Batch Updates Implementation Discussion

[rctheriot]

Asked CHATGPT for some suggestions and my suggestions.

There are few ways to implement BATCH updates.

• Implement where we don't rock the boat and mess up anything that is already working.
• Can support authorization checks per operation.
• Do we want the operations to also be sent out to all clients as a group. Or can each individual operation can still be performed normally and updates can be sent out as they happen?

1. JSON Batch Request Format: You can implement batch updates using the JSON Batch Request Format, which is a standard way of sending multiple requests in a single HTTP request. In this approach, you can send a list of individual requests in the body of the batch request, each with its own HTTP method, URL, headers, and body. The server then processes each request in the batch and returns a response for each one.

• /api/batch

body: [
  {
    "request": "POST",
    "route": "/api/apps",
    "body": "{...}", // NEW APP
    "headers": {} // Copy from original HTTP Request
  },
  {
    "request": "PUT",
    "route": "/api/rooms/1234", // room_id: 1234
    "body": "{...}", // Room updates
    "headers": {} // Copy from original HTTP Request
  },
  {
    "request": "DELETE",
    "route": "/api/apps/5678", // app_id: 5678
    "headers": {} // Copy from original HTTP Request
  },
]

• You would then perform each request calling the standard routes. Gather the responses into an array, and send back the responses to the original /api/batch request call.

2. Custom Batch Endpoint per collection: Another approach is to create a custom batch endpoint that accepts a list of operations and executes them in a single API request.

• POST
  • Add one new document./api/COLLECTION_NAME
    • The BODY on the HTTP message is the document to add.
  • Add multiple Docs. /api/COLLECTION_NAME/batch
    • The BODY on the HTTP message is an array of new docs.
      • ex. [{...}, {...}, {...}]
• GET
  • GET one document./api/COLLECTION_NAME/:id
    • id is in the route name.
    • The BODY on the HTTP message is the document to add.
  • GET multiple Docs. /api/COLLECTION_NAME/batch
    • The BODY on the HTTP message is an array of document ids.
    • ex. [{...}, {...}, {...}]
• PUT
  • Update one document./api/COLLECTION_NAME/:id
    • id is in the route name.
    • The BODY on the HTTP message is update message.
  • Update multiple Docs. /api/COLLECTION_NAME/batch
    • The BODY on the HTTP message is an array of {id: string, update: any} .
      • ex. [{id: '123', update: {...}}, {id:'234', update: {...}}]
• DELETE
  • Delete a single document./api/COLLECTION_NAME/:id
    • id is in the route name.
  • Delete Multiple Docs. /api/COLLECTION_NAME/batch
    • The BODY on the HTTP message is an array of document ids.
      • ex. ['123', '234', '345']

3. Custom Query Parameters: You can also implement batch updates by adding custom query parameters to the existing collection endpoints. For example, you could add a query parameter like ?batch=true to the GET /users endpoint, which would allow you to send a list of user IDs in the request body to retrieve multiple users in a single API request.

• Same as some of the info above, but add a query parameter batch to the route request. If that query is provided then process request as a batch request.
• I like this one the least.

[rctheriot]

Post discussing various ways that @renambot found.

https://www.mscharhag.com/api-design/bulk-and-batch-operations

[renambot]

1- might be safest to implement since completely new route
2- might be nicer to developers

For ws, probably easiest: if param is object -> normal, if array -> do the batch

For return values: array of results when doing batches.

I can't remember, do we use one ID per request ? would do one ID per batch then ?