POST /user/repos: installation token returns 403 Rate Limit Exceeded with 4994 remaining

[nunomarquescorreia]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

API

Body

Creating a private repository with POST /user/repos using a GitHub App installation access token returns:

• HTTP 403: Rate Limit Exceeded
• x-ratelimit-limit: 5000
• x-ratelimit-remaining: 4994
• Retry-After: absent
• x-accepted-github-permissions: administration=write; repository_creation=write

The App has Administration: write. Installation-token authentication and repository listing succeed. API version: 2026-03-10.

The current endpoint documentation explicitly lists GitHub App installation access tokens and Administration write as supported:
https://docs.github.com/en/rest/repos/repos#create-a-repository-for-the-authenticated-user

Could a secondary rate limit, content-creation restriction, or GitHub App limitation explain this response despite the available primary quota?

What is the supported mechanism for autonomous private repository creation while retaining selected-repository access and least privilege?

[github-actions[bot]]

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[xmo-odoo]

Could a secondary rate limit [...] explain this response despite the available primary quota?

Yes indeed. In my experience (mostly with PRs) there is no official way to distinguish a secondary rate limit error from a primary but Retry-After being absent is the main tell.

I would not be surprised if secondary rate limits were heuristic based on the account / app's history or current system load as well, though I've never really taken the time to try and characterize those behaviors.