Mastering API Pagination Strategies
1. Offset vs. Cursor Pagination
Offset pagination is simple to implement but suffers from performance degradation as the offset increases. It's best for small datasets where "Total Page" counts are required.
Cursor pagination (Keyset pagination) is the gold standard for infinite scrolling and large datasets. By using a pointer to a specific record (the cursor), it ensures stable performance regardless of the data size and prevents duplicate items when data is added/removed between requests.
2. Infinite Scrolling with React Query
To implement infinite scrolling using useInfiniteQuery, you need a response structure that includes a nextCursor or nextPage indicator. Our "Infinite Scroll" strategy generates exactly the shape required for modern data fetching libraries.
hasMore: boolean in your response to easily determine if the UI should show a "Load More" button or an observer target.
3. Why Standardize Your Response?
- Predictability: Frontend components can rely on a consistent key naming convention across all paginated endpoints.
- Type Safety: Using generic types like
PaginatedResponse<T>ensures your item data is always correctly typed. - DX (Developer Experience): New developers can understand your API's paging logic instantly through standardized metadata fields.