From e2ad3a17f19ec2f1399670e8fbfd11f6ef6d08fa Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: ravendevhub <ravendevhub@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2026 11:03:10 +0630
Subject: [PATCH] docs(api): audit list endpoints and verify consistent keyset
 pagination (#515)

- Audit all exposed REST endpoints for pagination model
- Verify opaque keyset cursor contract (base64url v1 encoding, size bounding, null sentinel)
- Document cursor stability and invariants under concurrent writes
- Detail verification test matrix for pagination walks and error responses
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+# Pagination Audit — Keyset Cursor Across All List Endpoints
+
+This document audits every list endpoint exposed by the Trident API and confirms
+they all use **opaque keyset cursors** instead of offset-based pagination.
+Keyset pagination is required for correctness on testnet: offset pagination
+silently skips or duplicates rows when events are being written concurrently
+(see issue #220, #222, #515).
+
+---
+
+## Endpoint Audit
+
+| Endpoint | List? | Pagination | Cursor Param | Next-Cursor Field | Default Limit | Max Limit |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| `GET /v1/events` | ✅ | **Keyset cursor** | `cursor` | `next_cursor` | 100 | 500 |
+| `GET /v1/admin/contracts` | ✅ | **Keyset cursor** | `cursor` | `next_cursor` | 100 | 100 |
+| `GET /v1/contracts/{id}/metadata` | ❌ single item | N/A | — | — | — | — |
+| `GET /v1/contracts/{id}/schemas` | ❌ single item | N/A | — | — | — | — |
+| `GET /v1/stats` | ❌ aggregate | N/A | — | — | — | — |
+| `GET /health` | ❌ status | N/A | — | — | — | — |
+
+**All list endpoints use keyset pagination. No list endpoint uses offset-based pagination.**
+
+---
+
+## Cursor Contract
+
+Every list endpoint observes the following invariants:
+
+### 1. Cursor Encoding
+Cursors are **opaque, base64url-encoded JSON payloads** produced by the
+`services/api/cursor` package:
+
+```
+cursor = base64url_nopad( json({ "v": 1, "t": "<paging_token>" }) )
+```
+
+The internal `t` field is the raw Stellar Horizon paging token or a PostgreSQL
+row ID, depending on the endpoint. The `v` field is the schema version (`1`).
+Clients **must not** parse or construct cursors directly.
+
+### 2. Stability
+A cursor returned by one response remains valid for subsequent requests until
+the underlying row is deleted. Cursors do not carry timestamps or TTLs.
+
+### 3. End-of-Results Sentinel
+When there are no more pages, the response carries:
+
+```json
+{
+  "events": [],
+  "has_more": false,
+  "next_cursor": null
+}
+```
+
+`next_cursor` is **`null`** (not an empty string, not omitted) when no further
+pages exist.
+
+### 4. Cursor Size Limit
+Cursors are bounded to 256 bytes by the decoder. A request carrying a cursor
+longer than 256 bytes returns `400 INVALID_ARGUMENT`.
+
+### 5. Unknown Query Parameters
+Both list endpoints reject any unrecognised query parameter with
+`400 INVALID_ARGUMENT`. This prevents typo'd parameters (e.g., `limitt=10`)
+from silently changing page sizes.
+
+---
+
+## Test Matrix
+
+The following tests in `services/api/handlers/events_test.go` verify cursor
+correctness under concurrent writes:
+
+| Test | What it Checks |
+|---|---|
+| `TestListEvents_CursorPagination` | Two-page walk: cursor from page 1 fetches page 2 |
+| `TestListEvents_CursorIdempotency` | Same cursor returns the same page regardless of new writes |
+| `TestListEvents_CursorEndOfResults` | Final page returns `has_more: false, next_cursor: null` |
+| `TestListEvents_CursorMalformed` | Non-base64 cursor → `400` |
+| `TestListEvents_CursorWrongVersion` | `{"v":99,"t":"x"}` → `400` |
+| `TestListContracts_CursorPagination` | Admin contracts list pages correctly |
+
+---
+
+## Adding New List Endpoints
+
+When adding a new list endpoint, maintainers **must**:
+
+1. Accept a `cursor` query parameter (string, optional).
+2. Decode using `cursor.Decode()` from `services/api/cursor`.
+3. Construct the SQL query using `WHERE id > $cursor_id ORDER BY id LIMIT n+1`.
+4. Return `next_cursor` encoded via `cursor.Encode()`, or `null` when exhausted.
+5. Add tests for the two-page walk, idempotency, end-of-results, and malformed cursor cases.
+6. Add the new endpoint to the audit table in this document.