What is token bucket rate limiting in Go?

It's a bucket that refills tokens over time; consume one per request. Handles bursts better than fixed windows, implemented atomically with Redis Lua.

Fixed window vs token bucket: which for APIs?

Token bucket for public APIs (burst-friendly). Fixed window for simple internal calls (dead simple, but watch boundaries).

How to implement rate limiting with Redis in Go?

Use Lua scripts for atomicity: read state, compute refill, decrement, write—all in one server-side op. Skip naive GET/SET.

🗄️ Databases & Backend

Ditching Rate Limiting Libraries: Building Fixed Window and Token Bucket in Go from Scratch

Everyone grabs a rate limiting library and calls it a day. But what if building your own in Go reveals why they fail under real load? Here's the gritty truth on fixed window vs. token bucket, Redis atomicity, and when to skip the crates.

theAIcatchup Apr 10, 2026 5 min read

Go code snippet implementing atomic token bucket rate limiter with Redis Lua script

⚡ Key Takeaways

Build custom rate limiters in Go to grok concurrency races that libraries hide. 𝕏
Token bucket beats fixed window for bursty real-world traffic; use Redis Lua for atomic ops. 𝕏
Real Redis in CI catches Lua bugs mocks miss—scale-ready from day one. 𝕏

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#Go Programming #Redis #Redis Lua #fixed window #golang #rate limiting #rate limiting Go #token bucket

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