API Pagination
Table of Contents
Overview
Implement scalable pagination strategies for handling large datasets with efficient querying, navigation, and performance optimization.
When to Use
- Returning large collections of resources
- Implementing search results pagination
- Building infinite scroll interfaces
- Optimizing large dataset queries
- Managing memory in client applications
- Improving API response times
Quick Start
Minimal working example:
// Node.js offset/limit implementation
app.get('/api/users', async (req, res) => {
const page = parseInt(req.query.page) || 1;
const limit = Math.min(parseInt(req.query.limit) || 20, 100); // Max 100
const offset = (page - 1) * limit;
try {
const [users, total] = await Promise.all([
User.find()
.skip(offset)
.limit(limit)
.select('id email firstName lastName createdAt'),
User.countDocuments()
]);
const totalPages = Math.ceil(total / limit);
res.json({
data: users,
pagination: {
page,
limit,
total,
totalPages,
hasNext: page < totalPages,
// ... (see reference guides for full implementation)Reference Guides
Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:
| Guide | Contents |
|---|---|
| Offset/Limit Pagination | Offset/Limit Pagination |
| Cursor-Based Pagination | Cursor-Based Pagination |
| Keyset Pagination | Keyset Pagination |
| Search Pagination | Search Pagination |
| Pagination Response Formats | Pagination Response Formats |
| Python Pagination (SQLAlchemy) | Python Pagination (SQLAlchemy) |
Best Practices
✅ DO
- Use cursor pagination for large datasets
- Set reasonable maximum limits (e.g., 100)
- Include total count when feasible
- Provide navigation links
- Document pagination strategy
- Use indexed fields for sorting
- Cache pagination results when appropriate
- Handle edge cases (empty results)
- Implement consistent pagination formats
- Use keyset for extremely large datasets
❌ DON'T
- Use offset with billions of rows
- Allow unlimited page sizes
- Count rows for every request
- Paginate without sorting
- Change sort order mid-pagination
- Use deep pagination without cursor
- Skip pagination for large datasets
- Expose database pagination directly
- Mix pagination strategies
- Ignore performance implications