GraphQL

Code

Many different programming languages support GraphQL. This list contains some of the more popular server-side frameworks, client libraries, services, and other useful stuff.

Server Libraries #

In addition to the GraphQL reference implementations in JavaScript, server libraries include:

C# / .NET #

Clojure #

alumbra #

A set of reusable GraphQL components for Clojure conforming to the data structures given in alumbra.spec.

(require '[alumbra.core :as alumbra]
         '[claro.data :as data])

(def schema
  "type Person { name: String!, friends: [Person!]! }
   type QueryRoot { person(id: ID!): Person, me: Person! }
   schema { query: QueryRoot }")

(defrecord Person [id]
  data/Resolvable
  (resolve! [_ _]
    {:name    (str "Person #" id)
     :friends (map ->Person  (range (inc id) (+ id 3)))}))

(def QueryRoot
  {:person (map->Person {})
   :me     (map->Person {:id 0})})

(def app
  (alumbra/handler
    {:schema schema
     :query  QueryRoot}))

(defonce my-graphql-server
  (aleph.http/start-server #'app {:port 3000}))
$ curl -XPOST "http://0:3000" -H'Content-Type: application/json' -d'{
  "query": "{ me { name, friends { name } } }"
}'
{"data":{"me":{"name":"Person #0","friends":[{"name":"Person #1"},{"name":"Person #2"}]}}}

graphql-clj #

A Clojure library that provides a GraphQL implementation.

Code that executes a hello world GraphQL query with graphql-clj:


(def schema "type QueryRoot {
    hello: String
  }")

(defn resolver-fn [type-name field-name]
  (get-in {"QueryRoot" {"hello" (fn [context parent & rest]
                              "Hello world!")}}
          [type-name field-name]))

(require '[graphql-clj.executor :as executor])

(executor/execute nil schema resolver-fn "{ hello }")
  • lacinia: A full implementation of the GraphQL specification that aims to maintain external compliance with the specification.

Elixir #

Erlang #

Go #

Groovy #

gorm-graphql #

Core Library - The GORM GraphQL library provides functionality to generate a GraphQL schema based on your GORM entities. In addition to mapping domain classes to a GraphQL schema, the core library also provides default implementations of "data fetchers" to query, update, and delete data through executions of the schema.

Grails Plugin - In a addition to the Core Library, the GORM GraphQL Grails Plugin:

  • Provides a controller to receive and respond to GraphQL requests through HTTP, based on their guidelines.
  • Generates the schema at startup with spring bean configuration to make it easy to extend.
  • Includes a GraphiQL browser enabled by default in development. The browser is accessible at /graphql/browser.
  • Overrides the default data binder to use the data binding provided by Grails
  • Provides a trait to make integration testing of your GraphQL endpoints easier

See the documentation for more information.

GQL #

GQL is a Groovy library for GraphQL

Java #

graphql-java #

A Java library for building GraphQL APIs.

Code that executes a hello world GraphQL query with graphql-java:

import graphql.ExecutionResult;
import graphql.GraphQL;
import graphql.schema.GraphQLSchema;
import graphql.schema.StaticDataFetcher;
import graphql.schema.idl.RuntimeWiring;
import graphql.schema.idl.SchemaGenerator;
import graphql.schema.idl.SchemaParser;
import graphql.schema.idl.TypeDefinitionRegistry;

import static graphql.schema.idl.RuntimeWiring.newRuntimeWiring;

public class HelloWorld {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String schema = "type Query{hello: String} schema{query: Query}";

        SchemaParser schemaParser = new SchemaParser();
        TypeDefinitionRegistry typeDefinitionRegistry = schemaParser.parse(schema);

        RuntimeWiring runtimeWiring = newRuntimeWiring()
                .type("Query", builder -> builder.dataFetcher("hello", new StaticDataFetcher("world")))
                .build();

        SchemaGenerator schemaGenerator = new SchemaGenerator();
        GraphQLSchema graphQLSchema = schemaGenerator.makeExecutableSchema(typeDefinitionRegistry, runtimeWiring);

        GraphQL build = GraphQL.newGraphQL(graphQLSchema).build();
        ExecutionResult executionResult = build.execute("{hello}");

        System.out.println(executionResult.getData().toString());
        // Prints: {hello=world}
    }
}

See the graphql-java docs for more information on setup.

JavaScript #

GraphQL.js (github) (npm) #

The reference implementation of the GraphQL specification, designed for running GraphQL in a Node.js environment.

To run a GraphQL.js hello world script from the command line:

npm install graphql

Then run node hello.js with this code in hello.js:

var { graphql, buildSchema } = require('graphql');

var schema = buildSchema(`
  type Query {
    hello: String
  }
`);

var root = { hello: () => 'Hello world!' };

graphql(schema, '{ hello }', root).then((response) => {
  console.log(response);
});

express-graphql (github) (npm) #

The reference implementation of a GraphQL API server over an Express webserver. You can use this to run GraphQL in conjunction with a regular Express webserver, or as a standalone GraphQL server.

