Real-time sync
How Kombo keeps integration data up-to-date without sacrificing API reliability and performance.
Syncs in Kombo
We’re mirroring the data in the source systems into a database at regular intervals (or when you manually trigger a sync). When you call our API, we will simply read from our database, resulting in endpoints that always respond reliably and quickly.
Through our syncing approach, we can also provide webhooks for systems that don’t provide webhooks themselves.
Note that syncs adhere to your scope config, so if there are sensitive data points you’re not using, then those will not end up in our database.
Data in real-time
In addition to full and delta syncs, we are also able to receive webhooks from selected tools to keep our data in sync even faster. Read more about it here.
Sync types
You might find hints of different sync types in the dashboard or webhook body. However, the sync types are an implementation detail on Kombo’s side and you likely won’t have to think about them.
The updated_after filter works the same for all sync types and will only
return the data that actually changed, as Kombo tracks all changes in its
database.
Full Sync
A full sync fetches all available data from the integrated tool, creating a complete snapshot of the current state. This sync type verifies data completeness and tracks deleted entries in the integrated tool. Full syncs run at a regular interval, typically every 3 hours, to ensure that the data in Kombo’s database is up-to-date.
Due to the volume of data processed, full syncs take longer to complete, especially for tools with large datasets. However, they are essential for maintaining data integrity and identifying any discrepancies between the source system and Kombo’s database.
Delta Sync
In contrast, a delta sync is an incrementally updates data that has changed since the last sync. Delta syncs complete much quicker, however, delta syncs do not verify overall data completeness and cannot track deleted entries since they only fetch changed data. To optimize rate limits, delta syncs temporarily pause full syncs while they are running. When an integration supports delta syncs, full syncs will run less frequently.
We implement both sync types because some tools contain large amounts of data, where full syncs might run for many hours. Delta syncs ensure you receive updates more frequently, without waiting for complete full syncs to finish. This approach allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information while managing the limitations of the integrated tools.