Prove paginated retrieval is complete

These examples and illustrative results are independently authored teaching materials, not measured model results.

Use case

Aggregate all subscribers in a declared filter/access scope. Teaching page 1 has 50 and next_cursor=c2; page 2 has 20 and null. A successful first response is not complete retrieval; use returned cursors unchanged.

Mechanism

Inspect paging/termination, record scope/page counts/continuation and sequentially accumulate stable IDs. Claim scoped completeness only after every page succeeds and the documented terminator. Failures, denied access, repeated cursors or caps retain partial state/next position.

Bad example

Use first-page 50 for all-subscriber metrics and call 200 complete without c2/failure inspection.

Good example

Follow teaching page 1→c2→page 2→null under one filter/account, reconcile 70 IDs and claim complete only with both successes/terminator. Failure/cap reports actual pages/count/cursor as partial without invented rows or quota bypass.

Why the change matters

A page response covers that page only; explicit termination establishes traversal while scoped continuation prevents mixed filters.

Observable expectation

Two successful pages yield 70/null; failed second page yields 50/partial. Repeated c2 fails rather than loops.

Inspect identity/termination, not counts alone; no subscribers are queried.

Limits

Completeness is scoped and changing data may need snapshots. Endpoint page/offset/cursor contracts differ; frozen null fields are examples, not universal termination.