Implement Outgoing API Request Rate Limiting

import requests
import time
from ratelimit import limits, sleep_and_retry # Requires: pip install ratelimit

# --- Configuration ---
# Define the rate limit: 5 calls per 1 second
CALLS = 5
PERIOD = 1 # seconds

# External API URL
EXTERNAL_API_URL = 'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1' # Example API

@sleep_and_retry # Ensures the function waits if the rate limit is hit
@limits(calls=CALLS, period=PERIOD)
def make_api_request(url, headers=None):
    """Makes a rate-limited API request."""
    print(f"Attempting to call {url} at {time.time()}")
    try:
        response = requests.get(url, headers=headers, timeout=10)
        response.raise_for_status() # Raise an exception for bad status codes
        return response.json()
    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        print(f"API request failed: {e}")
        return None

def fetch_multiple_items(num_items):
    """Fetches multiple items from the API with rate limiting."""
    results = []
    for i in range(num_items):
        # Simulate fetching different items, or just repeat the same one
        item_url = f'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/{i + 1}'
        data = make_api_request(item_url)
        if data:
            results.append(data)
        time.sleep(0.1) # Simulate some work between requests
    return results

if __name__ == '__main__':
    print(f"Starting to fetch {CALLS * 2} items with a rate limit of {CALLS} calls per {PERIOD} second(s)...")
    # This will demonstrate the rate limiting in action, pausing every 'PERIOD' seconds
    fetched_data = fetch_multiple_items(CALLS * 2) # Try to fetch more than allowed in one period
    print(f"Finished fetching. Total items: {len(fetched_data)}")
    print("Example data point:", fetched_data[0] if fetched_data else "No data")