diff --git a/src/middleware/rateLimiter.ts b/src/middleware/rateLimiter.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f06d01e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/middleware/rateLimiter.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import { Request, Response, NextFunction } from 'express';
+import redis from '../config/redis.js';
+
+// Configuration: Allow 100 requests per 60 seconds per client
+const WINDOW_SIZE_IN_SECONDS = 60;
+const MAX_REQUESTS_ALLOWED = 100;
+
+export const rateLimiter = async (
+  req: Request,
+  res: Response,
+  next: NextFunction
+): Promise<void> => {
+  // Identify client by authenticated client ID, falling back to IP address
+  const clientId = req.client?.id || req.ip || 'anonymous';
+  const redisKey = `rate_limit:${clientId}`;
+
+  try {
+    // TODO: [Exercise - Redis Sliding Window Rate Limiter]
+    // Implement a sliding-window rate limiter using Redis sorted sets (zset).
+    //
+    // Algorithm Steps:
+    // 1. Get the current timestamp in milliseconds (e.g., const now = Date.now()).
+    // 2. Define the window boundary (e.g., const clearBefore = now - WINDOW_SIZE_IN_SECONDS * 1000).
+    // 3. Execute a Redis transaction (pipeline) to perform these operations atomically:
+    //    a. ZREMRANGEBYSCORE: Remove elements (timestamps) older than 'clearBefore'.
+    //    b. ZADD: Add the current timestamp 'now' with a unique member value (e.g. timestamp or random string) to the sorted set.
+    //    c. ZCARD: Get the count of active members in the sorted set.
+    //    d. EXPIRE: Update the key's TTL to at least WINDOW_SIZE_IN_SECONDS to clean up idle keys.
+    // 4. Retrieve the count from the transaction results.
+    // 5. If the count exceeds MAX_REQUESTS_ALLOWED:
+    //    - Set HTTP headers: 'Retry-After' (in seconds) and 'X-RateLimit-Limit' / 'X-RateLimit-Remaining'.
+    //    - Return an HTTP 429 Too Many Requests response with a JSON error body.
+    // 6. If the count is within limits, call next() to allow the request.
+    //
+    // Resources:
+    // - ioredis transactions: redis.multi().zremrangebyscore(...).zadd(...).zcard(...).pexpire(...).exec()
+
+    // Bypassing rate limiting for now (skeleton fallback)
+    next();
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error('❌ Rate Limiter Error:', error);
+    // In production, we fail-open (call next()) to prevent a Redis crash from taking down the API,
+    // or fail-closed based on risk posture. Let's fail-open for now.
+    next();
+  }
+};
diff --git a/src/routes/event.ts b/src/routes/event.ts
index 0d36d48..287ecbc 100644
--- a/src/routes/event.ts
+++ b/src/routes/event.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { validate } from '../middleware/validate.js';
 import { CreateEventSchema } from '../schemas/event.js';
 import { authenticate } from '../middleware/auth.js';
 import { enforceIdempotency } from '../middleware/idempotency.js';
+import { rateLimiter } from '../middleware/rateLimiter.js';
 import redis from '../config/redis.js';
 import { producer } from '../config/kafka.js';
 
@@ -13,6 +14,7 @@ const KAFKA_TOPIC = 'metrics.raw';
 router.post(
   '/events',
   authenticate,
+  rateLimiter,
   enforceIdempotency,
   validate(CreateEventSchema),
   async (req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction): Promise<void> => {