diff --git a/tests/e2e/coverage_registry/rate_limiting.yaml b/tests/e2e/coverage_registry/rate_limiting.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2ed1a74953c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/coverage_registry/rate_limiting.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# Rate limiting behaviors. Grounded in litellm/proxy/hooks/parallel_request_limiter.py.
+- {id: rate_limiting.key.tpm.under_limit_allows, module: rate_limiting, tier: P0, scope: key, limit: tpm, behavior: allows_under_limit, assertions: [persists_limit, allows_request], source: "parallel_request_limiter.py:145-260", rationale: "A virtual key below its TPM quota can call the data plane"}
+- {id: rate_limiting.key.tpm.over_limit_blocks, module: rate_limiting, tier: P0, scope: key, limit: tpm, behavior: blocks_over_limit, assertions: [persists_limit, records_usage, blocks_next_request], source: "parallel_request_limiter.py:145-260", rationale: "A virtual key above its TPM quota is rejected with 429"}
diff --git a/tests/e2e/coverage_registry/schema.py b/tests/e2e/coverage_registry/schema.py
index 54902051ca0..b7252f51298 100644
--- a/tests/e2e/coverage_registry/schema.py
+++ b/tests/e2e/coverage_registry/schema.py
@@ -112,6 +112,13 @@ class GuardrailCell(_Base):
     exercised_on: tuple[str, ...]
 
 
+class RateLimitingCell(_Base):
+    module: Literal["rate_limiting"]
+    scope: Literal["key", "team", "user", "customer", "model_per_key"]
+    limit: Literal["tpm", "rpm", "parallel_requests"]
+    behavior: Literal["allows_under_limit", "blocks_over_limit"]
+
+
 class OtherCell(_Base):
     module: Literal["other"]
     area: str
@@ -124,6 +131,7 @@ Cell = Annotated[
     | ReliabilityCell
     | LoggingCell
     | GuardrailCell
+    | RateLimitingCell
     | OtherCell,
     Field(discriminator="module"),
 ]
@@ -144,6 +152,7 @@ PREFIX_ROLLUP: dict[str, str] = {
     "reliability": "reliability_performance",
     "logging": "logging_guardrails",
     "guardrail": "logging_guardrails",
+    "rate_limiting": "rate_limiting",
     "other": "other",
 }
 
@@ -152,6 +161,7 @@ MODULE_ORDER: tuple[str, ...] = (
     "non_core_llms",
     "mcp",
     "management_ui",
+    "rate_limiting",
     "reliability_performance",
     "logging_guardrails",
     "other",
diff --git a/tests/e2e/rate_limiting/conftest.py b/tests/e2e/rate_limiting/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1bbd2374ac0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/rate_limiting/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import pytest
+
+from rate_limiting_client import RateLimitingClient, build_client
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def client() -> RateLimitingClient:
+    return build_client()
diff --git a/tests/e2e/rate_limiting/rate_limiting_client.py b/tests/e2e/rate_limiting/rate_limiting_client.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..47a505b185f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/rate_limiting/rate_limiting_client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+"""Client for rate-limiting e2e checks."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+from e2e_gateway import Gateway, build_gateway
+from e2e_http import StreamingResponse
+from models import ChatBody, ChatMessage
+
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True, slots=True)
+class RateLimitingClient:
+    gateway: Gateway
+
+    def chat_status(
+        self, key: str, model: str, content: str, max_tokens: int = 8
+    ) -> StreamingResponse:
+        return self.gateway.transport.send(
+            "/chat/completions",
+            headers=self.gateway.transport.bearer(key),
+            json=ChatBody(
+                model=model,
+                messages=[ChatMessage(role="user", content=content)],
+                max_tokens=max_tokens,
+            ),
+        )
+
+
+def build_client() -> RateLimitingClient:
+    return RateLimitingClient(gateway=build_gateway())
