> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.cometly.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Exports vs Pagination

> Learn when to use async exports versus paginated list endpoints for retrieving large datasets

## Overview

Cometly's API offers two methods for retrieving event data: **real-time paginated lists** and **asynchronous exports**.

| Feature         | Paginated List          | Async Export                        |
| --------------- | ----------------------- | ----------------------------------- |
| **Data Volume** | Up to 4,000 per request | Entire day                          |
| **Format**      | JSON (paginated)        | NDJSON (gzipped)                    |
| **Use Case**    | Real-time, interactive  | Bulk, batch processing              |
| **Rate Limit**  | 7 requests/min          | 5 creates/min, 30 status checks/min |
| **Date Range**  | Flexible (any range)    | Max 1 day per export                |
| **Best For**    | \< 10,000 events        | > 10,000 events                     |

## Export File Format

Exports are delivered as **gzipped NDJSON** (Newline-Delimited JSON):

```json theme={null}
{"id":123,"event_name":"purchase","amount":99.99,"event_time_utc":"2024-01-15T10:23:45Z"}
{"id":124,"event_name":"sign_up","amount":0,"event_time_utc":"2024-01-15T10:24:12Z"}
```

Each line is a complete JSON object, making it easy to stream and process line-by-line without loading the entire file into memory.

## See Also

* [List Events](/api-reference/endpoint/list-events) - Real-time paginated endpoint
* [Create Event Export](/api-reference/endpoint/create-event-export) - Async bulk export