Incremental Exports:
I query at a certain time for all records which have changed since a specific time. I would personally use the max updated_at timestamp in my database.
https://developer.zendesk.com/rest_api/docs/support/incremental_export
Search:
I can query a certain endpoint/table for all tickets which have been updated since the max updated_at timestamp in my database.
https://developer.zendesk.com/rest_api/docs/support/search
path='/api/v2/search.json', query='query=type:ticket updated>=2019-06-10T00:00:00Z'
It seems like both of these methods achieve the same goal, but I want to be certain that I choose the right one and that there are no caveats or issues I will run into later.
I assume that if I keep track of the max update timestamp that I have already retrieved, then I can always pull new/changed records >= from that timestamp (and only have minor duplication that I need to address from records with the exact same timestamp). Any suggestions?
The main difference between Search and Incremental Export is Query.
But according to you start_time in Incremental Export and country=US&toll_free=true in Search both are same but actually NOT.
Because query is checking the availability of something, which is actually performing by any search query but in start_time that is not query because you are just pointing a starting point you have no concern what the values is coming. But in query you have concerns, because you want "That is the value which I want"
Hope so you are getting my point and clearing your doubt.