I was using SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS and SELECT FOUND_ROWS();
But this has been deprecated https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/information-functions.html#function_found-rows
The recommended way now is first to query with limit and then again without it selecting count(*).
My query is a bit complex and joins a couple of tables with a large number of records, which makes each select take up to 4 seconds, so my process now takes double the time compared to as I just keep using found rows.
How can I go back to just running the select a single time and still getting the total number of rows found without the limit?
Select count(*) from (select …) ? See if the query optimizer pipelines that.
Maybe I misunderstand what you are trying to do.
The OP wants the paginated table data and the count. With a single query execution.