Declarative: Multi-token authenticator with rate-limit-aware rotation

[devin-ai-integration]

Problem

Many API connectors need to rotate through multiple authentication tokens to increase effective rate limits and avoid hitting API quotas. Currently, this requires custom Python code and cannot be implemented in declarative manifest-only connectors.

Current Workaround

Connectors like source-github implement custom authenticators in Python. See source-github/utils.py:53-186 which implements MultipleTokenAuthenticatorWithRateLimiter that:

• Cycles through multiple tokens automatically
• Tracks separate rate limits per token per API type (REST vs GraphQL)
• Automatically switches tokens when limits are reached
• Sleeps until reset if all tokens are exhausted

Proposed Solution

Add a declarative MultiTokenAuthenticator component that supports:

1. Token rotation: Accept multiple tokens and cycle through them
2. Rate limit tracking: Monitor rate limits per token via response headers or dedicated endpoints
3. Separate counters: Support different rate limit buckets (e.g., REST vs GraphQL)
4. Automatic switching: Switch to next token when current token is rate-limited
5. Sleep/retry logic: Wait until rate limit reset when all tokens are exhausted

Example Configuration

authenticator:
  type: MultiTokenAuthenticator
  tokens:
    - "{{ config.tokens[0] }}"
    - "{{ config.tokens[1] }}"
    - "{{ config.tokens[2] }}"
  rate_limit_tracking:
    - resource: "core"  # REST API
      header_prefix: "x-ratelimit-"
    - resource: "graphql"  # GraphQL API
      header_prefix: "x-ratelimit-"
  max_wait_time: "{{ config.max_waiting_time }}"

Impact

This would enable connectors like source-github, source-gitlab, and others to be fully declarative while maintaining their multi-token rate limiting capabilities.

Related

• Survey of Manifest-Only Connectors Using Custom Components (Feature Gaps) #714 - Survey showing 74.3% of certified manifest-only connectors require custom components
• Requested by Aaron ("AJ") Steers (@aaronsteers) in https://airbytehq-team.slack.com/archives/C08BHPUMEPJ/p1762665961303909

Code References

• source-github/utils.py:53-186 - MultipleTokenAuthenticatorWithRateLimiter implementation
• source-github/spec.json:57-62 - Multi-token input configuration