Recently I have found myself in various conversations revolving around the topic of the Bulk API and its capabilities. These conversations have helped highlight various misunderstandings relating to its functionality, which I believe are the result of a lack of documentation on the subject. Hopefully this post will help clarify some of the more common themes.
To begin with, let us discuss what the Bulk API is not.
It is not a separate interface to Sugar. It is merely another endpoint of the existing REST v10 API. In short, the moniker Bulk API is a misnomer, as the term is just referring to a component of the REST v10 API, not an alternative to it.
Quite regularly I also hear of attempts to use the Bulk API to perform mass insertions of data. For example, migrating hundreds of thousands of records from another system and into Sugar. While the Bulk API can help expedite the process, it is not specifically designed for that task and its benefits for that type of work are limited.
What is the purpose of the Bulk API endpoint?
The Bulk API endpoint aims at helping developers reduce the quantity of web requests sent to the REST v10 API. By reducing the number of requests necessary to complete a programmatic task, the time to completion can also be reduced.
The following example helps demonstrate its value quite well.
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