To run an express-graphql hello world server:

npm install express express-graphql graphql

Then run node server.js with this code in server.js:

var express = require('express');
var graphqlHTTP = require('express-graphql');
var { buildSchema } = require('graphql');

var schema = buildSchema(`
  type Query {
    hello: String
  }
`);

var root = { hello: () => 'Hello world!' };

var app = express();
app.use('/graphql', graphqlHTTP({
  schema: schema,
  rootValue: root,
  graphiql: true,
}));
app.listen(4000, () => console.log('Now browse to localhost:4000/graphql'));

apollo-server (github) (npm) #

A set of GraphQL server packages from Apollo that work with various Node.js HTTP frameworks (Express, Connect, Hapi, Koa etc).

To run a hello world server with apollo-server-express:

npm install apollo-server-express body-parser express graphql graphql-tools

Then run node server.js with this code in server.js:

var express = require('express');
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
var { graphqlExpress, graphiqlExpress } = require('apollo-server-express');
var { makeExecutableSchema } = require('graphql-tools');

var typeDefs = [`
type Query {
  hello: String
}

schema {
  query: Query
}`];

var resolvers = {
  Query: {
    hello(root) {
      return 'world';
    }
  }
};

var schema = makeExecutableSchema({typeDefs, resolvers});
var app = express();
app.use('/graphql', bodyParser.json(), graphqlExpress({schema}));
app.use('/graphiql', graphiqlExpress({endpointURL: '/graphql'}));
app.listen(4000, () => console.log('Now browse to localhost:4000/graphiql'));

Apollo Server also supports all Node.js HTTP server frameworks: Express, Connect, HAPI and Koa.

PHP #

  • graphql-php: A PHP port of GraphQL reference implementation
  • graphql-relay-php: A library to help construct a graphql-php server supporting react-relay.

Python #

Graphene (github) #

A Python library for building GraphQL APIs.

To run a Graphene hello world script:

pip install graphene

Then run python hello.py with this code in hello.py:

import graphene

class Query(graphene.ObjectType):
  hello = graphene.String()

  def resolve_hello(self, args, context, info):
    return 'Hello world!'

schema = graphene.Schema(query=Query)
result = schema.execute('{ hello }')
print(result.data['hello'])

There are also nice bindings for Relay, Django, SQLAlchemy, and Google App Engine.

Ruby #

graphql-ruby #

A Ruby library for building GraphQL APIs.

To run a hello world script with graphql-ruby:

gem install graphql

Then run ruby hello.rb with this code in hello.rb:

require 'graphql'

QueryType = GraphQL::ObjectType.define do
  name 'Query'
  field :hello do
    type types.String
    resolve -> (obj, args, ctx) { 'Hello world!' }
  end
end

Schema = GraphQL::Schema.define do
  query QueryType
end

puts Schema.execute('{ hello }')

There are also nice bindings for Relay and Rails.

Scala #

Sangria (github): A Scala GraphQL library that supports Relay. #

An example of a hello world GraphQL schema and query with sangria:

import sangria.schema._
import sangria.execution._
import sangria.macros._

val QueryType = ObjectType("Query", fields[Unit, Unit](
  Field("hello", StringType, resolve = _ ⇒ "Hello world!")
))

val schema = Schema(QueryType)

val query = graphql"{ hello }"

Executor.execute(schema, query) map println

GraphQL Clients #

C# / .NET #

Go #

  • graphql: A GraphQL client implementation in Go.

Java / Android #

  • Apollo Android: A strongly-typed, caching GraphQL client for Android, written in Java.

JavaScript #

  • Relay (github) (npm): Facebook's framework for building React applications that talk to a GraphQL backend.
  • Apollo Client (github): A powerful JavaScript GraphQL client, designed to work well with React, React Native, Angular 2, or just plain JavaScript.
  • graphql-request: A simple and flexible JavaScript GraphQL client that works in all JavaScript environments (the browser, Node.js, and React Native) - basically a lightweight wrapper around fetch.
  • Lokka: A simple JavaScript GraphQL client that works in all JavaScript environments (the browser, Node.js, and React Native).
  • nanogql: Tiny GraphQL client library using template strings.

Swift / Objective-C iOS #

  • Apollo iOS (github): A GraphQL client for iOS that returns results as query-specific Swift types, and integrates with Xcode to show your Swift source and GraphQL side by side, with inline validation errors.
  • GraphQL iOS: An Objective-C GraphQL client for iOS.

Python #

  • GQL: A GraphQL client in Python.

Tools #

Services #

  • Apollo Engine: A service for monitoring the performance and usage of your GraphQL backend.
  • GraphCMS: A BaaS (Backend as a Service) that sets you up with a GraphQL backend as well as tools for content editors to work with the stored data.
  • Graphcool (github): A BaaS (Backend as a Service) providing a GraphQL backend for your applications with a powerful web ui for managing your database and stored data.
  • Reindex (github): A BaaS (Backend as a Service) that sets you up with a GraphQL backend targeted at applications using React and Relay.
  • Scaphold (github): A BaaS (Backend as a Service) that sets you up with a GraphQL backend for your applications with many different integrations.
  • Tipe (github): A SaaS (Software as a Service) content management system that allows you to create your content with powerful editing tools and access it from anywhere with a GraphQL or REST API.

More Stuff #

  • awesome-graphql: A fantastic community maintained collection of libraries, resources, and more.