Package detail

sveltekit-rate-limiter

ciscoheat10.1kMIT0.7.0

A modular rate limiter for SvelteKit. Use in password resets, account registration, etc.

sveltekit, rate, limiting, rate limiter

readme

sveltekit-rate-limiter

A modular rate limiter for password resets, account registration, API call limiting, etc. Use in your +page.server.ts, +server.ts or src/hooks.server.ts.

Uses an in-memory cache (@isaacs/ttlcache), but can be swapped for something else. Same for limiters, which are plugins. The source file lists both interfaces.

Installation

npm i -D sveltekit-rate-limiter
pnpm i -D sveltekit-rate-limiter

How to use

import { error } from '@sveltejs/kit';
import { RateLimiter } from 'sveltekit-rate-limiter/server';

const limiter = new RateLimiter({
  // A rate is defined as [number, unit]
  IP: [10, 'h'], // IP address limiter
  IPUA: [5, 'm'], // IP + User Agent limiter
  cookie: {
    // Cookie limiter
    name: 'limiterid', // Unique cookie name for this limiter
    secret: 'SECRETKEY-SERVER-ONLY', // Use $env/static/private
    rate: [2, 'm'],
    preflight: true // Require preflight call (see load function)
  }
});

export const load = async (event) => {
  /**
   * Preflight prevents direct posting. If preflight option for the
   * cookie limiter is true and this function isn't called before posting,
   * request will be limited.
   *
   * Remember to await, so the cookie will be set before returning!
   */
  await limiter.cookieLimiter?.preflight(event);
};

export const actions = {
  default: async (event) => {
    // Every call to isLimited counts as a hit towards the rate limit for the event.
    if (await limiter.isLimited(event)) throw error(429);
  },

  debug: async (event) => {
    // Alternatively you can call check to get more details.
    // (will also count as a hit)
    const status = await limiter.check(event);
    if (status.limited) {
      // 'IP' | 'IPUA' | 'cookie' | number
      console.log('Limited due to ' + status.reason);
      throw error(429);
    }
  }
};

Call order for limiters

The limiters will be called in smallest unit and rate order, so in the example above:

cookie(2/min) → IPUA(5/min) → IP(10/hour)

For four consecutive requests from the same source within one minute, the following will happen:

Request Cookie IPUA IP
1 Hit 1 Hit 1 Hit 1
2 Hit 2 Hit 2 Hit 2
3 Limit - -
4 Limit - -

If the cookie is deleted but the User-Agent stays the same, the counter keeps going for the other limiters:

Request Cookie IPUA IP
5 Hit 1 Hit 3 Hit 3
6 Hit 2 Hit 4 Hit 4
7 Limit - -

If deleted one more time, the User-Agent limiter will reach its limit:

Request Cookie IPUA IP
8 Hit 1 Hit 5 Hit 5
9 Hit 2 Limit -
10 Limit - -

Valid units

Valid units are, from smallest to largest:

'100ms' | '250ms' | '500ms'
's' | '2s' | '5s' | '10s' | '15s' | '30s' | '45s'
'm' | '2m' | '5m  | '10m' | '15m' | '30m' | '45m'
'h' | '2h' | '6h' | '12h'
'd'

Multiple limits

You can specify the rates as an array, to handle multiple rates per limiter, like "Max 1 per second and 100 per hour": [[1, 's'], [100, 'h']].

Retry-After limiter

There is a version of the rate limiter that will return Retry-After information, the number of seconds before the request should be attempted again. This has been implemented in the src/hooks.server.ts file and instead of throwing an error code like other pages, we have to create a new response so that we can add the header.

import type { Handle } from '@sveltejs/kit';
import { RetryAfterRateLimiter } from 'sveltekit-rate-limiter/server';

const limiter = new RetryAfterRateLimiter({
  IP: [10, 'h'],
  IPUA: [5, 'm']
});

export const handle: Handle = async ({ event, resolve }) => {
  const status = await limiter.check(event);
  if (status.limited) {
    let response = new Response(
      `You are being rate limited. Please try after ${status.retryAfter} seconds.`,
      {
        status: 429,
        headers: { 'Retry-After': status.retryAfter.toString() }
      }
    );
    return response;
  }
  const response = await resolve(event);
  return response;
};

A custom store for the RetryAfterRateLimiter can also be used, in which the second argument to the constructor should be a RateLimiterStore that returns a unix timestamp describing when the request should be reattempted, based on the unit sent to it.

Clearing the limits

Clearing all rate limits can be done by calling the clear method of the rate limiter object.

Custom hash function

The default hash function is using crypto.subtle to generate a SHA-256 digest, but if isn't available in your environment, you can supply your own with the hashFunction option. Here's an example with the NodeJS crypto package:

import crypto from 'crypto';

// (input: string) => MaybePromise<string>
const hashFunction = (input: string) =>
  crypto.createHash('sha256').update(input).digest('hex');

Creating a custom limiter

Implement the RateLimiterPlugin interface:

interface RateLimiterPlugin {
  hash: (event: RequestEvent) => MaybePromise<string | boolean | null>;
  get rate(): Rate | Rate[];
}

In hash, return one of the following:

  • A string based on a RequestEvent, which will be counted and checked against the rate.
  • A boolean, to short-circuit the plugin chain and make the request fail (false) or succeed (true) no matter the current rate.
  • Or null, to signify an indeterminate result and move to the next plugin in the chain, or fail the request if it's the last and no previous limiter have passed.

