AWS ThrottlingException vs GCP RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED

Quick Decision

• -Use AWS ThrottlingException path when the provider explicitly signals request throttling and backoff/jitter reduces failures.
• -Use GCP RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED path when the RPC status indicates depleted quota or another exhausted finite resource.
• -Do not classify from HTTP status alone; use provider error code/status plus quota telemetry.

Key Differences

• -AWS ThrottlingException primarily signals admission-control pressure (request rate/concurrency shaping).
• -GCP RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED is broader: it can indicate quota exhaustion or other exhausted finite resources.
• -HTTP mapping differs by provider/protocol: AWS throttling can surface under multiple HTTP codes; GCP quota issues commonly surface as 429, while some APIs use 403 quota-reason variants.
• -Correct separation prevents infinite retries on hard quota ceilings and avoids unnecessary quota requests for short throttling bursts.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

1. 1Capture provider request IDs and structured error fields (`__type`, `status`, reason/metric, quota dimensions).
2. 2Classify by provider error code/status first, then use HTTP code only as supporting context.
3. 3Run controlled retry test with exponential backoff + jitter to distinguish transient throttling from hard ceilings.
4. 4Correlate with AWS/GCP quota metrics and submit quota increase only when sustained exhaustion is proven.

Common Misclassifications

• -Treating all 429 responses as identical across providers and skipping provider-specific error semantics.
• -Retrying indefinitely on sustained `RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED` without quota/capacity action.
• -Opening quota tickets for short AWS throttling bursts that are solved by pacing and jitter.
• -Misreading GCP quota-related 403 variants as authorization incidents.

Response Examples

HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request
Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.0
x-amzn-RequestId: 12345678-aaaa-bbbb-cccc-1234567890ab

{
  "__type": "ThrottlingException",
  "message": "Rate exceeded"
}

HTTP/1.1 429 Too Many Requests
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "error": {
    "code": 429,
    "status": "RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED",
    "message": "Quota exceeded for this operation."
  }
}

Pro Tip

Frequently Asked Questions