netbox-performance

NetBox Performance Best Practices

Exclude config_context (HIGH)

Config context computation is expensive. Always exclude when not needed.

# Slow - includes computed config_context
response = requests.get(f"{API_URL}/dcim/devices/")

# Fast - excludes config_context
response = requests.get(
    f"{API_URL}/dcim/devices/",
    params={"exclude": "config_context"}
)

Use Brief Mode for Lists (HIGH)

Brief mode returns minimal nested object data.

# Full response (~2KB per device)
response = requests.get(f"{API_URL}/dcim/devices/")

# Brief response (~500 bytes per device)
response = requests.get(f"{API_URL}/dcim/devices/?brief=True")

Combine with field selection for maximum efficiency:

params = {
    "brief": "True",
    "exclude": "config_context",
    "fields": "id,name,status,site"
}

Avoid ?q= Search Filter at Scale (HIGH)

The generic ?q= search filter searches across multiple fields and is expensive at scale.

# WRONG: Generic search across all fields
response = requests.get(f"{API_URL}/dcim/devices/?q=nyc")

# CORRECT: Specific field filters
response = requests.get(f"{API_URL}/dcim/devices/?name__ic=nyc")
response = requests.get(f"{API_URL}/dcim/devices/?site=nyc-dc1")

Performance Checklist

• Using ?brief=True for list operations
• Excluding config_context when not needed
• Using specific filters instead of ?q= search
• Explicit pagination with appropriate page sizes

References

See skills/netbox-integration-best-practices/references/rules/perf-*.md for detailed rules.