diff --git a/app/api/leantime/status-labels/route.ts b/app/api/leantime/status-labels/route.ts
index e41117bc..15809945 100644
--- a/app/api/leantime/status-labels/route.ts
+++ b/app/api/leantime/status-labels/route.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ import { getServerSession } from "next-auth/next";
 import { authOptions } from "@/app/api/auth/[...nextauth]/route";
 import { NextResponse } from "next/server";
 
+// Simple in-memory cache for user IDs
+const userCache = new Map<string, number>();
+
 export async function GET() {
   const session = await getServerSession(authOptions);
 
@@ -13,32 +16,47 @@ export async function GET() {
     console.log('Fetching status labels for user:', session.user.id);
     console.log('Using LEANTIME_TOKEN:', process.env.LEANTIME_TOKEN ? 'Present' : 'Missing');
 
-    // First, get the Leantime user ID for the current user
-    const userResponse = await fetch('https://agilite.slm-lab.net/api/jsonrpc', {
-      method: 'POST',
-      headers: {
-        'Content-Type': 'application/json',
-        'X-API-Key': process.env.LEANTIME_TOKEN || '',
-      },
-      body: JSON.stringify({
-        method: 'leantime.rpc.Users.Users.getUserByEmail',
-        jsonrpc: '2.0',
-        id: 1,
-        params: {
-          email: session.user.email
-        }
-      })
-    });
+    // Check cache first
+    let leantimeUserId = userCache.get(session.user.email);
+    
+    // If not in cache, fetch from API
+    if (!leantimeUserId) {
+      const userResponse = await fetch('https://agilite.slm-lab.net/api/jsonrpc', {
+        method: 'POST',
+        headers: {
+          'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+          'X-API-Key': process.env.LEANTIME_TOKEN || '',
+        },
+        body: JSON.stringify({
+          method: 'leantime.rpc.Users.Users.getUserByEmail',
+          jsonrpc: '2.0',
+          id: 1,
+          params: {
+            email: session.user.email
+          }
+        })
+      });
 
-    const userData = await userResponse.json();
-    console.log('User lookup response:', userData);
+      const userData = await userResponse.json();
+      console.log('User lookup response:', userData);
 
-    if (!userData.result || !userData.result.id) {
-      throw new Error('Could not find Leantime user ID');
+      if (userData.error === 'Too many requests per minute.') {
+        return NextResponse.json(
+          { error: "Rate limit exceeded. Please try again in a minute." },
+          { status: 429 }
+        );
+      }
+
+      if (!userData.result || !userData.result.id) {
+        throw new Error('Could not find Leantime user ID');
+      }
+
+      leantimeUserId = userData.result.id;
+      // Cache the user ID for 5 minutes
+      userCache.set(session.user.email, leantimeUserId);
+      setTimeout(() => userCache.delete(session.user.email), 5 * 60 * 1000);
     }
 
-    const leantimeUserId = userData.result.id;
-
     // Now fetch the status labels
     const response = await fetch('https://agilite.slm-lab.net/api/jsonrpc', {
       method: 'POST',
@@ -68,6 +86,12 @@ export async function GET() {
       if (response.status === 403) {
         return NextResponse.json({ error: "Forbidden access to Leantime API" }, { status: 403 });
       }
+      if (response.status === 429) {
+        return NextResponse.json(
+          { error: "Rate limit exceeded. Please try again in a minute." },
+          { status: 429 }
+        );
+      }
       throw new Error(`Leantime API returned ${response.status}: ${responseText}`);
     }