An error occurred while describing log groups - Rate exceeded

The error message "Rate exceeded" suggests that you're encountering AWS service limits, specifically related to the API request rate for CloudWatch Logs. Here’s how you can manage and potentially resolve this issue:

1. Retry with Exponential Backoff: If your requests are being throttled, implementing exponential backoff is a standard approach. AWS SDKs typically handle retries with exponential backoff automatically, but if you're making API requests manually, you might need to implement this in your code.

2. Increase API Rate Limits: If you frequently hit rate limits, consider contacting AWS Support to request an increase in your API rate limits for CloudWatch Logs. This is particularly relevant if your workload has grown and the default limits are no longer sufficient.

3. Optimize API Usage: Review your application to ensure that it's using the API efficiently. For example, batch log events when possible rather than sending multiple individual requests.

Managing Log Groups:

• Delete Unnecessary Log Groups: If there are log groups that are no longer needed, you can delete them to reduce the number of API calls needed to list or manage log groups.
• Adjust Retention Settings: By default, logs are kept indefinitely. Setting a retention policy for each log group can automatically delete older logs, reducing the volume of data and potentially the number of API calls needed for logs management.

To specifically delete log groups or adjust retention times using the AWS CLI, here are the commands:

Set Retention Policy:

aws logs put-retention-policy --log-group-name "your-log-group-name" --retention-in-days 30

This command sets the retention period of a specific log group to 30 days.

Delete Log Group:

aws logs delete-log-group --log-group-name "your-log-group-name"

This command deletes a specific log group. Use these commands carefully, especially the delete command, as it will permanently remove the log data.