Timed tab reload can trip rate limits and challenge pages if the interval is too aggressive for the site.
Auto Refresh Turbo reloads with the browser’s tab API on a schedule you choose. That is powerful for dashboards — and easy to overdo on fragile or anti-bot endpoints. Treat interval choice as an ops decision, not a race to one second.
What “rate limited” looks like in a tab
- HTTP 429 or “too many requests” banners
- Empty tiles after a burst of reloads
- Login walls or temporary blocks
- Captcha or challenge screens that did not appear on manual refresh
A scheduled reload hits the document URL the way a human Refresh does. Heavy SPAs may fan out dozens of API calls on every load — so your “60 second interval” can mean many backend hits per minute.
Start conservative
- Open one dedicated tab for the board
- Start at 60 seconds (or slower for vendor status pages)
- Watch several clean cycles before you tighten
- Prefer fixed intervals while you learn the site’s tolerance
For wall displays, see sensible ranges in dashboard refresh guidance.
Random intervals as a softener
A perfectly metronomic reload can stand out in access logs. Random min–max delays still keep data roughly fresh while spreading load. They are not a bypass for bans — they are a courtesy when a steady cadence is unnecessary.
Suspicious-page stop
Optional suspicious-page heuristic can stop the session if the document looks like an error or challenge screen (default on). That is a safety brake, not a captcha solver. If it fires, fix the cause: lengthen the interval, pause during incidents, or stop refreshing that host.
Stop after N for experiments
Use stop after N when you are testing how a site behaves under reload. Run a short batch, inspect responses, then decide on a long-running interval. Unlimited mode is for known-good boards you already trust.
Schedule windows reduce waste
A daily schedule pauses outside your window so overnight cycles do not burn quota when nobody is watching. That is different from Stop, which ends the session until you press Start again — details in schedule paused vs stopped.
Hard refresh and load
Hard refresh bypasses cache and can increase origin traffic. Use it when a normal reload leaves a stale shell — not as the default for every tick. Cookies stay; you are not clearing a session with hard refresh alone. Compare modes in hard refresh vs normal reload.
Multi-tab load and sudden stops
Independent sessions mean three tabs at 15 seconds each are not “one gentle poller.” Count total reload pressure per origin. Prefer one wall tab at a sane interval over many overlapping timers on the same host.
If refresh suddenly stops, check schedule pause, stop-on-interaction, stop-after-N, and suspicious-page stop before assuming a bug. Walk through troubleshooting.
Try it
Install Auto Refresh Turbo and prove one slow, clean loop first. Intervals stay in local storage; optional Umami/GlitchTip telemetry is separate from site reload traffic — see Privacy Policy.