Knack Pagination

Knack Pagination

Purpose

Manages full data retrieval while respecting Knack's 1,000-record-per-page limit. Essential for HTI's 3,500+ laptop inventory and compliance reporting.

Core Constraint

Knack API Limit: Maximum 1,000 records per request

Core Functions

fetch_all_pages

Purpose: Retrieve complete dataset across multiple pages

Parameters:

• object_key (string, required): Target Knack object
• rows_per_page (integer, optional): Records per page (default: 1000)
• filters (object, optional): Apply consistent filters across all pages
• sort (object, optional): Maintain sort order across pages

Logic:

async function fetch_all_pages(object_key, rows_per_page = 1000) {
  let all_records = [];
  let current_page = 1;
  let total_pages = null;

  while (total_pages === null || current_page <= total_pages) {
    const response = await get_records({
      object_key,
      params: { rows_per_page, page: current_page }
    });

    all_records = all_records.concat(response.records);
    total_pages = response.total_pages;
    current_page++;

    // Rate limit protection
    await sleep(100); // 10 requests/​second max
  }

  return all_records;
}

Example:

// Retrieve all 3,500+ laptops
const all_laptops = await fetch_all_pages("object_1");
console.log(`Retrieved ${all_laptops.length} total laptops`);

paginate_with_progress

Purpose: Show progress for large dataset retrieval

Example:

const laptops = await paginate_with_progress({
  object_key: "object_1",
  on_page: (page, total) => {
    console.log(`Fetching page ${page} of ${total}...`);
  }
});

stream_records

Purpose: Memory-efficient processing for very large datasets

Use Case: Processing 3,500+ laptops without loading all into memory

Example:

await stream_records({
  object_key: "object_1",
  process_batch: (batch) => {
    // Process 1,000 records at a time
    const ready_count = batch.filter(l => l.status === "Ready").length;
    console.log(`Batch ready count: ${ready_count}`);
  }
});

Performance Optimization

1. Parallel Page Fetching

Caution: Respect 10 req/​sec rate limit

// Fetch pages 1-5 in parallel (with rate limiting)
const pages = await Promise.all([
  get_records({ object_key: "object_1", params: { page: 1 }}),
  get_records({ object_key: "object_1", params: { page: 2 }}),
  get_records({ object_key: "object_1", params: { page: 3 }}),
  get_records({ object_key: "object_1", params: { page: 4 }}),
  get_records({ object_key: "object_1", params: { page: 5 }})
]);

2. Incremental Pagination

Use: Dashboards showing "last 100 records"

// Only fetch first page for dashboard preview
const recent = await get_records({
  object_key: "object_1",
  params: { rows_per_page: 100, page: 1 }
});

HTI-Specific Use Cases

Quarterly Report Generation

// All laptops acquired in Q1 2025
const q1_laptops = await fetch_all_pages("object_1", {
  filters: {
    field: "acquisition_date",
    operator: "is during",
    range: { start: "2025-01-01", end: "2025-03-31" }
  }
});

County-Level Breakdown

// Paginate through all devices, group by county
const all_devices = await fetch_all_pages("object_1");
const by_county = groupBy(all_devices, "target_county");

Donor Analysis

// All donations from last 12 months
const donations = await fetch_all_pages("object_2", {
  filters: {
    field: "donation_date",
    operator: "is after",
    value: "2024-01-01"
  }
});

Rate Limit Handling

async function fetch_with_rate_limit(object_key) {
  const delay = 100; // 10 req/​sec = 100ms between requests

  for (let page = 1; page <= total_pages; page++) {
    await sleep(delay);
    const data = await get_records({ object_key, params: { page }});
    // Process data...
  }
}

Error Recovery

async function fetch_all_with_retry(object_key, max_retries = 3) {
  let retries = 0;

  while (retries < max_retries) {
    try {
      return await fetch_all_pages(object_key);
    } catch (error) {
      if (error.status === 429) {
        // Rate limit - wait and retry
        await sleep(1000 * Math.pow(2, retries));
        retries++;
      } else {
        throw error;
      }
    }
  }
}

Integration Points

• knack_reader: Provides base get_records function
• knack_cache_optimizer: Cache paginated results to avoid re-fetching
• knack_filter_sort: Apply consistent filters across pages
• knack_reporting_sync: Full dataset retrieval for quarterly reports

Best Practices

1. Always paginate for production datasets (assume >1000 records)
2. Cache results of full pagination runs (10+ API calls)
3. Show progress for long-running pagination (UX)
4. Handle rate limits with delays between requests
5. Use streaming for memory-constrained environments

Grant Reporting

• Essential for accurate counts (3,500+ laptop goal)
• Ensures all records included in quarterly reports
• Prevents data truncation in NCDIT submissions