npm package: @loopback/graphql
Description: LoopBack's graphql integration
Author: IBM Corp. and LoopBack contributors
Latest version: 0.13.1

# @loopback/graphql

This module provides integration with [GraphQL](https://graphql.org/) using
[type-graphql](https://typegraphql.com/).

{% include note.html content="
The `@loopback/graphql` module provides first-class GraphQL support in
LoopBack 4. For the general OpenAPI REST API wrapper, see
[Using OpenAPI-to-GraphQL](https://loopback.io/doc/en/lb4/Using-openapi-to-graphql.html)" %}

![type-graphql](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/loopbackio/loopback-next/master/extensions/graphql/type-graphql.png)

## Stability: ⚠️Experimental⚠️

> Experimental packages provide early access to advanced or experimental
> functionality to get community feedback. Such modules are published to npm
> using `0.x.y` versions. Their APIs and functionality may be subject to
> breaking changes in future releases.

## Installation

```sh
npm install --save @loopback/graphql
```

## Basic Use

Let's assume we build an application to expose GraphQL endpoints similar as
[@loopback/example-graphql](https://github.com/loopbackio/loopback-next/tree/master/examples/graphql).

```ts
export class MyApplication extends BootMixin(RestApplication) {
  constructor(config: ApplicationConfig) {
    super(config);
    this.projectRoot = __dirname;
    this.component(GraphQLComponent);
    this.configure(GraphQLBindings.GRAPHQL_SERVER).to({asMiddlewareOnly: true});
  }
}
```

## Configure GraphQLServer

This package can be used in two flavors:

- As a server for LoopBack applications

```ts
import {Application} from '@loopback/core';
import {GraphQLServer} from '@loopback/graphql';

const app = new Application();
const serverBinding = app.server(GraphQLServer);
app.configure(serverBinding.key).to({host: '127.0.0.1', port: 0});
server = await app.getServer(GraphQLServer);
// ...
await app.start();
```

- As a middleware for LoopBack REST applications

```ts
import {BootMixin} from '@loopback/boot';
import {RepositoryMixin} from '@loopback/repository';
import {RestApplication} from '@loopback/rest';
import {ApplicationConfig} from '@loopback/core';
import {GraphQLComponent, GraphQLBindings} from '@loopback/graphql';

export class GraphqlDemoApplication extends BootMixin(
  RepositoryMixin(RestApplication),
) {
  constructor(options: ApplicationConfig = {}) {
    super(options);

    this.component(GraphQLComponent);
    this.configure(GraphQLBindings.GRAPHQL_SERVER).to({
      asMiddlewareOnly: true,
    });
    const server = this.getSync(GraphQLBindings.GRAPHQL_SERVER);
    this.expressMiddleware('middleware.express.GraphQL', server.expressApp);

    // ...

    // Customize @loopback/boot Booter Conventions here
    this.bootOptions = {
      graphqlResolvers: {
        // Customize ControllerBooter Conventions here
        dirs: ['graphql-resolvers'],
        extensions: ['.js'],
        nested: true,
      },
    };
  }
}
```

The GraphQLServer configuration can also be passed in from the application
config, such as:

```ts
const app = new Application({
  graphql: {
    asMiddlewareOnly: true,
  },
});
```

## Add GraphQL types

The `@loopback/graphql` packages supports GraphQL schemas to be defined using
only classes and decorators from `type-graphql`.

```ts
import {Entity, model, property} from '@loopback/repository';
import {field, Float, ID, Int, objectType} from '@loopback/graphql';

@objectType({description: 'Object representing cooking recipe'})
@model({settings: {strict: false}})
export class Recipe extends Entity {
  @field(type => ID)
  @property({id: true})
  id: string;

  @field()
  @property()
  title: string;

  @field(type => String, {
    nullable: true,
    deprecationReason: 'Use `description` field instead',
  })
  get specification(): string | undefined {
    return this.description;
  }

  @field({
    nullable: true,
    description: 'The recipe description with preparation info',
  })
  @property()
  description?: string;

  @field(type => [Int])
  ratings: number[];

  @field()
  @property()
  creationDate: Date;

  @field(type => Int)
  protected numberInCollection: number;

  @field(type => Int)
  ratingsCount: number;

  @field(type => [String])
  ingredients: string[];

  @field(type => Int)
  protected get ingredientsLength(): number {
    return this.ingredients.length;
  }

  @field(type => Float, {nullable: true})
  get averageRating(): number | null {
    const ratingsCount = this.ratings.length;
    if (ratingsCount === 0) {
      return null;
    }
    const ratingsSum = this.ratings.reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0);
    return ratingsSum / ratingsCount;
  }
}
```

Please note that we also use `@model` and `property` decorators to define how
the entities being persisted with LoopBack repositories.

