ERP AI Agent API Load Impact Calculator
Connecting an AI assistant to a transactional ERP can add more database load than people expect, because one question often triggers several lookups. This calculator turns user counts and calls per question into burst calls per second, concurrent sessions and rate limit headroom.
Your numbers
Agents often run several lookups, retries and follow-up queries per question.
Peak second versus the hourly average.
Connection pool size or database sessions allowed for the agent account.
Use 0 headroom if your ERP has no published limit and set a gateway limit yourself.
Your results
Planning model using average call duration. Heavy report queries and lock contention behave worse than the average suggests, so test with real queries.
Concurrent ERP sessions vs calls per question
Sweeps ERP calls per question from 1 to 20, holding your other inputs fixed.
Check your ERP capacity plan
Optional: we can review calls per question and limits for your ERP before you connect an agent.
Optional. The tool and every export work without this. No spam.
How to use it
Start from your licensed user count and estimate the share active in the busiest hour. Count calls per question from a pilot trace: tool calls, SQL statements or REST requests per answer, including retries. Enter average call duration from ERP logs, and the session or rate limits you plan to give the agent account. If you run the agent on a read replica or a reporting database, use that capacity rather than the production primary.
The math
Average calls per second = active users x questions per hour x calls per question / 3600. Burst = average x burst factor. Concurrent sessions follow Little's law: arrival rate x average duration in seconds. Utilization = concurrent sessions / reserved sessions. Rate headroom = limit per minute - burst calls per minute.
- Calls per question is the lever you control most.
- Cache stable lookups such as item and customer masters.
- Use a dedicated read-only account with its own limits.
Mistakes to avoid
Pointing an agent at the production primary with a shared service account, so a runaway loop starves users. Ignoring that multi-step agents multiply calls. Forgetting licence counting in some ERPs, where API or integration sessions may be metered; check your contract. Put a gateway in front that enforces per-user and global rate limits, timeouts and a maximum statement cost, and alert when utilization passes about seventy percent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do agents make so many calls?
A single question may need item, stock, order and supplier lookups, plus retries when a query fails. Tracing a pilot is the only reliable way to get your number.
Should I use a read replica?
Usually yes for analytical or chat workloads, if replication lag is acceptable for the questions asked. It isolates transactional users from agent load.
What utilization is safe?
Keep reserved session utilization comfortably below saturation at burst, around seventy percent as a planning target, and reject or queue beyond that rather than letting calls pile up.
Does this cover write calls?
No. Write-back should be rare, approval-gated and sized separately, since it takes locks and triggers business logic.
Netray builds read-only agent connectors with query limits, caching and visible SQL. We can review your ERP capacity plan before rollout.
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