diff --git a/tests/e2e/rate_limiting/test_rate_limiting_e2e.py b/tests/e2e/rate_limiting/test_rate_limiting_e2e.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..42df65cff5a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/e2e/rate_limiting/test_rate_limiting_e2e.py
@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+"""Live e2e coverage for virtual-key TPM enforcement."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import time
+
+import pytest
+
+from e2e_config import unique_marker
+from e2e_http import StreamingResponse, require_successful_call
+from lifecycle import ResourceManager
+from models import KeyGenerateBody
+from rate_limiting_client import RateLimitingClient
+
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.e2e
+
+
+RATE_LIMIT_MARKERS = ("rate limit", "tpm limit", "current tpm")
+
+
+def _generate_tpm_key(
+    client: RateLimitingClient, resources: ResourceManager, tpm_limit: int
+) -> str:
+    key = client.gateway.generate_key(
+        KeyGenerateBody(
+            models=["gemini-2.5-flash"],
+            key_alias=f"e2e-rate-limit-{unique_marker()}",
+            tpm_limit=tpm_limit,
+        )
+    )
+    resources.defer(lambda: client.gateway.delete_key(key))
+    return key
+
+
+def _assert_tpm_limit_persisted(
+    client: RateLimitingClient, key: str, tpm_limit: int
+) -> None:
+    info = client.gateway.key_info(key)
+    assert (
+        info.tpm_limit == tpm_limit
+    ), f"/key/info reports tpm_limit {info.tpm_limit}, configured {tpm_limit}"
+
+
+def _chat(client: RateLimitingClient, key: str, marker: str) -> StreamingResponse:
+    return client.chat_status(
+        key, "gemini-2.5-flash", f"reply with one short word {marker}"
+    )
+
+
+class TestKeyTpmRateLimiting:
+    @pytest.mark.covers("rate_limiting.key.tpm.under_limit_allows")
+    def test_tpm_key_under_limit_allows_request(
+        self, client: RateLimitingClient, resources: ResourceManager
+    ) -> None:
+        key = _generate_tpm_key(client, resources, tpm_limit=100_000)
+        _assert_tpm_limit_persisted(client, key, 100_000)
+
+        outcome = _chat(client, key, unique_marker())
+
+        require_successful_call(outcome)
+        assert (
+            outcome.call_id is not None
+        ), "successful chat response should include x-litellm-call-id for spend-log correlation"
+
+    @pytest.mark.covers("rate_limiting.key.tpm.over_limit_blocks")
+    def test_tpm_key_over_limit_blocks_next_request(
+        self, client: RateLimitingClient, resources: ResourceManager
+    ) -> None:
+        key = _generate_tpm_key(client, resources, tpm_limit=1)
+        _assert_tpm_limit_persisted(client, key, 1)
+
+        first = _chat(client, key, unique_marker())
+        require_successful_call(first)
+        assert (
+            first.call_id is not None
+        ), "first request should return a call id so the TPM-consuming success can be observed"
+
+        rows = client.gateway.poll_logs_for_request_id(
+            first.call_id,
+            predicate=lambda found: any((row.total_tokens or 0) > 1 for row in found),
+        )
+        assert any(
+            (row.total_tokens or 0) > 1 for row in rows
+        ), f"expected first request to record more than the 1 TPM limit, got rows={rows}"
+
+        deadline = time.monotonic() + client.gateway.poll_timeout
+        last = StreamingResponse(status_code=-1, body="not attempted")
+        while time.monotonic() < deadline:
+            last = _chat(client, key, unique_marker())
+            if last.status_code == 429:
+                break
+            time.sleep(client.gateway.poll_interval)
+
+        assert last.status_code == 429, (
+            f"request after exhausting a 1 TPM key should be blocked with 429, got "
+            f"{last.status_code}: {last.body[:300]}"
+        )
+        assert any(
+            marker in last.body.lower() for marker in RATE_LIMIT_MARKERS
+        ), f"429 body should identify TPM/rate limiting, got: {last.body[:300]}"