{
  "id": 8105695,
  "title": "The slowest requests on our API were the ones that found nothing",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/17/the-slowest-requests-on-our-api-were-the-ones-that-found-nothing",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-17T21:03:16.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/vessel_api/the-slowest-requests-on-our-api-were-the-ones-that-found-nothing-49dg"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "On September 9th, 2026, the API's slowest requests were those that returned no results. For example, finding the most recent port event for a vessel took 28 milliseconds if the vessel had one, but 2 to 2.5 seconds if it had none. Similarly, requesting an ETA for a vessel with an unidentifiable IMO took 12 seconds on an idle database, and 30 seconds or more on a busy one. Over the course of a night, 71% of the database time on the ETA endpoint was spent handling \"not found\" requests.",
  "summary": "On 9 September 2026, asking our API for the most recent port event of a vessel took 28 ms if the vessel had one and 2.0 to 2.5 s if it had none. Asking for the ETA of a vessel whose IMO we could not map to an MMSI took 12 s on a quiet database and 30 s or more on a busy one, until the statement timeout ended it. Over one night, requests that ended in \"not found\" used 71% of all the database time…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}