> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.linkupapi.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Platform Best Practices
> Limits, guidelines, and recommendations to use LinkupAPI safely
LinkupAPI connects to third-party platforms like LinkedIn and WhatsApp. Each provider enforces its own limits and restrictions. Understanding these limits is essential to avoid account warnings or suspensions.
The limits below are **conservative recommendations**. You may increase them at your own risk. Exceeding provider limits will result in HTTP `429` or `500` errors. Make sure your system handles these errors gracefully.
## General Principles
These principles apply to **all providers and all routes**:
* **Space out your calls** — Use random delays between requests instead of fixed intervals. Predictable patterns are easily flagged as automation.
* **Distribute across working hours** — Spread your actions throughout the day during business hours rather than sending everything at once.
* **Warm up new accounts** — For new or inactive accounts, start with low volumes and increase gradually over 2-3 weeks. Accounts with fewer than \~150 connections may experience delivery issues with invitations.
* **Use real accounts only** — Fake accounts are well-detected by platforms, even without automation. We strongly recommend using only genuine accounts.
* **All limits are per account** — They are independent of the API route and do not accumulate across endpoints.
***
## LinkedIn Limits
### Connection Requests (Invitations)
| Account Type | Daily Limit | Weekly Limit | Note Length |
| - | - | - | - |
| **Paid LinkedIn** (Premium, Business, etc.) | 80–100 invitations | \~200/week | Up to 300 characters |
| **Free LinkedIn** | \~5 invitations/month (with note) | \~150/week (without note) | Up to 200 characters |
When you hit LinkedIn's invitation limit, you'll receive a `429 / RATE_LIMITED` error — back off and retry later. We don't enforce any limits on our side — you'll hit the exact same limit as in the LinkedIn UI. You can verify by trying the same action directly in the LinkedIn interface.
A `422 / CHANNEL_ERROR` mentioning `CANT_RESEND_YET` is not a quota: after withdrawing an invitation, LinkedIn only lets you invite the same member again about 3 weeks later.
**Recommendations:**
* Withdraw stale invitations older than 2-3 weeks using the [Withdraw](/api-reference/v2/network/withdraw) endpoint
* Target relevant profiles — random invitations increase rejection rates and trigger LinkedIn restrictions
### Profile Retrieval
| Action | Recommended Daily Limit |
| - | - |
| Profile views / profile data | \~100 per account per day |
This is a conservative recommendation. We don't enforce this limit, but exceeding it may trigger LinkedIn restrictions on your account.
### Search Results
There are **two separate limits** to consider:
**Per-search cap (LinkedIn limit):**
* Standard LinkedIn search: max **1,000 profiles** returned per search query
* Even if the UI shows more total results, LinkedIn only returns the first 1,000
To retrieve more results than the per-search cap, narrow your query using filters (location, industry, company, etc.) and perform multiple searches.
**Daily usage (recommendation):**
* We recommend limiting the total number of profiles retrieved to **\~1,000 per day** per account
* This refers to the total result lines actually fetched, not the number of API requests
### Connections & Invitation Lists
If you need to detect accepted invitations, **avoid polling at fixed intervals** (e.g., every hour or at 8:00 AM daily) — this pattern is easily flagged as automation.
**Recommended approach:**
1. Use the [Webhook](/api-reference/v2/webhooks/introduction) `accepted_invitation` event to detect accepted invitations
### Messaging
**Recommendations:**
* Space actions randomly throughout the day
* Limit to **30–50 messages per day** per account for optimal deliverability
* Personalize every message — generic copy gets flagged and ignored
* Wait 3-7 days before following up, and limit follow-ups to 2-3 per contact
### InMail
The number of InMails you can send depends on your LinkedIn subscription. Even without remaining credits, you can still send **free InMails to open profiles**.
**Recommendations:**
* Space sends randomly throughout the day
* Limit daily sends to **30–50** to maximize your monthly allocation
### Content & Posts
* **1-2 posts per day** maximum — more than that reduces engagement
* Vary your content format (text, articles, media)
* For comments and reactions: follow the general limit of \~100 per day per account
### Other LinkedIn Routes
For any route not listed above, follow the same principles:
* Minimize usage as much as possible
* Space out calls at random intervals
* Default limit: **\~100 actions per day per account** (e.g., retrieving company profiles, fetching posts, adding reactions, commenting)
***
## WhatsApp Limits
WhatsApp enforces strict anti-spam measures. Follow these guidelines:
| Action | Recommended Limit |
| - | - |
| New conversations | 20–30 per day |
| Messages to existing chats | 100 per day |
* **Don't message contacts who haven't opted in** — WhatsApp bans accounts aggressively for unsolicited messages
* **Use random delays** between messages (10-30 seconds minimum)
* **Warm up new numbers** — Start with 5-10 messages/day and increase over several weeks
***
## Architecture Recommendations
Process API calls through a queue (Redis, RabbitMQ, etc.) with random delays between jobs. This prevents bursts and makes retry logic simpler.
Profile and company data don't change every minute. Cache results locally to save credits and reduce unnecessary API calls.
Instead of polling for new messages or accepted invitations, set up [Webhooks](/api-reference/v2/webhooks/introduction) for real-time notifications. It's safer and more efficient.