## Add GraphQL resolver classes

To serve GraphQL, an application will provide resolver classes to group
query/mutation/resolver functions, similarly as how REST API endpoints are
exposed via controller classes.

We use TypeScript decorators to provide metadata about individual resolvers. See
[type-graphql docs](https://typegraphql.com/) for more details.

Let's add `recipe-resolver.ts` to `src/graphql-resolvers` so that it can be
automatically discovered and loaded by the `@loopback/graphql` component.

Please note that we re-export `type-graphql` decorators as camel case variants,
such as `query` instead of `Query`. It's recommended that your applications
import such decorators from `@loopback/graphql`.

```ts
import {service} from '@loopback/core';
import {repository} from '@loopback/repository';
import {
  arg,
  fieldResolver,
  Int,
  mutation,
  query,
  resolver,
  root,
  ResolverInterface,
} from '@loopback/graphql';
import {RecipeInput} from '../graphql-types/recipe-input';
import {Recipe} from '../graphql-types/recipe-type';
import {RecipeRepository} from '../repositories';
import {RecipeService} from '../services/recipe.service';

@resolver(of => Recipe)
export class RecipeResolver implements ResolverInterface<Recipe> {
  constructor(
    // Inject an instance of RecipeRepository
    @repository('RecipeRepository')
    private readonly recipeRepo: RecipeRepository,
    // Inject an instance of RecipeService
    @service(RecipeService) private readonly recipeService: RecipeService,
  ) {}

  // Map to a GraphQL query to get recipe by id
  @query(returns => Recipe, {nullable: true})
  async recipe(@arg('recipeId') recipeId: string) {
    return this.recipeRepo.getOne(recipeId);
  }

  // Map to a GraphQL query to list all recipes
  @query(returns => [Recipe])
  async recipes(): Promise<Recipe[]> {
    return this.recipeRepo.getAll();
  }

  // Map to a GraphQL mutation to add a new recipe
  @mutation(returns => Recipe)
  async addRecipe(@arg('recipe') recipe: RecipeInput): Promise<Recipe> {
    return this.recipeRepo.add(recipe);
  }

  // Map to a calculated GraphQL field - `numberInCollection`
  @fieldResolver()
  async numberInCollection(@root() recipe: Recipe): Promise<number> {
    const index = await this.recipeRepo.findIndex(recipe);
    return index + 1;
  }

  // Map to a calculated GraphQL field - `ratingsCount`
  @fieldResolver()
  ratingsCount(
    @root() recipe: Recipe,
    @arg('minRate', type => Int, {defaultValue: 0.0})
    minRate: number,
  ): number {
    return this.recipeService.ratingsCount(recipe, minRate);
  }
}
```

## Use LoopBack dependency injections in resolver classes

All of LoopBack decorators for dependency injection , such as `@inject`,
`@service`, `@repository`, and `@config`, can be used with resolver classes.

```ts
import {service} from '@loopback/core';

@resolver(of => Recipe)
export class RecipeResolver implements ResolverInterface<Recipe> {
  constructor(
    // constructor injection of service
    @repository('RecipeRepository')
    private readonly recipeRepo: RecipeRepository,
    @service(RecipeService) private readonly recipeService: RecipeService,
    // It's possible to inject the resolver data
    @inject(GraphQLBindings.RESOLVER_DATA) private resolverData: ResolverData,
  ) {}
}
```

## Discover and load GraphQL resolvers

The `GraphQLComponent` contributes a booter that discovers and registers
resolver classes from `src/graphql-resolvers` during `app.boot()`.

## Propagate context data

The `GraphQLServer` allows you to propagate context from Express to resolvers.

