---
title: "Start Bulk Merge"
method: POST
path: "/duplicates/bulk-merge"
tags: ["Duplicates"]
---

# Start Bulk Merge

`POST /duplicates/bulk-merge`

## Request

- Base URL: `https://be.graph8.com/api/v1`
- URL: `https://be.graph8.com/api/v1/duplicates/bulk-merge`
- Auth: HTTP bearer

Merge a group: start a bulk merge run over up to 50 suggestion pairs.
Proxies ``POST /v1/duplicates/bulk-merge``
(``duplicates/interfaces/router.py:617``) -- same blocker checks, same
per-pair transactions, same ``MergeContactBlockedError``/
``MergeCompanyBlockedError`` handling. Returns immediately with a
``run_id``; poll ``GET /duplicates/bulk-merge/{run_id}`` for progress.
Merge is destructive: an already-applied pair is only reversible via
``POST /duplicates/undo-merge/{merge_history_id}`` within its 30-day
window, so check the response and the recent-merges feed rather than
assuming success.

Idempotency: this is a POST, so it already honours the standard
``Idempotency-Key`` header via the platform-wide
``IdempotencyMiddleware`` (``developer_api/dependencies
/idempotency_middleware.py``) -- no per-route wiring needed. Retrying
the same key returns the first run's response instead of starting a
second run.

## Headers

- `Authorization` string, nullable
- `X-Target-Org-Id` string, nullable

## Request body

- MergeDuplicatesRequest: Kick off a bulk merge run for up to ``BULK_MERGE_MAX_PAIRS`` suggestion pairs. Mirrors ``duplicates/interfaces/router.py::_BulkMergeRequest``.
  - `suggestion_ids` string[], required
  - `criterion` 'most_recent_engagement' | 'oldest_engagement' | 'created_first' | 'created_last' | 'most_recently_updated', required

## Response `200`

Successful Response

- ApiResponseDictStrAny
  - `data` object, required
  - `pagination` PaginationMeta
    - `page` integer, required: Current page number (1-indexed)
    - `limit` integer, required: Items per page
    - `total` integer, required: Total number of items
    - `has_next` boolean, required: Whether there are more pages
    - `next_cursor` string, nullable: Opaque cursor for the next page; null when there are no more items. Pass it back as the `cursor` query param to fetch the following page without computing page numbers.
    - `total_available` integer, nullable: Search endpoints only: how many records really match, when known. Can be larger than `total`, which is capped at the 10,000 results that can be paged. For company search this is a distinct-company estimate. Null when unknown; absent outside search.
    - `total_is_lower_bound` boolean, nullable: Search endpoints only: true when more records match than `total` shows (the result set is larger than the 10,000 results that can be paged). Absent outside search.
    - `notes` string[], nullable: Search endpoints only: plain-language notes about the result, e.g. that more records match than can be paged, or that a reversed `between` range was put in order.

## Other responses

- `422`: Validation Error

---

[API](https://skmtc.dev/graph8/apis/graph8-developer-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.dev/graph8/apis/graph8-developer-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc.dev/graph8/apis/graph8-developer-api/revisions/2e7cfa0ca921?raw)