Windows 8 Search API Paging: Ordering and StartIndex Reliability

Goal: Paginate a Large Search Result Set

Developers want to retrieve a subset of items from the Windows 8 Search API by setting QueryOptions.MaxResults and QueryOptions.StartIndex. The API should return a consistent slice of the full result set without duplicates or gaps, even when the underlying index changes.

Constraints & Uncertainty

• The documentation does not guarantee that the ordering of results is stable across separate paged queries.
• In the original Windows 8 release, StartIndex may be ignored or cause the query to return all results, whereas Windows 8.1 respects this property.
• When new items are added to the index between paged requests, items may appear in multiple pages or be skipped.

Specific Questions

1. Does the Windows 8 Search API guarantee a stable ordering of results across paged queries when using QueryOptions.StartIndex and MaxResults?
2. In Windows 8 (not 8.1), how does the Search API handle StartIndex values that exceed the total number of matching items?
3. What best‑practice pattern can developers employ to avoid duplicates or missing items when paging through a live index that may change during the session?