Many API requests take a deviceQuery object to target a single device or a group of devices. These requests will execute in the background. After issuing the request a jobTraceId will immediately be returned to the caller. This ID can then be used in a jobTraceStatus request to fetch details of the ongoing or finished job.
See the Set Device Configuration document for a concrete example of the process of issuing a request with a deviceQuery, getting a jobTraceId and then issuing jobTraceStatus requests to view the job status.
All other API calls that include a deviceQuery parameter will work the same and provide a jobTraceId.