Bulk import and export in Rest API

Introduction

Bulk import and export let you move many items at once between systems. This saves time and avoids doing the same task repeatedly.

You want to upload many user records to a website all at once.

You need to download a large list of products from an online store.

You want to backup all your data from a service in one go.

You need to update many entries in a database quickly.

You want to share a big set of information with another system.

Syntax

Rest API

POST /api/items/bulk-import
Content-Type: application/json

[
  {"name": "Item1", "value": 100},
  {"name": "Item2", "value": 200}
]


GET /api/items/bulk-export
Accept: application/json

Bulk import usually uses a POST request with a list of items in the body.

Bulk export often uses a GET request that returns many items in the response.

Examples

This example shows sending two user records to import at once.

Rest API

POST /api/users/bulk-import
Content-Type: application/json

[
  {"username": "alice", "email": "[e-mail]"},
  {"username": "bob", "email": "[e-mail]"}
]

This example requests all products in one response.

Rest API

GET /api/products/bulk-export
Accept: application/json

Sample Program

This program shows how to send many items to import using POST, then get many items using GET. It prints the import status and lists exported items.

Rest API

import requests

# Bulk import example
url_import = 'https://example.com/api/items/bulk-import'
data = [
    {"name": "Pen", "price": 1.5},
    {"name": "Notebook", "price": 3.0}
]
response_import = requests.post(url_import, json=data)
print('Import status:', response_import.status_code)

# Bulk export example
url_export = 'https://example.com/api/items/bulk-export'
response_export = requests.get(url_export)
if response_export.status_code == 200:
    items = response_export.json()
    print('Exported items:')
    for item in items:
        print(f"- {item['name']}: ${item['price']}")
else:
    print('Failed to export items')

Important Notes

Always check the response status to confirm if the bulk operation succeeded.

Bulk operations reduce the number of requests, making your app faster and simpler.

Make sure the data format matches what the API expects to avoid errors.

Summary

Bulk import and export help move many records at once.

Use POST with a list of items to import, and GET to export many items.

Check responses carefully to ensure success.