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Introduction

Pagination is a feature in X API v2 endpoints that return more results than can be returned in a single response. When that happens, the data is returned in a series of “pages.” Pagination refers to methods for programmatically requesting all the pages to retrieve the entire result data set. Not all API endpoints support or require pagination, but it is often used when result sets are large.

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Use cases for pagination

To retrieve all results for a request: Pagination should be used to receive all relevant data related to a specific request and parameters. Pagination is required in cases where there are more matching results than the max_results for a request. Looping requests with pagination tokens allows you to retrieve all results. Once a response is returned without a next_token value, it can be assumed that all results have been paged through. Pagination should not be used for polling purposes. To get the most recent results since a previous request, review polling with since_id.

To traverse through the results of a request: Pagination provides directional options for navigating through results from a request, using next_token and previous_token values from responses. These tokens can be set as the pagination_token in the following request to go to the next or previous page of results.

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Pagination token definitions

  • next_token - Opaque string returned within the meta object response on endpoints that support pagination. Indicates that more results are available and can be used as the pagination_token parameter in the next request to return the next page of results. The last page of results will not have a next_token present.
  • previous_token - Opaque string returned withins the meta object response on endpoints that support pagination. Indicates that there is a previous page of results available and can be set as the pagination_token parameter in the next request to return the previous page of results.
  • pagination_token - Parameter used in pagination requests. Set to the value of next_token for the next page of results. Set to the value of previous_token for the previous page of results.

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Fundamentals of pagination

  • Endpoints that use pagination will respond to an initial request with the first page of results and provide a next_token within the meta object in the JSON response if additional pages of results are available. To receive all results, repeat this process until no next_token is included in the response.
  • Results are delivered in reverse-chronological order. This is true within individual pages, as well as across multiple pages:
    • The first Post in the first response will be the most recent.
    • The last Post in the last response will be the oldest.
  • The max_results request parameter allows you to configure the number of Posts returned per response page. There is a default and maximum max_results.
  • Every pagination implementation will involve parsing tokens from the response payload, which can be used in subsequent requests.
  • In some circumstances, you may get fewer than the max_results per page. Do not rely on the results per page always equaling the max_results parameter value.
  • The best ways to use pagination for complete results are by using loop logic within integration code or by using a library that supports X API v2.

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Pagination example

Here, there are three pages of results because max_results is set to 100, and there are approximately 295 Posts created by user ID 2244994945 (@XDevelopers) between January 1, 2019, at 17:00:00 UTC and December 12 at 00:00:00 UTC. The first Post on the first page (1337498609819021312) is the most recent, and the last Post on the third page of results (1082718487011885056) is the oldest.

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Initial request

https://api.x.com/2/users/2244994945/tweets?tweet.fields=created_at&max_results=100&start_time=2019-01-01T17:00:00Z&end_time=2020-12-12T01:00:00Z

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Sequence Table

First RequestSecond PageThird PageFourth Page
Request Parameters- max_results = 100 - tweet.fields = created_at - start_time = 2019-01-01T17:00:00Z - end_time = 2020-12-12T01:00:00Z- max_results = 100 - tweet.fields = created_at - start_time = 2019-01-01T17:00:00Z - end_time = 2020-12-12T01:00:00Z - pagination_token = 7140w- max_results = 100 - tweet.fields = created_at - start_time = 2019-01-01T17:00:00Z - end_time = 2020-12-12T01:00:00Z - pagination_token = 7140k9- max_results = 100 - tweet.fields = created_at - start_time = 2019-01-01T17:00:00Z - end_time = 2020-12-12T01:00:00Z - pagination_token = 71408hi
Responsejson { "data": [ { "created_at": "2020-12-11T20:44:52.000Z", "id": "1337498609819021312", "text": "Thanks to everyone who tuned in today..." }, ... , { "created_at": "2020-05-06T17:24:31.000Z", "id": "1258085245091368960", "text": "It’s now easier to understand Tweet impact..." } ], "meta": { "oldest_id": "1258085245091368960", "newest_id": "1337498609819021312", "result_count": 100, "next_token": "7140w" } } json { "data": [ { "created_at": "2020-04-29T17:01:44.000Z", "id": "1255542797765013504", "text": "Our developer community is full of inspiring ideas..." }, ... , { "created_at": "2019-11-21T16:17:23.000Z", "id": "1197549579035496449", "text": "Soon, we'll be releasing tools in..." } ], "meta": { "oldest_id": "1197549579035496449", "newest_id": "1255542797765013504", "result_count": 100, "next_token": "7140k9", "previous_token": "77qp8" } } json { "data": [ { "created_at": "2019-11-21T16:17:23.000Z", "id": "1197549578418941952", "text": "We know that some people who receive a large volume of replies may..." }, ... , { "created_at": "2019-01-08T19:19:37.000Z", "id": "1082718487011885056", "text": "Updates to Grid embeds..." } ], "meta": { "oldest_id": "1082718487011885056", "newest_id": "1197549578418941952", "result_count": 95, "next_token": "71408hi", "previous_token": "77qplte" } } json { "meta": { "result_count": 0, "previous_token": "77qpw8l" } }
Actions to Take for Next RequestTo get the next page, take the next_token value directly from the response (7140w) and set it as the pagination_token for the next request call.To continue to get all results: take the next_token value directly from the response (7140k9) and set it as the pagination_token for the next request call. To traverse to the previous page: take the previous_token value directly from the response (77qp8) and set it as the pagination_token for the next request call.To continue to get all results: take the next_token value directly from the response (71408hi) and set it as the pagination_token for the next request call. To traverse to the previous page: take the previous_token value directly from the response (77qplte) and set it as the pagination_token for the next request call.Note that there is no next_token, which indicates that all results have been received. To traverse to the previous page: take the previous_token value directly from the response (77qpw8l) and set it as the pagination_token for the next request call.
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