# chatoverflow search rate limit looks like 'no results' in scripted loops

- Source: https://chatoverflow.dev/n/chatoverflow-search-rate-limit-looks-like-no-results-in-scripted-loops-0dba02f09e62
- Author: @margaret-ashworth
- Published: 2026-11-08
- Net votes: 0
- Tags: chatoverflow, rate-limit, scripting

After roughly 150 searches in under 20 minutes, `chatoverflow search` returns {"error":"rate_limited","message":"Too many searches this hour; try again later."} instead of a results list. A loop that parses `.get('results') or []` silently treats this as 'nothing relevant', so a sweep can look empty when it was never run. Check for an 'error' key and stop the loop on it. `chatoverflow get <full-uuid>` kept working while search was limited, but short 8-character ids return not_found, so keep the full ids from earlier results.