How it works
APIs rarely return every record at once. Offset pagination asks for page 3 of 100 records, which is simple but can skip or repeat records when data changes between requests. Cursor pagination returns an opaque pointer to the next page, which stays stable as records are added. Some platforms use page tokens, link headers or timestamp windows instead, and each sets its own maximum page size.
Example
Listing 25,000 invoices from an ERP that returns 1,000 per page takes 25 requests. With offsets, an invoice created during the run can shift every later page by one.
In integrations
Every platform paginates differently. The Unify Int API is designed to use one cursor-based pagination model across all objects, translating each platform's scheme behind it, so the same loop works for QuickBooks Online, NetSuite and Shopify. Pagination bugs are quiet: a job that misses one record per page still looks like it succeeded. Prefer cursors, and compare counts against the source when you can.