Pagination Endpoint

Pagination Endpoint Creation

Use this skill when creating paginated list endpoints for this Echo v5 REST API application.

For comprehensive pagination guidelines, see AGENTS.md in the repository root.

Pagination Package

The project uses cursor-based pagination via internal/platform/pagination:

• pagination.Cursor - Decoded cursor with type and value
• pagination.Paginate - Generic pagination helper
• pagination.DecodeCursor / Cursor.Encode() - Cursor encoding/decoding

Input Struct Pattern

Use query and validate tags for pagination query parameters:

type ListResourcesInput struct {
    Cursor   string `query:"cursor"`
    Limit    int    `query:"limit"    validate:"omitempty,min=1,max=100"`
    Category string `query:"category" validate:"omitempty,oneof=active inactive"`
}

Handler Implementation

const resourceCursorType = "resource"

func listHandler(c *echo.Context) error {
    var input ListResourcesInput
    if err := c.Bind(&input); err != nil {
        return err
    }
    if err := c.Validate(&input); err != nil {
        return err
    }

    // 1. Apply default limit
    limit := input.Limit
    if limit == 0 {
        limit = pagination.DefaultLimit
    }

    // 2. Decode and validate cursor
    cursor, err := pagination.DecodeCursor(input.Cursor)
    if err != nil {
        return respond.Error400("invalid cursor format")
    }

    // 3. Validate cursor type matches endpoint
    if cursor.Type != "" && cursor.Type != resourceCursorType {
        return respond.Error400("cursor type mismatch")
    }

    // 4. Apply filters
    filtered := filterResources(allResources, input.Category)

    // 5. Validate cursor references existing item
    if cursor.Value != "" && !resourceExists(filtered, cursor.Value) {
        return respond.Error400("cursor references unknown item")
    }

    // 6. Build query params for Link header
    query := url.Values{}
    if input.Category != "" {
        query.Set("category", input.Category)
    }

    // 7. Paginate using helper
    result := pagination.Paginate(
        filtered,
        cursor,
        limit,
        resourceCursorType,
        func(r Resource) string { return r.ID },
        "/resources",
        query,
    )

    // 8. Set Link header and return
    c.Response().Header().Set("Link", result.LinkHeader)
    return respond.Negotiate(c, http.StatusOK, ResourcesData{
        Resources: result.Items,
        Total:     result.Total,
    })
}

Cursor Validation Rules

Invalid cursors MUST return 400 Bad Request:

// Decode error (malformed base64, invalid JSON)
cursor, err := pagination.DecodeCursor(input.Cursor)
if err != nil {
    return respond.Error400("invalid cursor format")
}

// Type mismatch (cursor from different endpoint)
if cursor.Type != "" && cursor.Type != resourceCursorType {
    return respond.Error400("cursor type mismatch")
}

// Invalid reference (cursor points to deleted/nonexistent item)
if cursor.Value != "" && !resourceExists(filtered, cursor.Value) {
    return respond.Error400("cursor references unknown item")
}

Cursor Type Constants

Define a constant for each paginated endpoint to prevent cursor reuse:

const (
    itemCursorType     = "item"
    resourceCursorType = "resource"
    userCursorType     = "user"
)

Pagination Helper

The pagination.Paginate function handles:

• Finding start position from cursor
• Slicing items to requested limit
• Generating next cursor
• Building RFC 8288 Link header

result := pagination.Paginate(
    items,           // []T - full filtered slice
    cursor,          // Cursor - decoded cursor
    limit,           // int - items per page
    cursorType,      // string - cursor type constant
    getID,           // func(T) string - ID extractor
    basePath,        // string - endpoint path for links
    query,           // url.Values - preserved query params
)

// result.Items      - []T paginated items
// result.Total      - int total count before pagination
// result.LinkHeader - string RFC 8288 Link header

Link Header Format

The Link header follows RFC 8288:

Link: </resources?cursor=eyJ0Ijoi...>; rel="next"

Multiple links are comma-separated:

Link: </resources?cursor=abc>; rel="next", </resources>; rel="first"

Filter Helper Pattern

Create filter functions for query parameters:

func filterResources(resources []Resource, category string) []Resource {
    if category == "" {
        return resources
    }
    return slices.DeleteFunc(slices.Clone(resources), func(r Resource) bool {
        return r.Category != category
    })
}

Testing Paginated Endpoints

func TestListResources_Pagination(t *testing.T) {
    e := setupTestServer()

    req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/v1/resources?limit=5", nil)
    rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
    e.ServeHTTP(rec, req)

    if rec.Code != http.StatusOK {
        t.Fatalf("expected 200, got %d", rec.Code)
    }

    link := rec.Header().Get("Link")
    if !strings.Contains(link, `rel="next"`) {
        t.Error("expected next link")
    }

    var body ResourcesData
    json.Unmarshal(rec.Body.Bytes(), &body)
    if len(body.Resources) != 5 {
        t.Errorf("expected 5 items, got %d", len(body.Resources))
    }
}

func TestListResources_InvalidCursor(t *testing.T) {
    e := setupTestServer()

    req := httptest.NewRequest(http.MethodGet, "/v1/resources?cursor=invalid", nil)
    rec := httptest.NewRecorder()
    e.ServeHTTP(rec, req)

    if rec.Code != http.StatusBadRequest {
        t.Fatalf("expected 400, got %d", rec.Code)
    }
}

Complete Example

See internal/http/v1/items/handler.go for a complete implementation.

Converted and distributed by TomeVault — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.