---
layout: changelog
title: "Skip total counts for faster list queries"
date: 2025-11-19
cover: /images/changelog/2025-11-19.avif
tags: databases, performance
---
You can now skip totals with a simple `total=false` flag and get faster, lighter list responses without the extra database work.

# What’s new

- Added a new request flag: `total=false` on all `list*` endpoints
- When enabled, Appwrite **skips the COUNT query** entirely
- Response includes `total: 0` while still returning items normally
- Fully backwards-compatible: default behaviour remains unchanged
- Works best with cursor-based pagination
- Applies consistently across all list-like API calls

# Immediate benefits

- Faster API responses for large and filtered result sets
- Lower database and CPU load, improving stability under heavy read traffic
- Better UX for infinite scroll and mobile clients that don’t rely on totals
- Reduced cloud infrastructure cost by avoiding unnecessary COUNT operations

This feature is now live on both Appwrite Cloud and Self-hosted instances

[Learn more from the documentation](/docs/products/databases/pagination#skip-totals)