# Pagination (/docs/v3/general-api-doc/pagination)



Global Fishing Watch API responses vary depending on whether you request a single resource or a collection. Collections are paginated using `limit`, `offset`, and `nextOffset`.

## Response format [#response-format]

The response depends on what you request:

* **Single resource:** the API returns the result directly.
* **Collection of resources:** the API returns a paginated JSON object (except when the response is not JSON) with the properties below.

| Property     | Type   | Description                                                                                                     |
| ------------ | ------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `total`      | number | Total resources available.                                                                                      |
| `limit`      | number | Resources returned in this response.                                                                            |
| `offset`     | number | Resources skipped before this response.                                                                         |
| `nextOffset` | number | Offset to pass on the next request to paginate correctly.                                                       |
| `metadata`   | object | Any other valuable information. For search, this can include the query executed, term suggestions, and similar. |
| `entries`    | array  | The list of resources.                                                                                          |

For example, a paginated response looks like this:

```json
{
  "metadata": {
    "datasets": ["public-global-fishing-events:v3.0"],
    "vessels": ["9b3e9019d-d67f-005a-9593-b66b997559e5"],
    "dateRange": {
      "from": "2017-01-01",
      "to": "2017-01-31"
    }
  },
  "limit": 1,
  "offset": 0,
  "nextOffset": 1,
  "total": 10,
  "entries": [
    // ...list of resources
  ]
}
```