topic Spotify Search Web API pagination returns inconsistent total count in Spotify for Developers https://community.spotify.com/t5/Spotify-for-Developers/Spotify-Search-Web-API-pagination-returns-inconsistent-total/m-p/7298517#M19506 <P><span class="lia-inline-image-display-wrapper lia-image-align-inline" image-alt="first-page.png" style="width: 400px;"><img src="https://community.spotify.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/203729i324A4BEE6E6D262C/image-size/medium?v=v2&amp;px=400" role="button" title="first-page.png" alt="first-page.png" /></span></P><P><span class="lia-inline-image-display-wrapper lia-image-align-inline" image-alt="second-page.png" style="width: 400px;"><img src="https://community.spotify.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/203730iF57CAFEF2CBE1627/image-size/medium?v=v2&amp;px=400" role="button" title="second-page.png" alt="second-page.png" /></span></P><P>  </P><P class=""><SPAN>I’m facing an issue with pagination in the Spotify Search Web API where the </SPAN><SPAN>total</SPAN><SPAN> value changes unexpectedly when updating the </SPAN><SPAN>offset</SPAN><SPAN>.</SPAN></P><P class=""><STRONG><SPAN>Steps to reproduce:</SPAN></STRONG></P><OL><LI><P class=""><SPAN>Perform a search request (e.g., </SPAN><SPAN>/v1/search</SPAN><SPAN>) with:</SPAN></P><UL><LI><P class=""><SPAN>limit = 10</SPAN></P></LI><LI><P class=""><SPAN>offset = 0</SPAN></P></LI></UL></LI><LI><P class=""><SPAN>The response returns a </SPAN><SPAN>total</SPAN><SPAN> value = </SPAN><STRONG><SPAN>N</SPAN></STRONG></P></LI><LI><P class=""><SPAN>Change the offset to </SPAN><SPAN>offset = N - 10</SPAN></P></LI><LI><P class=""><SPAN>The response now returns a different </SPAN><SPAN>total</SPAN><SPAN> value = </SPAN><STRONG><SPAN>M</SPAN></STRONG><SPAN> (where </SPAN><SPAN>M ≠ N</SPAN><SPAN>)</SPAN></P></LI></OL><P class=""><STRONG><SPAN>Expected behavior:</SPAN></STRONG></P><UL><LI><P class=""><SPAN>The </SPAN><SPAN>total</SPAN><SPAN> count should remain consistent for the same query, regardless of offset changes, as it represents the total number of matching results.</SPAN></P></LI></UL><P class=""><STRONG><SPAN>Actual behavior:</SPAN></STRONG></P><UL><LI><P class=""><SPAN>The </SPAN><SPAN>total</SPAN><SPAN> value changes when the offset is updated, which breaks pagination logic and makes it unreliable to calculate the last page or total pages.</SPAN></P></LI></UL><P class=""><STRONG><SPAN>Impact:</SPAN></STRONG></P><UL><LI><P class=""><SPAN>This makes cursor/offset-based pagination unpredictable</SPAN></P></LI><LI><P class=""><SPAN>UI pagination (page numbers, last page detection) becomes incorrect</SPAN></P></LI><LI><P class=""><SPAN>Difficult to determine when all results have been fetched</SPAN></P></LI></UL><P><SPAN>Has anyone else encountered this issue, or is this expected behavior due to backend ranking/index updates?</SPAN></P> Sat, 10 Jan 2026 10:15:37 GMT user-removed 2026-01-10T10:15:37Z Spotify Search Web API pagination returns inconsistent total count https://community.spotify.com/t5/Spotify-for-Developers/Spotify-Search-Web-API-pagination-returns-inconsistent-total/m-p/7298517#M19506 <P><span class="lia-inline-image-display-wrapper lia-image-align-inline" image-alt="first-page.png" style="width: 400px;"><img src="https://community.spotify.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/203729i324A4BEE6E6D262C/image-size/medium?v=v2&amp;px=400" role="button" title="first-page.png" alt="first-page.png" /></span></P><P><span class="lia-inline-image-display-wrapper lia-image-align-inline" image-alt="second-page.png" style="width: 400px;"><img src="https://community.spotify.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/203730iF57CAFEF2CBE1627/image-size/medium?v=v2&amp;px=400" role="button" title="second-page.png" alt="second-page.png" /></span></P><P>  </P><P class=""><SPAN>I’m facing an issue with pagination in the Spotify Search Web API where the </SPAN><SPAN>total</SPAN><SPAN> value changes unexpectedly when updating the </SPAN><SPAN>offset</SPAN><SPAN>.</SPAN></P><P class=""><STRONG><SPAN>Steps to reproduce:</SPAN></STRONG></P><OL><LI><P class=""><SPAN>Perform a search request (e.g., </SPAN><SPAN>/v1/search</SPAN><SPAN>) with:</SPAN></P><UL><LI><P class=""><SPAN>limit = 10</SPAN></P></LI><LI><P class=""><SPAN>offset = 0</SPAN></P></LI></UL></LI><LI><P class=""><SPAN>The response returns a </SPAN><SPAN>total</SPAN><SPAN> value = </SPAN><STRONG><SPAN>N</SPAN></STRONG></P></LI><LI><P class=""><SPAN>Change the offset to </SPAN><SPAN>offset = N - 10</SPAN></P></LI><LI><P class=""><SPAN>The response now returns a different </SPAN><SPAN>total</SPAN><SPAN> value = </SPAN><STRONG><SPAN>M</SPAN></STRONG><SPAN> (where </SPAN><SPAN>M ≠ N</SPAN><SPAN>)</SPAN></P></LI></OL><P class=""><STRONG><SPAN>Expected behavior:</SPAN></STRONG></P><UL><LI><P class=""><SPAN>The </SPAN><SPAN>total</SPAN><SPAN> count should remain consistent for the same query, regardless of offset changes, as it represents the total number of matching results.</SPAN></P></LI></UL><P class=""><STRONG><SPAN>Actual behavior:</SPAN></STRONG></P><UL><LI><P class=""><SPAN>The </SPAN><SPAN>total</SPAN><SPAN> value changes when the offset is updated, which breaks pagination logic and makes it unreliable to calculate the last page or total pages.</SPAN></P></LI></UL><P class=""><STRONG><SPAN>Impact:</SPAN></STRONG></P><UL><LI><P class=""><SPAN>This makes cursor/offset-based pagination unpredictable</SPAN></P></LI><LI><P class=""><SPAN>UI pagination (page numbers, last page detection) becomes incorrect</SPAN></P></LI><LI><P class=""><SPAN>Difficult to determine when all results have been fetched</SPAN></P></LI></UL><P><SPAN>Has anyone else encountered this issue, or is this expected behavior due to backend ranking/index updates?</SPAN></P> Sat, 10 Jan 2026 10:15:37 GMT https://community.spotify.com/t5/Spotify-for-Developers/Spotify-Search-Web-API-pagination-returns-inconsistent-total/m-p/7298517#M19506 user-removed 2026-01-10T10:15:37Z