade.
Tier escalation and throttling
Stack reserves the right to automatically upgrade a customer to the next highest service tier if their Premium API usage:
- Exceeds 125% of their then-current monthly allotment for three consecutive months.
Customers will receive written notice at least 30 days before the upgrade takes effect. Additionally, Stack can throttle or temporarily suspend a customer's Premium API access if usage exceeds 125% of their then-current allotment for any given month or if it poses a material risk to service stability or performance.
Throttling
Stack Internal Premium API uses request throttling to prevent abuse, excessive overages pertaining to a customer's subscription tier, and to ensure optimum performance for all users. Stack currently implements two different types of throttling to alleviate excessive Premium API calls: burst throttle rate limiter (short-term) and token bucket rate limiter (long-term). Both throttling methods monitor the number of requests coming from each access token.