REST APIs
Keep one collection URL. Use query parameters to narrow or page the result.
Your teammate should call /api/v1/events?city=Pune&page=2&limit=10, not guess URLs like /pune-events/page-2.
Filtering lets users ask for a smaller list. Common filters are city, category, status, date, ownerId, or search text.
Use filters only on list endpoints. A single item URL like /api/v1/events/42 should not need filters.
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This example filters events by city and status. It also paginates the result.
For a real project, your data may come from MongoDB, Postgres, or an array. The API shape stays the same.
app.get('/api/v1/events', async (req, res) => {
const page = Math.max(parseInt(req.query.page || '1', 10), 1);
const limit = Math.min(Math.max(parseInt(req.query.limit || '10', 10), 1), 50);
const skip = (page - 1) * limit;
const filters = {};
if (req.query.city) filters.city = req.query.city;
if (req.query.status) filters.status = req.query.status;
const total = await Event.countDocuments(filters);
const events = await Event.find(filters)
.sort({ createdAt: -1 })
.skip(skip)
.limit(limit);
res.status(200).json({
data: events,
meta: {
page,
limit,
total,
totalPages: Math.ceil(total / limit)
}
});
});Pagination stops your API from returning 5,000 rows when a teammate only needs the first screen. This keeps the API faster and easier to test on college Wi-Fi.
For this track, page and limit are enough. Cursor pagination is useful later for large feeds, but do not add it unless you need it.
Always return the list inside data and paging details inside meta. This gives frontend teammates the numbers they need for Next, Previous, and page count.
Set a safe maximum limit. If someone sends limit=10000, cap it to something like 50 or 100.
Do not return a bare array for paginated endpoints. It hides important details like total count and current page.
Also avoid changing response shapes between filters. /events and /events?city=Mumbai should return the same structure.
Do each one yourself, then tap it to tick it off. The ticks are only a checklist for you: they are not marked or scored.
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