AWS Bedrock Error: 'ServiceQuotaExceededException'

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AWS Bedrock Error: 'ServiceQuotaExceededException'

#aws#bedrock#devops#cloud

A diagnostic guide to resolving Bedrock invocation failures caused by hitting hard service quota limits.





Problem

An AWS Bedrock invocation fails with an error similar to:

ServiceQuotaExceededException: The request exceeds the service quota.

Common symptoms:

  • Requests fail consistently (not intermittently)
  • Retries do not succeed
  • Backoff logic does not help
  • IAM permissions and model access are correct
  • Throttling fixes have already been applied

The request is rejected before inference.

Clarifying the Issue

This error is not a throttling problem.

It occurs when your account has reached a hard service quota limit enforced by AWS Bedrock.

Key distinction:

  • ThrottlingException → soft, rate-based limit (RPM / TPM), retryable
  • ServiceQuotaExceededException → hard ceiling, not retryable

Once this limit is reached, AWS will reject requests until:

  • The quota is increased, or
  • Usage is reduced below the enforced maximum

Why It Matters

This error commonly appears when:

  • Moving from testing to sustained production traffic
  • Running large batch or ingestion jobs
  • Scaling multi-tenant workloads
  • Increasing usage without revisiting default quotas

Teams often misdiagnose this as throttling and waste time tuning retries that will never succeed.

Key Terms

  • Service quota – A hard usage limit enforced by AWS
  • Applied quota – The current maximum allowed for your account
  • Quota increase – A request to raise the hard limit
  • Region-specific quota – Quotas apply per region and per model

Steps at a Glance

  1. Confirm the error is ServiceQuotaExceededException
  2. Identify the specific Bedrock quota exceeded
  3. Check current applied quota values
  4. Reduce usage or concurrency (short-term)
  5. Request a quota increase (long-term)

Detailed Steps

1. Confirm the Error Type

Verify that the error is explicitly:

ServiceQuotaExceededException

If the error is ThrottlingException, this Fix-It does not apply.

2. Identify the Quota Being Exceeded

In the AWS console:

  1. Open Service Quotas
  2. Navigate to AWS services → Amazon Bedrock
  3. Review quotas related to:
  • Model invocation
  • Token throughput
  • Provisioned capacity (if applicable)

Quotas are defined per model and per region.

3. Check the Applied Quota Value

For the relevant quota:

  • Note the Applied quota value
  • Compare it against your current workload

If usage exceeds this value, requests will be rejected consistently.

4. Reduce Usage (Immediate Mitigation)

Short-term options:

  • Pause or slow batch jobs
  • Reduce concurrent inference workers
  • Lower request volume temporarily
  • Disable non-critical workloads

This may unblock critical paths while waiting for a quota increase.

5. Request a Quota Increase

For sustained production usage:

  1. Select the quota in Service Quotas
  2. Click Request quota increase
  3. Enter the required value and justification

Quota increase approvals typically take:

  • Hours to a few business days, depending on account history and region

Pro Tips

  • Service quotas are hard stops — retries will not help
  • Quotas are enforced per region, not globally
  • Different models have different quota ceilings
  • Plan quota reviews as part of production readiness

Conclusion

ServiceQuotaExceededException in AWS Bedrock indicates a hard capacity ceiling, not a transient failure.

Once:

  • The correct quota is identified
  • Usage is aligned with applied limits
  • Quotas are increased to match demand

AWS Bedrock invocation scales predictably inside Amazon Web Services.

Confirm the limit.
Adjust usage.
Request the increase.

Aaron Rose is a software engineer and technology writer at tech-reader.blog and the author of Think Like a Genius.

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