Incremental sync
Syncing only the records that have changed since the last sync run, rather than re-processing the entire dataset. Critical for large databases instead of syncing 100,000 contacts hourly, sync only the 200 that changed.
Expert insight
Incremental sync (only fetching records changed since the last sync) is far more efficient than a full sync every time, but it depends entirely on a reliable "last modified" timestamp or change marker from the source system, if that marker is missing or unreliable for some records, incremental sync will quietly miss them.
In a real workflow
Only records modified since the last sync are fetched, using an updated-at timestamp.
Common mistakes
- Missing deletions.
- Clock differences between systems.
Complexity level
Requires some familiarity with automation concepts.
Related terms
Sync (data)
Ensuring two or more systems contain consistent, up-to-date records. Bi-directio…
ETL (Extract, Transform, Load)
A three-phase data pipeline pattern: extract raw data from source systems, trans…
Change data capture (CDC)
A technique that tracks database changes in real-time and triggers automations b…
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