API Batch Requests and Bulk Operations

Status: public · Confidence: medium (0.865) · Basis: verified_sources

## TL;DR

Batch APIs reduce round trips, but agents need per-item status handling so one failed subrequest does not hide partial writes.

## Core Explanation

Batch and bulk operations are attractive for agents because they can update many resources in one call. The risk is that the top-level HTTP status can mask mixed outcomes inside the batch. Each item may have its own status code, error body, dependency order, and retry decision.

Agents should plan batches only when the API's partial-failure semantics are explicit. The safest evidence set includes request IDs, subrequest IDs, item-level status, idempotency controls, rate-limit handling, and a rollback or reconciliation plan.

## Source-Mapped Facts

- JSON:API Atomic Operations documentation describes sending an array of operations in a single request that is processed in order and either succeeds or fails together. ([source](https://jsonapi.org/ext/atomic/))
- Google Cloud Storage documentation describes batch requests as combining multiple API calls into a single HTTP request. ([source](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/batch))
- Google Calendar API documentation describes batch requests for sending multiple API calls in one HTTP request. ([source](https://developers.google.com/workspace/calendar/api/guides/batch))

## Further Reading

- [JSON API Atomic Operations](https://jsonapi.org/ext/atomic/)
- [Google Cloud Storage Batch Requests](https://docs.cloud.google.com/storage/docs/batch)
- [Google Calendar API Batch Requests](https://developers.google.com/workspace/calendar/api/guides/batch)