# Download Larger Datasets

If you are new to our API service, we recommend starting with “[Getting Started with the APIs](https://docs.scicrunch.io/api-service-gateway-overview/getting-started-with-sparc-apis)” and “[Using your API key](https://docs.scicrunch.io/api-service-gateway-overview/using-your-api-key)” for helpful guidance first. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.\
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With a large number of records to download you would not be able to do that via a simple Elasticsearch search as Elasticsearch's paging limit is 10,000 records. Therefore, you need to use Elasticsearch's scroll mechanism. An example of such a curl request would be (Note: for normal queries you would not add the ?scroll=1s to the end):\
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**Initialize Download of an Entire Index**\
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To download an entire index from the API, you start the scrolling process with the following curl command:

`curl --location 'https://api.scicrunch.io/elastic/v1/<<YOUR TARGET INDEX>>/_search?scroll=1s' \`\
`--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \`\
`--header 'apikey: <<YOUR API KEY>>' \`\
`--data '{ <<YOUR QUERY HERE>> }'`\
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Make sure to replace the placeholders:

<\<YOUR TARGET INDEX>> with the index you're targeting.

<\<YOUR API KEY>> with your API key.

<\<YOUR QUERY HERE>> with the specific query you want to execute.

For example queries, refer to the following link:[ Example Queries](https://docs.scicrunch.io/elasticsearch-metadata-services/resource-information-network-rin-services/basic-rin-search-examples).

<br>

**Page Through Index and Download Content**

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The initial scroll query would yield results such as:\
`{`\
`"_scroll_id": "DnF1ZXJ5VGhlbkZldGNoAgAAAAAF-0fRFkhYNzFBb1loU1dLbVpicWpmSTl3b1EAAAAABftH0hZIWDcxQW9ZaFNXS21aYnFqZkk5d29R",`\
`"took": 19,`\
`"timed_out": false,`\
`"_shards": {`\
`"total": 2,`\
`"successful": 2,`\
`"skipped": 0,`\
`"failed": 0`\
`},`\
`"hits": { ...`\
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To download additional content you would need to download the next set of results.  To do this,  use the scroll\_id from the prior result and create a new request:\
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`curl --location 'https://api.scicrunch.io/elastic/v1/_search/scroll' \`\
`--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \`\
`--header 'apikey: <<YOUR API KEY>>' \`\
`--data '{`\
`"scroll" : "1s",`\
`"scroll_id" : "DnF1ZXJ5VGhlbkZldGNoAgAAAAAF-0fRFkhYNzFBb1loU1dLbVpicWpmSTl3b1EAAAAABftH0hZIWDcxQW9ZaFNXS21aYnFqZkk5d29R"`\
`}'`\
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This will generate a set of results with a **new** scroll\_id. Use this new scroll\_id to generate a new request and repeat...


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.scicrunch.io/elasticsearch-metadata-services/resource-information-network-rin-services/download-larger-datasets.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.
