Swevo.EFCore.Pagination

[](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Swevo.EFCore.Pagination)

Offset and cursor-based pagination for EF Core. Two extension methods on IQueryable<T>, two result types — nothing else.

// Offset pagination
var page = await db.Orders
    .Where(o => o.CustomerId == customerId)
    .OrderByDescending(o => o.CreatedAt)
    .ToPageAsync(pageNumber: 1, pageSize: 20);

// page.Items          IReadOnlyList<Order>
// page.TotalCount     int
// page.TotalPages     int
// page.HasNextPage    bool
// page.HasPreviousPage bool

// Cursor (keyset) pagination
var page = await db.Orders
    .Where(o => o.CustomerId == customerId)
    .OrderBy(o => o.Id)
    .ToCursorPageAsync(o => o.Id, afterCursor: cursor, pageSize: 20);

// page.Items       IReadOnlyList<Order>
// page.NextCursor  string?  — pass to the next request
// page.HasNextPage bool

Install

dotnet add package Swevo.EFCore.Pagination

Offset vs cursor

	Offset (ToPageAsync)	Cursor (ToCursorPageAsync)
Jump to page	✅	❌
Total count	✅	❌
Consistent under inserts	❌	✅
Scalable to millions of rows	❌	✅
Single query	❌ (count + fetch)	✅

Use offset for admin grids with page numbers. Use cursor for infinite-scroll feeds and APIs.

Offset pagination

// GET /orders?page=2&pageSize=20
var page = await db.Orders
    .OrderByDescending(o => o.CreatedAt)
    .ToPageAsync(pageNumber: 2, pageSize: 20, cancellationToken);

return new
{
    items      = page.Items,
    totalCount = page.TotalCount,
    totalPages = page.TotalPages,
    page       = page.PageNumber,
    pageSize   = page.PageSize,
    hasPrev    = page.HasPreviousPage,
    hasNext    = page.HasNextPage,
};

• pageNumber is 1-based.
• Issues two SQL queries: COUNT(*) then SELECT ... SKIP ... TAKE.
• pageSize is capped at 1000.

Cursor (keyset) pagination

// GET /orders?cursor=eyJJZCI6MTAwfQ==&pageSize=20
var page = await db.Orders
    .OrderBy(o => o.Id)          // MUST be ordered by the cursor key
    .ToCursorPageAsync(
        keySelector:  o => o.Id,
        afterCursor:  Request.Query["cursor"],   // null on first page
        pageSize:     20,
        cancellationToken);

return new
{
    items      = page.Items,
    nextCursor = page.NextCursor,   // null on last page
    hasNext    = page.HasNextPage,
};

• Issues a single SELECT ... WHERE id > ? LIMIT pageSize + 1.
• Cursor is an opaque Base64-encoded JSON token — do not parse it.
• Supported key types: int, long, Guid, DateTime, DateTimeOffset, and any value type with a > SQL operator.

Full cursor loop example

string? cursor = null;
do
{
    var page = await db.Products
        .OrderBy(p => p.Id)
        .ToCursorPageAsync(p => p.Id, afterCursor: cursor, pageSize: 100);

    await ProcessBatchAsync(page.Items);
    cursor = page.NextCursor;
} while (cursor is not null);

Part of the Swevo EF Core toolkit

Stack with the other Swevo EF Core packages:

[Auditable]  // → CreatedAt, UpdatedAt
[SoftDelete] // → IsDeleted, global query filter
public partial class Order
{
    public OrderId Id { get; set; } // → Swevo.EFCore.StronglyTyped
}

// Paginate with cursor
var page = await db.Orders
    .OrderBy(o => o.Id)
    .ToCursorPageAsync(o => o.Id, afterCursor: cursor, pageSize: 20);

Package	Purpose
Swevo.EFCore.Pagination	This package
Swevo.EFCore.StronglyTyped	Strongly-typed IDs
Swevo.AutoAudit	Audit fields
Swevo.EFCore.SoftDelete	Soft delete
Swevo.EFCore.Outbox	Transactional outbox

Also by the same author

🌐 Full suite overview: swevo.github.io

Package	Description
AutoLog.Generator	Compile-time high-performance logging — [Log(Level, Message)] generates LoggerMessage.Define. AOT-safe.
AutoHttpClient.Generator	Compile-time typed HTTP client — [HttpClient] on an interface generates a strongly-typed client. AOT-safe Refit alternative.
AutoDispatch.Generator	Compile-time CQRS dispatcher — [Handler] generates a strongly-typed IDispatcher. No MediatR, no reflection.
AutoWire	Compile-time DI auto-registration — [Scoped]/[Singleton]/[Transient] generates IServiceCollection registration code.
AutoMap.Generator	Compile-time object mapping with generated extension methods. AOT-safe AutoMapper alternative.

License

MIT © 2026 Justin Bannister