Adding Rate Limits to a Netlify Chat Endpoint with Postgres for Palm Beach Contractors

Description and use

The author implemented an IP‑based rate limit in Postgres to stop bot spam on a Netlify chat endpoint, preserving database integrity for local contractors.

Problem

Automated scrapers were flooding a Netlify chat endpoint with spam, exhausting Postgres connections and corrupting lead data.

Outcome

The IP‑hashing and hourly counter in Postgres immediately stopped bot traffic, preventing database exhaustion and keeping lead pipelines clean for local contractors.

Workflow

• Deploy Netlify Function with Node.js
• Connect to Postgres via DATABASE_URL with SSL
• On each POST request: 1) Retrieve client IP from headers, 2) Hash IP with SHA‑256, 3) Delete rate_limit rows older than 1 hour, 4) Count requests for the hashed IP in the last hour, 5) If count ≥5, return 429 and close DB, 6) Else insert new rate_limit record, 7) Proceed with chat logic, 8) Close DB and return 200

Evidence

bots were hammering the endpoint fifty times a minute, trying to inject SQL strings and garbage URLs into my database

Source

I needed a hard server‑side rate limit tied to the visitor's IP address, stored directly in my Postgres database without adding heavy third‑party SaaS dependencies

Source

Implementing this simple IP hashing and Postgres counter immediately stopped the bot traffic on my site

Source