Will my indexer account get rate-limited or suspended?

An indexer may limit how many searches its account interface accepts during an hour or day. This is separate from a newsgroup provider's connection and transfer limits. GeekStream uses a limit reported by the service when available. If it cannot observe a reliable limit, setup asks you to enter the documented limit and reset window, with a conservative default.

GeekStream caches results only for the allowed retention period, combines equivalent searches, waits after a limit response, pauses a failing source, bounds background work, and keeps a small reserve for an owner trying to recover playback. One upstream request can serve several authorized client requests:

Paired TV --+

Mobile -----+--> GeekStream request coordinator --> one permitted upstream request

Desktop ----+ +--> bounded permitted cache

Status meanings: `ready` means requests are within budget. `quota_low` means the safe reserve is near. `rate_limited` means GeekStream is honoring the reset instruction. `temporarily_unavailable` means bounded recovery is waiting. `credentials_invalid` means reconnect the account. `disabled` means no requests will be sent. Monitoring shows sanitized remaining and reset information when available.

If attention is needed, wait for the displayed reset time, check the provider's official account guidance, correct credentials through Server Settings, or reduce background activity. Do not rotate keys, identities, addresses, or route requests elsewhere to defeat a restriction. GeekStream respects provider terms and minimizes request risk, but it cannot guarantee that a third-party account will never be limited or suspended.

This guidance is linked from Search sources setup, connection testing, Find More Sources, monitoring, and troubleshooting. Sanitized quota screenshots remain blocked until physical acceptance.

What responsible streaming means

GeekStream is designed to respect provider limits and minimize unnecessary requests. Four different activities matter: indexer API requests use a search budget; Usenet-provider NNTP connections transfer downloaded article data; local buffering, cache, and storage retain data according to your settings; and playback sends data from your Server to an authorized paired client.

Streaming still transfers data. Third-party terms and applicable laws still apply, and owners are responsible for lawful sources and use. GeekStream does not conceal abusive behavior or bypass provider controls.

The safeguards are practical, not promises of immunity: minimal coalesced indexer requests, quota reserves, documented connection calibration, encrypted server-only credentials, short-lived concealed playback capabilities, sanitized logs and monitoring, explicit cache-retention controls, and truthful limit states. Public wording requires legal review before launch.