FAQs - Person Changelog API

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Which release versions can be queried?

The Changelog API has some restrictions around which releases can be queried:

• origin_version and current_version must be consecutive monthly OR quarterly releases
• origin_version must be less than current_version
• Only the last 3 monthly, or last 2 quarterly releases are supported

Here are the valid set of release versions that can be queried for a few example releases: Valid Release Queries as of v28.2 Valid Release Queries as of v29.0 Valid Release Queries as of v29.1 Based on the rules above, keep in mind that the set of valid versions that can be queried will change with each release.

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How does this API differ from the existing Person Changelog files?

The Person Changelog API is built on top of the existing Person Changelog files, which means that the information returned using either method is exactly the same. However, unlike the changelog files, the API allows for fine-grained, field-level queries and removes much of the overhead associated with using the changelog files directly. As a result, it’s generally designed for tracking smaller datasets, whereas the changelog files are more suitable for large-scale or historical data analysis.

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How big a dataset can I track with the Person Changelog API?

The Person Changelog API is a useful tool for understanding the changes in records across releases, and it can be a effective tool to streamline the process of updating a dataset of person records. However, as an API there are 2 important limitations to keep in mind: Rate Limits: The Person Changelog API has a default rate limit of 100 requests / minute for self-serve customers and 500 requests / minute for enterprise customers. This limit can be increased up to a maximum of 5000 requests / minute for enterprise customers. Output Limits: Additionally, the maximum number of record IDs that can be returned in a single API response is capped at 1000 records / response. This limit cannot be increased. As a result, the maximum throughput possible with the Person Changelog API is: (5000 requests / minute) x (1000 ids / request) = 5M ids / minute With this number in mind, we generally recommend using the Person Changelog API where you are interested in maintaining a dataset in the tens of millions of records or less. Above this number (e.g. when you start approaching the hundreds of millions), an API-based workflow will likely add significant processing time overhead to your update process. For maintaining datasets larger than this, we recommend our Person Delta Files (for Data License customers) or using the raw Person Changelog files directly.