https://woocommerce.com/wp-json/helper/1.0/update-check 429 Too Many Requests

  • Resolved joyryde

    (@joyryde)


    4 months, 1 week ago

    Hi,

    How do we fix this issue?

    We use Cloudflare on Cloudways hosting.

    https://woocommerce.com/wp-json/helper/1.0/update-check 429 Too Many Requests

    DNS Resolution Time: 0.0050
    Connection Time: 0.0059
    Transfer Start Time (TTFB): 0.2020
    Response Content Type: application/json
    IP Address: 192.0.66.5
    WC_Helper_API::request()
    wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/includes/admin/helper/class-wc-helper-api.php:67
    WC_Helper_API::post()
    wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/includes/admin/helper/class-wc-helper-api.php:190
    WC_Helper_Updater::_update_check()
    wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/includes/admin/helper/class-wc-helper-updater.php:663
    WC_Helper_Updater::get_update_data()
    wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/includes/admin/helper/class-wc-helper-updater.php:479
    WC_Helper_Updater::transient_update_plugins()
    wp-content/plugins/woocommerce/includes/admin/helper/class-wc-helper-updater.php:76
    apply_filters('pre_set_site_transient_update_plugins')
    wp-includes/plugin.php:205
    set_site_transient()
    wp-includes/option.php:2654
    wp_update_plugins()
    wp-includes/update.php:425
    _maybe_update_plugins()
    wp-includes/update.php:1060
    do_action('admin_init')
    wp-includes/plugin.php:522
Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Sai (woo-hc)

    (@saivutukuru)

    4 months, 1 week ago

    Hi @joyryde,

    This 429 response isn’t coming from your server or Cloudflare; it’s a rate limit response from WooCommerce.com itself.

    The /wp-json/helper/1.0/update-check endpoint is used by WooCommerce Helper to check extension updates and license status. If too many requests are made in a short period (which can happen on managed hosts like Cloudways that use shared outbound IPs), WooCommerce.com will temporarily throttle requests.

    A few important points:

    • This does not affect your store’s frontend or checkout.
    • It only impacts extension update checks and license syncing.
    • The rate limit usually clears automatically after some time.

    To reduce or prevent this from happening:

    • Avoid forcing plugin updates repeatedly (manual “Check again” clicks).
    • Ensure only one cron system is running (disable WP-Cron if your host provides a server cron).
    • If using WP-CLI or external monitoring that runs wp plugin update, reduce its frequency.
    • If multiple admins log in frequently, this can also increase update checks.

    If the issue persists continuously (not intermittently), Cloudways support can confirm whether your server is sharing outbound IPs that may be hitting rate limits.

    Thread Starter joyryde

    (@joyryde)

    4 months, 1 week ago

    OK, thank you! We have reported this to Cloudways Hosting for them to fix.

    None of this applies to us:

    • Avoid forcing plugin updates repeatedly (manual “Check again” clicks).
    • Ensure only one cron system is running (disable WP-Cron if your host provides a server cron).
    • If using WP-CLI or external monitoring that runs wp plugin update, reduce its frequency.
    • If multiple admins log in frequently, this can also increase update checks.
    Plugin Support Frank Remmy (woo-hc)

    (@frankremmy)

    4 months, 1 week ago

    Hi @joyryde,

    Thanks for the follow‑up. From what you’ve shared, it looks like the behavior you’re seeing is peculiar to how Cloudways logs these requests in Query Monitor.

    I did some digging and found that Cloudways has documented this exact scenario, including why 429 responses may appear and how to resolve them. Their guide walks through the steps to address the “Too Many Requests” error on their platform: https://www.cloudways.com/blog/429-too-many-requests-error-wordpress/.

    Following their recommendations should help clear things up on your end.

    Feel free to keep us posted on how it goes.

    Thread Starter joyryde

    (@joyryde)

    4 months, 1 week ago

    Another update from Cloudways Hosting:

    Hello,

    The 429 is returned by WooCommerce.com, not by your server, Cloudflare, or Cloudways. This is an issue with them, not Cloudways.

    The endpoint https://woocommerce.com/wp-json/helper/1.0/update-check is rate-limited on their side. When a site, updates/licenses frequently, WooCommerce.com throttles the IP, not your specific site.
    From your screenshot, these jobs are failing repeatedly, over and over and over again:

    gla/jobs/update_merchant_product_status
    gla/jobs/update_all_products/process_item

    These belong to Google Listings & Ads (GLA) for WooCommerce, and the failure message is key:

    “job was stopped because its failure rate is above the allowed threshold”

    This happens when:

    The job keeps retrying
    External API calls fail (Google / Woo / licensing)
    WooCommerce Helper hits 429, fails
    Action Scheduler backs off and pauses the job
    This is protective behavior, not a blockage.

    No IP ban.
    No firewall rule.
    No Cloudflare block.
    No server-side rate limiting.

    This is WooCommerce.com rate limiting, not a server issue

    Sai (woo-hc)

    (@saivutukuru)

    4 months, 1 week ago

    Hi @joyryde,

    Thanks for sharing the update from Cloudways, that lines up with what we’re seeing as well.

    To summarize for anyone following along: the 429 responses are coming from WooCommerce.com’s Helper API due to rate limiting, not from Cloudflare, Cloudways, or your server. The repeated Action Scheduler jobs (from Google Listings & Ads) are triggering update/license checks often enough that WooCommerce.com temporarily throttles the shared outbound IP.

    This is expected protective behavior and doesn’t affect your store’s frontend or checkout. Once the request volume drops, the throttling clears on its own.

    At this point there’s nothing you need to change on the server or firewall side. If you notice it happening very frequently, reducing how often background jobs or integrations run update checks can help, but otherwise this can be safely ignored.

    Let us know if you run into anything else.

    Plugin Support Kay U a11n

    (@kingsleyinfo)

    2 months, 2 weeks ago

    I’m happy we were able to work through that together — I know it took some patience on your end! If the solution is still holding up and you’d like to share your experience to help others in the community, you can leave a review here: https://ww.wp.xz.cn/plugins/woocommerce/#reviews

    Feel free to open a new thread anytime if anything else comes up.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

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