### Register a GraphQL context resolver

The GraphQL context object can be built/enhanced by the context resolver. The
original value is `{req: Request, res: Response}` that represents the Express
request and response object.

```ts
export class GraphqlDemoApplication extends BootMixin(
  RepositoryMixin(RestApplication),
) {
  constructor(options: ApplicationConfig = {}) {
    super(options);

    // ...
    // It's possible to register a graphql context resolver
    this.bind(GraphQLBindings.GRAPHQL_CONTEXT_RESOLVER).to(context => {
      // Add your custom logic here to produce a context from incoming ExpressContext
      return {...context};
    });
  }
  // ...
}
```

### Access the GraphQL context inside a resolver

```ts
@resolver(of => Recipe)
export class RecipeResolver implements ResolverInterface<Recipe> {
  constructor(
    // constructor injection of service
    @repository('RecipeRepository')
    private readonly recipeRepo: RecipeRepository,
    @service(RecipeService) private readonly recipeService: RecipeService,
    // It's possible to inject the resolver data
    @inject(GraphQLBindings.RESOLVER_DATA) private resolverData: ResolverData,
  ) {
    // `this.resolverData.context` is the GraphQL context
  }
  // ...
}
```

### Set up authorization checker

We can customize the `authChecker` for
[TypeGraphQL Authorization](https://typegraphql.com/docs/authorization.html).

```ts
export class GraphqlDemoApplication extends BootMixin(
  RepositoryMixin(RestApplication),
) {
  constructor(options: ApplicationConfig = {}) {
    super(options);

    // ...
    // It's possible to register a graphql auth checker
    this.bind(GraphQLBindings.GRAPHQL_AUTH_CHECKER).to(
      (resolverData, roles) => {
        // Use resolverData and roles for authorization
        return true;
      },
    );
  }
  // ...
}
```

The resolver classes and graphql types can be decorated with `@authorized` to
enforce authorization.

```ts
@resolver(of => Recipe)
export class RecipeResolver implements ResolverInterface<Recipe> {
  constructor() {} // ...

  @query(returns => Recipe, {nullable: true})
  @authorized('owner') // Authorized against `owner` role
  async recipe(@arg('recipeId') recipeId: string) {
    return this.recipeRepo.getOne(recipeId);
  }
}
```

## Register GraphQL middleware

We can register one or more
[TypeGraphQL Middleware](https://typegraphql.com/docs/middlewares.html) as
follows:

```ts
export class GraphqlDemoApplication extends BootMixin(
  RepositoryMixin(RestApplication),
) {
  constructor(options: ApplicationConfig = {}) {
    super(options);

    const server = this.getSync(GraphQLBindings.GRAPHQL_SERVER);
    this.expressMiddleware('middleware.express.GraphQL', server.expressApp);

    // Register a GraphQL middleware
    server.middleware((resolverData, next) => {
      // It's invoked for each field resolver, query and mutation operations
      return next();
    });
  }
}
```

## Export GraphQL Schema as a file

Exporting the generated GraphQL schema file can be done by calling
`exportGraphQLSchema` on the `GraphQLServer`:

```ts
import {Application} from '@loopback/core';
import {GraphQLServer} from '@loopback/graphql';

const app = new Application();
const serverBinding = app.server(GraphQLServer);
app.configure(serverBinding.key).to({host: '127.0.0.1', port: 0});
server = await app.getServer(GraphQLServer);
// set up your resolvers
await server.exportGraphQLSchema(pathToFile);
```

For applications using `GraphQLComponent` to discover resolvers, exporting the
schema file is similar to `exportOpenApiSpec` on `RestServer`:

```ts
// export-graphql-schema.ts, sibling to application.ts
import {MyApplication, MyApplicationConfig} from './application';

async function exportGraphQLSchema(): Promise<void> {
  const config: MyApplicationConfig = {
    rest: {
      port: +(process.env.PORT ?? 3000),
      host: process.env.HOST ?? 'localhost',
    },
  };
  const outFile = process.argv[2] ?? '';
  const app = new MyApplication(config);
  await app.boot();
  const server = await app.getServer(GraphQLServer);
  await server.exportGraphQLSchema(outFile);
}

exportGraphQLSchema().catch(err => {
  console.error('Fail to export GraphQL spec from the application.', err);
  process.exit(1);
});
```

## Try it out

Check out
[@loopback/example-graphql](https://github.com/loopbackio/loopback-next/tree/master/examples/graphql).

## Contributions

- [Guidelines](https://github.com/loopbackio/loopback-next/blob/master/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md)
- [Join the team](https://github.com/loopbackio/loopback-next/issues/110)

## Tests

Run `npm test` from the root folder.

## Contributors

See
[all contributors](https://github.com/loopbackio/loopback-next/graphs/contributors).

## License

MIT