---
title: Cursor
slug: graph/docs/cursor
docTags: 
createdAt: 2026-07-30T20:30:18.526Z
---

The `cursor` argument enables stateful batch retrieval in Optimizely Graph so that you can pull large result sets one page at a time without losing track of the position in the index. Use it when a single query would otherwise hit the result-size limit, when you need to iterate the full result set for a delta import, or when consistent paging across many batches matters more than ad hoc offsets.

By default, the cursor is not enabled. To enable it, select `cursor` in the GraphQL query in combination with a query in `where` using an empty string `""` as value, such as `cursor: ""`.

- The response has a cursor value and then gets the next batches using that cursor value in the GraphQL query.
- Optimizely Graph preserves the results for the first query in the current state (stateful) for 10 minutes per request. After that time, the cursor expires and is no longer valid.
- Continue until there are no more results. The number of results per batch depends on the number set by `limit`. For the first query with the cursor enabled, `skip` is ignored. Implement this by ignoring the first batches of results.
- Sort by `DOC` for the fastest retrieval.
- Project at least one content item field, or an error displays. The `total` field alone is insufficient because it is not a field of an item in `items`.

The following example request retrieves the batches one document at a time:

```graphql
{
  StandardPage(
    cursor: "FGluY2x1ZGVfY29udGV4dF91dWlkDXF1ZXJ5QW5kRmV0Y2gBFnh3Qmszbmh0UkxPeWVGVHBLcUtQVWcAAAAAAAAATRZJVkJ4eFZBdVM5dTI4R1UzVUFSOEpn"
    limit: 1
    orderBy: {_ranking: DOC}
  ) {
    items {
      Name
      Url
      RouteSegment
      Changed
    }
    cursor
  }
}
```