API Rate Limiter (Node.js + C++ Addon)

This project implements a high-performance API rate limiting system using C++ and exposes its functionality to a Node.js application through a native addon built with Node-API and CMake. The goal is to combine the performance of C++ with the accessibility of JavaScript, enabling scalable and efficient API request management.

Features

• Built using C++ for optimized performance in critical operations
• Exposed to Node.js via Node-API using the node-addon-api library
• Supports four widely-used rate limiting algorithms:
  • Fixed Window
  • Sliding Log
  • Token Bucket
  • Leaky Bucket
• TypeScript-based Express server for integration and testing

Prerequisites

• Node.js (version 18 or later recommended)
• CMake (version 3.15 or later)
• Python (used by node-gyp and cmake-js)
• C++ compiler (Visual Studio on Windows, or GCC/Clang on Unix)
• TypeScript: npm install -g typescript
• cmake-js: npm install -g cmake-js

Local Installation:

• clone the repo:

  • git clone https://github.com/divyansh12git/api_rate_limiter.git

• cd into folder

• install dependencies:

  • npm i

• Compile the C++ source using CMake and cmake-js:

  • npm run build

• Start the server:

  • npm run serve

API structure

• GET /limiter/fixed?name=<user_id> – Checks using the Fixed Window rate limiter

• GET /limiter/sliding?name=<user_id> – Checks using the Sliding Log rate limiter

• GET /limiter/token?name=<user_id> – Checks using the Token Bucket rate limiter

• GET /limiter/leaky?name=<user_id> – Checks using the Leaky Bucket rate limiter

• Response Format: { "activity": true, "answer": "user allowed" }

Author

Developed by Divyansh Gupta

• This project was driven by the curiosity to combine the performance and speed of C++ with the flexibility of a mature web framework Node.js.