diff --git a/backend/src/services/rate_limiter.rs b/backend/src/services/rate_limiter.rs
index 15f4b7a..acb5571 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/rate_limiter.rs
+++ b/backend/src/services/rate_limiter.rs
@@ -76,6 +76,29 @@ impl RateLimiter {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Returns how long to wait until the next request is allowed, or None if allowed now.
+    pub fn time_until_available(&self, key: &str) -> Option<Duration> {
+        let now = Instant::now();
+        let cutoff = now - self.inner.window;
+
+        let entry = self.inner.entries.get(key)?;
+        let timestamps = entry.value();
+        let recent: Vec<&Instant> = timestamps.iter().filter(|t| **t > cutoff).collect();
+
+        if recent.len() < self.inner.max_requests {
+            return None; // Allowed now
+        }
+
+        // The oldest timestamp in the window — when it expires, a slot opens
+        let oldest = recent.iter().min().copied()?;
+        let expires_at = *oldest + self.inner.window;
+        if expires_at > now {
+            Some(expires_at - now)
+        } else {
+            None
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Returns the number of remaining requests allowed for the given key.
     pub fn remaining(&self, key: &str) -> usize {
         let now = Instant::now();
@@ -200,6 +223,28 @@ impl ProviderRateLimiter {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Returns how long to wait until the next request is allowed, or None if allowed now.
+    pub fn time_until_available(&self, provider: &str) -> Option<Duration> {
+        let now = Instant::now();
+
+        let bucket = self.inner.global_buckets.get(provider)?;
+        let cutoff = now - bucket.time_window;
+        let recent_count = bucket.timestamps.iter().filter(|t| **t >= cutoff).count();
+
+        if recent_count < bucket.max_requests as usize {
+            return None; // Allowed now
+        }
+
+        // The oldest timestamp in the window
+        let oldest = bucket.timestamps.iter().filter(|t| **t >= cutoff).min()?;
+        let expires_at = *oldest + bucket.time_window;
+        if expires_at > now {
+            Some(expires_at - now)
+        } else {
+            None
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Returns the number of remaining requests allowed for a provider.
     pub fn remaining(&self, provider: &str) -> usize {
         let now = Instant::now();
diff --git a/backend/src/services/synthesis.rs b/backend/src/services/synthesis.rs
index 95995f5..4f7c0ee 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/synthesis.rs
+++ b/backend/src/services/synthesis.rs
@@ -450,7 +450,7 @@ async fn run_generation_inner(
             }
 
             // Phase B: Classify/summarize batch in parallel
-            check_rate_limit(state, &user_rate_limiter, &provider_name)?;
+            check_rate_limit(state, &user_rate_limiter, &provider_name).await?;
 
             let mut classify_set = tokio::task::JoinSet::new();
             for (final_url, source_url, body_text, page_title) in &scraped_articles {
@@ -554,7 +554,7 @@ async fn run_generation_inner(
 
     if !category_gaps.is_empty() {
         emit_progress(tx, "search", "Recherche d'actualites complementaires...", 70);
-        check_rate_limit(state, &user_rate_limiter, &provider_name)?;
+        check_rate_limit(state, &user_rate_limiter, &provider_name).await?;
 
         let search_schema = crate::services::llm::schema::build_category_schema(&user_categories, settings.max_items_per_category);
         let current_date = Utc::now().format("%A %d %B %Y").to_string();
@@ -798,20 +798,44 @@ fn get_user_rate_limiter(
 }
 
 /// Check rate limits using the user's limiter if provided, otherwise the global limiter.
-fn check_rate_limit(
+/// Check rate limits, waiting if necessary (up to 60 seconds).
+///
+/// Instead of failing with an error, this function sleeps until the rate
+/// limit window passes. If still rate limited after 60 seconds, returns an error.
+async fn check_rate_limit(
     state: &AppState,
     user_limiter: &Option<crate::services::rate_limiter::RateLimiter>,
     provider_name: &str,
 ) -> Result<(), AppError> {
-    let allowed = match user_limiter {
-        Some(limiter) => limiter.check(&format!("user_gen_{}", provider_name)),
-        None => state.provider_rate_limiter.check(provider_name),
-    };
+    let max_wait = std::time::Duration::from_secs(60);
+    let start = std::time::Instant::now();
 
-    if !allowed {
-        return Err(AppError::RateLimited(
-            "Limite de requetes atteinte. Veuillez reessayer dans quelques instants.".into(),
-        ));
+    loop {
+        let allowed = match user_limiter {
+            Some(limiter) => limiter.check(&format!("user_gen_{}", provider_name)),
+            None => state.provider_rate_limiter.check(provider_name),
+        };
+
+        if allowed {
+            return Ok(());
+        }
+
+        // Calculate how long to wait
+        let wait_time = match user_limiter {
+            Some(limiter) => limiter.time_until_available(&format!("user_gen_{}", provider_name)),
+            None => state.provider_rate_limiter.time_until_available(provider_name),
+        };
+
+        let wait = wait_time.unwrap_or(std::time::Duration::from_secs(1));
+
+        if start.elapsed() + wait > max_wait {
+            return Err(AppError::RateLimited(
+                "Limite de requetes atteinte. Veuillez reessayer dans quelques instants.".into(),
+            ));
+        }
+
+        tracing::info!(wait_ms = wait.as_millis() as u64, "Rate limited, waiting...");
+        tokio::time::sleep(wait).await;
     }
 
     Ok(())