200-901 Cisco Platforms and Development Practice Question
An application sends many requests to the Meraki API and receives HTTP 429 errors. The response includes a 'Retry-After' header. What does this status code indicate?
⚠ Common exam trap
200-901 often tests the confusion between HTTP 429 and other 4xx/5xx codes, expecting candidates to know that 429 specifically means rate limiting and to use the Retry-After header.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
The client has exceeded the rate limit
HTTP 429 status code means 'Too Many Requests', indicating that the client has exceeded the rate limit set by the API. The 'Retry-After' header tells the client how long to wait before making another request.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The requested resource was not found
Why it's wrong here
HTTP 404 signals a missing resource, whereas 429 means the client exceeded the API rate limit. A Retry-After header accompanies 429 to indicate when to retry, which 404 never returns. 404 would be the answer if the endpoint path or resource ID were wrong.
- ✗
The server encountered an internal error
Why it's wrong here
HTTP 500 indicates a server-side fault, whereas 429 is a client-side throttling response. Meraki returns 429 with Retry-After when the caller exceeds the rate limit, not when the server malfunctions. 500 would apply if the API itself were failing internally.
- ✗
The API key is invalid
Why it's wrong here
An invalid API key returns HTTP 401 Unauthorized, not 429. Rate limiting is independent of credential validity; a valid key still triggers 429 once request volume exceeds the Meraki limit. 401 would be correct if authentication itself were failing.
- ✓
The client has exceeded the rate limit
Why this is correct
HTTP 429 is 'Too Many Requests', returned when the client exceeds the Meraki API's rate limit. The Retry-After header tells the client how long to wait before retrying, confirming the request was throttled rather than rejected for authentication or syntax.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Cisco exam blueprint
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