String hash rules

  • The string will be hashed later, so you don't need to use a hash function.
  • The string cannot be empty, in which case an exception will be thrown.

Example

Here's the source for the IP + User Agent limiter:

import type { RequestEvent } from '@sveltejs/kit';
import type { Rate, RateLimiterPlugin } from 'sveltekit-rate-limiter/server';

class IPUserAgentRateLimiter implements RateLimiterPlugin {
  readonly rate: Rate | Rate[];

  constructor(rate: Rate | Rate[]) {
    this.rate = rate;
  }

  async hash(event: RequestEvent) {
    const ua = event.request.headers.get('user-agent');
    if (!ua) return false;
    return event.getClientAddress() + ua;
  }
}

Add your limiter to the plugins option to use it.

import { RateLimiter } from 'sveltekit-rate-limiter/server';

const limiter = new RateLimiter({
  plugins: [new CustomLimiter([5, 'm'])]
  // The built-in limiters can be added as well.
});

Custom data for the limiter

You can specify a type parameter to RateLimiter that expands the isLimited method with an extra parameter. There you can add extra data that will be supplied to the custom limiters:

class AllowDomain implements RateLimiterPlugin {
  // Shortest rate, so it will be executed first
  readonly rate: Rate = [0, '100ms'];
  readonly allowedDomain: string;

  constructor(allowedDomain: string) {
    this.allowedDomain = allowedDomain;
  }

  async hash(_: RequestEvent, extraData: { email: string }) {
    // Return true to bypass the rest of the plugin chain
    return extraData.email.endsWith(this.allowedDomain) ? true : null;
  }
}
const limiter = new RateLimiter<{ email: string }>({
  plugins: [new AllowDomain('company-domain.com')],
  IP: [10, 'm']
});

export const actions = {
  default: async (event) => {
    if (await limiter.isLimited(event, { email: event.locals.user.email })) {
      throw error(429);
    }
  }
};

changelog

Changelog

Headlines: Added, Changed, Deprecated, Removed, Fixed, Security

The format is based on Keep a Changelog, and this project adheres to Semantic Versioning.

[0.7.0] - 2025-06-17

Added

  • The check method now exists on both limiters, and will return a reason property.
  • RateLimiterOptions is now exported.
  • Package updates for Svelte 5 and general QOL improvements #18, thanks to screenfluent!

Fixed

  • Fixed so invalid cookie data does not cause an infinite loop when preflight is false.

[0.6.1] - 2024-09-19

Added

  • Plugins can now use an array of rates for the rate property, so limits like "1 per secord, 100 per hour" can be set.
  • New limiters: CloudflareIPRateLimiter and CloudflareIPUARateLimiter that can be imported from sveltekit-rate-limiter/limiters.

Changed

  • The RateLimiterStore interface now uses number as second parameter to the add method.

[0.5.2] - 2024-07-15

Added

  • Some additional rate units: 2m | 5m | 10m | 45m

[0.5.1] - 2024-03-18

Fixed

  • Interfaces now uses MaybePromise instead of Promise.

[0.5.0] - 2024-03-17

Changed

  • Plugins returning null weren't fully indeterminate: They will now limit the request only if no other limited have passed. As soon as another plugin passes, any subsequent null result will pass (for the current request).

Added

  • Added "extra data" type parameter for the rate limiter, so plugins can be provided information outside the request event. See README for an example.

[0.4.3] - 2024-01-16

Changed

  • The "rates" object options (IP, IPUA, cookie) should now be set in the top of the configuration for RateLimiter, no need for a nested object.
  • Deprecated the ms rate unit, it's not reliable due to OS timing issues.

Added

  • Added more units for milliseconds and seconds.

[0.4.2] - 2023-12-18

Fixed

  • Compatibility with SvelteKit 2.

[0.4.1] - 2023-08-21

Fixed

  • Hash function is now compatible with any environment that supports Web Crypto API, including Cloudflare workers. (Wasn't working properly in 0.4.0)

[0.4.0] - 2023-08-19

Changed

  • limiter.preflight is now async and must be awaited!
  • Cookie limiter options now takes a serializeOptions, that can be used for customizing the cookie.

Added

  • hashFunction option, for custom hashing. Defaults to Web Crypto API SHA-256, will fallback to NodeJS crypto if not available.

Fixed

  • Hash function is now compatible with any environment that supports Web Crypto API, including Cloudflare workers.

[0.3.5] - 2023-08-14

Added

  • Added a RetryAfterRateLimiter, that provides information for setting a Retry-After header.
  • Added clear method to the rate limiters.

[0.3.4] - 2023-08-11

Security

  • Rate wasn't limited when null was returned last in chain.

Fixed

  • Added top-level export, to make vite/vitest satisfied.

[0.3.2] - 2023-07-11

Changed

  • Removed check method from RateLimiterStore interface.

Added

  • RateLimiterPlugin can now return null, as an indeterminate result.

Fixed

  • RateLimiter plugin chain wasn't immutable.

[0.3.1] - 2023-07-02

Security

  • Moved exports to sveltekit-rate-limiter/server.

Added

  • Added isLimited method.

Removed

  • Removed check method, replaced by isLimited which has the condition inverted!

Changed

  • RateLimiterPlugin interface is now using a getter instead of readonly for rate.

[0.2.1] - 2023-06-30

Added

  • RateLimiterPlugin can now return boolean, not just false.

[0.2.0] - 2023-06-30

Fixed

  • Corrected exports
  • Package updated

Changed

  • Hash type is now string instead of an alias.