Offset Pagination

Offset pagination is what every admin table expects: ?page=3&pageSize=10. You skip((page - 1) * pageSize).limit(pageSize) on a sorted cursor. It is simple. It is correct enough for small data. It is the wrong default for a public feed of millions of orders.

const page = 3;
const pageSize = 10;

db.products
  .find({ inStock: true })
  .sort({ price: 1, _id: 1 })
  .skip((page - 1) * pageSize)
  .limit(pageSize)

const filter = { inStock: true };
const [items, total] = await Promise.all([
  products.find(filter).sort({ price: 1, _id: 1 }).skip(20).limit(10).toArray(),
  products.countDocuments(filter),
]);

• Good for — internal tools, a few thousand rows, jumping to page 12.
• Hurts when — skip is large (walks every prior document), or rows insert/delete while someone pages (page 2 duplicates or skips a product).
• Count — countDocuments on the same filter is another full pass. Many UIs drop 'of N' and only show Next.