How Do I Set Up and Test a Batch API Locally?

API
1

Hi everyone,

I’m fairly new to backend development and APIs, and I’ve recently come across the concept of batch APIs. I’m looking to understand both the theoretical side and the practical setup. I’d really appreciate some guidance from those who’ve worked with them before.

What I’m Trying to Understand:

From what I gather, a batch API allows you to send multiple requests in a single call, which can be more efficient than making repeated individual calls—especially useful for reducing overhead and improving performance in high-volume systems. That said, I still have a lot of questions about how to actually implement one.

Questions I Need Help With:

  1. How do I set up a batch API?
    Are there any frameworks or libraries (Node.js, Python, etc.) that are particularly good for building batch APIs from scratch or modifying existing APIs to handle batch requests?
  2. Can I run it locally on my laptop for testing purposes?
    I’d prefer to test and debug things locally on my AI laptop before deploying to the cloud. Is this realistic for batch APIs, especially when mimicking high request loads?
  3. Is it actually more cost-effective?
    I’ve read that batch APIs can save bandwidth and reduce costs on serverless platforms or API gateways. Is this noticeable in real-world projects, or only at scale?
  4. What are some good use cases or limitations?
    I’d love to hear real-world examples—when it makes sense to use a batch API vs. sticking with regular single-request APIs.

Any Resources or Best Practices?

If you have tutorials, GitHub repos, or articles that walk through setting up a batch API step-by-step, that would be awesome. Also, any caveats or common mistakes to avoid would be great to know up front.

Thanks in advance for your help! I’m eager to learn and get hands-on with this.

2

You can get started with the cookbook and API docs.

  1. Python
  2. No
  3. Yes
  4. When you are not in a hurry to get a response. As an alternative, you can also resort to flex processing.