# Getting Started with our Real-Time API Our Real-Time API consists of data that is updated every three seconds, detailing what is happening on your site right now. There are two categories of real-time API endpoints detailed in the next two articles within this section: [**traffic data endpoints**](https://docs.chartbeat.com/cbp/api/real-time-apis/traffic-data), and [**video engagement data**](https://docs.chartbeat.com/cbp/api/real-time-apis/video-engagement-data) endpoints (available only to organizations that use our [**Video Engagement**](https://docs.chartbeat.com/cbp/feature-integrations/video-engagement) add-on). ## Rate limits In order to prevent against API abuse we rate limit the amount of requests a user is allowed to submit. Our current rate limit is 200 requests per minute per host. Our suggested best practice is to call the endpoint within our rate limit, never directly embed your API calls into your production website code, and instead cache the results server-side to populate your custom widgets or dashboards. In addition, we cache queries for 3 seconds, so it's unnecessary to make requests more frequently than that. {% hint style="info" %} There's a header in every response that says how many requests are remaining on the rate limit (X-RateLimit-Limit and X-RateLimit-Remaining). {% endhint %} ## Required parameters **Host:** To be passed as a query parameter "host" in the URL. This is the Site ID associated with your Chartbeat account that you want to get data for, and the value of your `_sf_async_config.domain` variable in the Chartbeat tracking code for that site. If you are using one of our real-time video API endpoints, the host value is your site ID prepended with "video@". For example, `host=video@mysite.com`. **API Key**: To be passed in the HTTP Header with "X-CB-AK". You can create and access your [**API key here**](https://chartbeat.com/publishing/settings/api-keys/) under your account settings. Make sure to select an API key that has access to all calls for your domain. ### Example CURL request `curl --header "X-CB-AK: " "https://api.chartbeat.com/live/toppages/v3/?all_platforms=1&host=&limit=50&loyalty=1&metrics=account_type%2Cmedium%2Csource%2Ccampaign&now_on=1&types=1"` ## Next steps The next page of this guide details all of our Real-Time API endpoints for retrieving [**traffic and page data**](https://docs.chartbeat.com/cbp/api/real-time-apis/traffic-data). If you're seeking out our Real-Time API for retrieving video engagement data, skip ahead to [**page 3**](https://docs.chartbeat.com/cbp/api/real-time-apis/video-engagement-data). --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.chartbeat.com/cbp/api/real-time-apis/getting-started-with-our-real-time-api.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.