Third-party quota exceeded
Your product calls a third-party AI/maps API using a single shared API key with a per-key quota of 60,000 requests/minute. For months you're fine. A new feature shipped Monday that makes 4 calls per page view instead of 1, and on Wednesday a moderate traffic bump pushes you over the per-minute quota for the first time: you see a wall of 429 `quota exceeded` from the provider, user-facing features fail, and your own service CPU is fine. How do you triage and mitigate, and what's the durable fix?
What a strong answer looks like
Stop the bleeding first (mitigate), then form hypotheses from real signals. Separate root cause from symptom, communicate status as you go, and close with what prevents a repeat.
0:00 of about 25 min
Which questions mattered is sealed until you submit. Telling you now would just be handing over the edge cases.
Run or narrate your approach, then ask the coach.