--- title: "Defaults and Limits" url: "https://docs.caracal.run/v1.0/reference/defaults-and-limits/" markdown_url: "https://docs.caracal.run/markdown/v1.0/reference/defaults-and-limits.md" description: "Current ports, TTLs, timeouts, limits, and operational defaults." page_type: "reference" concepts: [] requires: [] --- # Defaults and Limits Canonical URL: https://docs.caracal.run/v1.0/reference/defaults-and-limits/ Markdown URL: https://docs.caracal.run/markdown/v1.0/reference/defaults-and-limits.md Description: Current ports, TTLs, timeouts, limits, and operational defaults. Page type: reference Concepts: none Requires: none --- ## Ports | Component | Port | | ----------- | ------ | | API | `3000` | | Web console | `3001` | | STS | `8080` | | Gateway | `8081` | | Audit | `9090` | | Coordinator | `4000` | | Postgres | `5432` | | Redis | `6379` | ## Token and Authority Lifetimes | Limit | Default | | -------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | | STS resource mandate cap | 15 minutes | | STS session mandate cap | 60 minutes | | STS `MAX_GRANT_TTL_SECONDS` | `3600` | | DCR application lifetime default and maximum | 3600 seconds | | `caracal run` injected credential TTL | 900 seconds | | Runtime approval wait | until the hold expires; 5-minute fallback when expiry is unavailable | | Approval TTL | 1800 seconds default, clamped between 60 seconds and 7 days | | Approval decision reason | 500 characters maximum | | Gateway expiring-token preflight window | 35 seconds | ## Service Limits | Limit | Default | | --------------------------------- | -------------------- | | API body limit | `1_048_576` bytes | | API request timeout | `30_000` ms | | Coordinator body limit | 256 KiB | | Coordinator request timeout | 30 seconds | | STS request body limit | 64 KiB | | Gateway max request bytes | 10 MiB | | Gateway STS timeout | 5 seconds | | Gateway upstream timeout | 30 seconds | | Gateway non-stream write timeout | 60 seconds | | Gateway stream idle timeout | 60 seconds per chunk | | Gateway server idle timeout | 120 seconds | | Gateway STS circuit failure limit | 3 failures | | Gateway STS circuit open window | 10 seconds | | STS `OPA_POLL_SECONDS` | 60 seconds, max 300 | | Control body limit | 64 KiB | | Control rate capacity | 60 per window | | Control rate window | 60 seconds | | Control replay TTL | 3600 seconds | ## SDK Timeouts and Retries The SDKs share one timeout philosophy: **control-plane calls are bounded, data-plane calls are bounded by you.** Coordinator and STS operations carry defaults because a hung control plane must not hang the worker. Provider traffic through `transport()` carries no TypeScript/Go default because only the caller knows whether a request is a short lookup or a long stream; pass the language-specific timeout or cancellation primitive. | Operation | Default | Notes | | ------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Coordinator call | 10 seconds | Per request, all SDKs. | | Session start | up to 2 retries | 5xx/network only. The SDK generates one operation id before the first attempt; Coordinator durably replays the same creation response and rejects changed inputs. This protects Session creation, not callback execution or downstream effects. | | Delegation create | 1 retry | Same durable creation-replay contract. | | Coordinator retry backoff | 250 ms escalating, jittered | A server `Retry-After` wins, capped at 10 seconds. | | STS token exchange | 30-second budget, one attempt | Issuance is never retried automatically because a lost response can hide a successfully minted token. Callers reconcile or explicitly retry according to their operation contract. | | TypeScript Control invoke | 30-second total budget | Covers one token mint and one invoke. Neither request is auto-retried; an invoke timeout is outcome-ambiguous. | | Approval wait | 300-second default | Long-polls in chunks; `pending` on timeout means waiting again is safe. | | Heartbeat renewal | 10-second bound per tick | Failures retry on the next tick; a session reported gone stops the timer and fires `onLeaseLost`. | | `transport()` / `fetch()` | none (TS/Go), httpx default (Python) | Bound per call: `timeoutMs`, `AbortSignal`, `timeout=`, or the injected HTTP client. | ## Session and Delegation Limits | Limit | Default | | ----------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | | Concurrent Sessions per zone | 50 (`MAX_AGENTS_PER_ZONE`) | | Concurrent Sessions per application | 200 (`MAX_AGENTS_PER_APP`) | | Child Sessions per parent Session | 10 | | Delegation depth | 10 | | Session labels per Session | 32 | | Session label length | 64 characters | | STS request rate per zone, resource, and acting application | 1000 per minute (`STS_MINT_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MIN`) | The per-zone ceiling binds first: with defaults, no application can hold more than 50 concurrent Sessions because its zone caps out there. The higher per-application ceiling matters once `MAX_AGENTS_PER_ZONE` is raised. `STS_MINT_RATE_LIMIT_PER_MIN` is the deployment ceiling for the mint rate. Operators can set a lower working limit from the web console under Settings → Preferences → Mint rate limit; the STS applies a change within 30 seconds, and the working limit can never exceed the ceiling. `max_hops` defaults to `1` on a constrained Delegation when omitted. The server validates every child bound against its parent's remaining hops. ## Storage and Stream Defaults | Default | Value | | ------------------------------------------------------ | ---------- | | Audit retention | 365 days | | Audit max deliveries before DLQ | 8 | | Audit claim idle | 30 seconds | | Audit tamper rolling window | 4 hours | | Redis audit stream intended max length | 1,000,000 | | Redis audit DLQ intended max length | 100,000 | | Redis policy/revocation/key stream intended max length | 10,000 | ## Helm Defaults | Service | Replicas | Max HPA replicas | | ----------- | -------- | ---------------- | | API | 2 | 8 | | STS | 2 | 8 | | Gateway | 2 | 16 | | Audit | 2 | 8 | | Coordinator | 2 | 8 | | Control | disabled | 2 when enabled | ## Next Step Use [CLI Exit Codes](/v1.0/reference/runtime-exit-codes/) when automating top-level `caracal` runtime commands.