Build Rate Limiting module: Redis-backed per-user/IP throttling middleware

[devIKargi]

Direction:
Implement a Rate Limiting & Throttling module to protect APIs from abuse with per-user and per-IP limits backed by a distributed store (Redis) and middleware integration.

Key responsibilities:

• Middleware that enforces configurable rate limits (requests per minute/hour) per API key, user ID, or IP.
• Support for burst windows and leaky-bucket/token-bucket algorithms and distributed counters using Redis.
• Admin APIs to view/adjust limits and to whitelist/blacklist identifiers.
• Metrics and headers (Retry-After) and tests for limit enforcement and expiry semantics.

Acceptance criteria:

• Rate limit middleware applied to critical endpoints and respects configured policies.
• Counters work in multi-instance scenarios using Redis; tests simulate concurrent requests to verify correctness.
• Requests exceeding limits return appropriate status (429) and headers indicating retry timing.
• Admin endpoints to whitelist/blacklist exist and are protected by RBAC.

[bobthecomputer]

I can take this. The repository already has rate-limit decorators, an unwired quota guard, a duplicate in-memory limiter, and Redis installed. I will consolidate these into one atomic Redis token-bucket service, wire decorated critical endpoints to it, add per-identifier policies plus RBAC-protected whitelist/blacklist administration, return standard limit and retry headers, expose metrics, and add concurrent multi-instance tests. I will preserve the existing throttling decorators and report baseline issues separately from this patch.

[WHIZAB4TECH]

I’m interested in contributing to this issue and believe I can deliver a clean, well-tested solution that aligns with the project’s standards.

[LuisD-Dev]

Hi, I’d like to work on this issue. I can implement configurable per-user, API-key, and IP rate limiting with Redis-backed distributed counters, token-bucket or leaky-bucket support, proper 429 and Retry-After responses, RBAC-protected admin controls for limits and allow/block lists, plus concurrency and expiry tests for multi-instance environments. Could you assign this issue to me?

[grantfox-oss]

🦊 GrantFox — @LuisD-Dev has been assigned to this issue as part of the Official Campaign | FWC26 campaign!

Next steps:

1. Open a Pull Request referencing this issue (e.g., Closes #345)
2. Your PR will be reviewed by the StellAIverse maintainers

Good luck! Track your progress on GrantFox.

[grantfox-oss]

🎉 This issue has been marked as completed on GrantFox as part of the Official Campaign | FWC26 campaign!

@bobthecomputer's PR #355 was approved and merged by @devIKargi.

🏆 @bobthecomputer: You earned 35 FoxPoints for this contribution! Your current tier: Explorer (293 total points). Track your full progress on GrantFox.

👏 Great work, @bobthecomputer! Keep contributing to StellAIverse.