# GraphQL

By default Strapi create REST endpoints for each of your content-types. With the GraphQL plugin, you will be able to add a GraphQL endpoint to fetch and mutate your content.

🤓 Looking for the GraphQL API documentation?

The GraphQL API reference describes queries, mutations and parameters you can use to interact with your API using Strapi's GraphQL plugin.

# Usage

To get started with GraphQL in your application, please install the plugin first. To do that, open your terminal and run the following command:

Then, start your app and open your browser at http://localhost:1337/graphql (opens new window). You should now be able to access the GraphQL Playground that will help you to write your GraphQL queries and mutations.

✏️ NOTE

The GraphQL Playground is enabled by default for both the development and staging environments, but disabled in production environments. Set the playgroundAlways configuration option to true to also enable the GraphQL Playground in production environments (see plugins configuration documentation).

# Configuration

Plugins configuration are defined in the config/plugins.js file. This configuration file can include a graphql.config object to define specific configurations for the GraphQL plugin (see plugins configuration documentation).

Apollo Server (opens new window) options can be set with the graphql.config.apolloServer configuration object. Apollo Server options can be used for instance to enable the tracing feature (opens new window), which is supported by the GraphQL playground to track the response time of each part of your query. From Apollo Server version 3.9 default cache option is cache: 'bounded'. You can change it in the apolloServer configuration. For more information visit Apollo Server Docs (opens new window).

✋ CAUTION

The maximum number of items returned by the response is limited to 100 by default. This value can be changed using the amountLimit configuration option, but should only be changed after careful consideration: a large query can cause a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) and may cause abnormal load on your Strapi server, as well as your database server.

# Shadow CRUD

To simplify and automate the build of the GraphQL schema, we introduced the Shadow CRUD feature. It automatically generates the type definitions, queries, mutations and resolvers based on your models.

Example:

If you've generated an API called Document using the interactive strapi generate CLI or the administration panel, your model looks like this:

// path: ./src/api/[api-name]/content-types/document/schema.json

{
  "kind": "collectionType",
  "collectionName": "documents",
  "info": {
    "singularName": "document",
    "pluralName": "documents",
    "displayName": "document",
    "name": "document"
  },
  "options": {
    "draftAndPublish": true
  },
  "pluginOptions": {},
  "attributes": {
    "name": {
      "type": "string"
    },
    "description": {
      "type": "richtext"
    },
    "locked": {
      "type": "boolean"
    }
  }
}

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Generated GraphQL type and queries

# Document's Type definition
input DocumentFiltersInput {
  name: StringFilterInput
  description: StringFilterInput
  locked: BooleanFilterInput
  createdAt: DateTimeFilterInput
  updatedAt: DateTimeFilterInput
  publishedAt: DateTimeFilterInput
  and: [DocumentFiltersInput]
  or: [DocumentFiltersInput]
  not: DocumentFiltersInput
}

input DocumentInput {
  name: String
  description: String
  locked: Boolean
  createdAt: DateTime
  updatedAt: DateTime
  publishedAt: DateTime
}

type Document {
  name: String
  description: String
  locked: Boolean
  createdAt: DateTime
  updatedAt: DateTime
  publishedAt: DateTime
}

type DocumentEntity {
  id: ID
  attributes: Document
}

type DocumentEntityResponse {
  data: DocumentEntity
}

type DocumentEntityResponseCollection {
  data: [DocumentEntity!]!
  meta: ResponseCollectionMeta!
}

type DocumentRelationResponseCollection {
  data: [DocumentEntity!]!
}

# Queries to retrieve one or multiple restaurants.
type Query  {
  document(id: ID): DocumentEntityResponse
  documents(
    filters: DocumentFiltersInput
    pagination: PaginationArg = {}
    sort: [String] = []
    publicationState: PublicationState = LIVE
):DocumentEntityResponseCollection
}

# Mutations to create, update or delete a restaurant.
type Mutation {
  createDocument(data: DocumentInput!): DocumentEntityResponse
  updateDocument(id: ID!, data: DocumentInput!): DocumentEntityResponse
  deleteDocument(id: ID!): DocumentEntityResponse
}

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# Customization

Strapi provides a programmatic API to customize GraphQL, which allows:

disabling some operations for the Shadow CRUD
using getters to return information about allowed operations
registering and using an extension object to extend the existing schema (e.g. extend types or define custom resolvers, policies and middlewares)

Example of GraphQL customizations

# Disabling operations in the Shadow CRUD

The extension service provided with the GraphQL plugin exposes functions that can be used to disable operations on Content-Types:

Content-type function	Description	Argument type	Possible argument values
`disable()`	Fully disable the Content-Type	-	-
`disableQueries()`	Only disable queries for the Content-Type	-	-
`disableMutations()`	Only disable mutations for the Content-Type	-	-
`disableAction()`	Disable a specific action for the Content-Type	String	One value from the list: `create` `find` `findOne` `update` `delete`
`disableActions()`	Disable specific actions for the Content-Type	Array of Strings	Multiple values from the list: `create` `find` `findOne` `update` `delete`

Actions can also be disabled at the field level, with the following functions:

Field function	Description
`disable()`	Fully disable the field
`disableOutput()`	Disable the output on a field
`disableInput()`	Disable the input on a field
`disableFilters()`	Disable filters input on a field

Examples:

// Disable the 'find' operation on the 'restaurant' content-type in the 'restaurant' API
strapi
  .plugin('graphql')
  .service('extension')
  .shadowCRUD('api::restaurant.restaurant')
  .disableAction('find')

// Disable the 'name' field on the 'document' content-type in the 'document' API
strapi
  .plugin('graphql')
  .service('extension')
  .shadowCRUD('api::document.document')
  .field('name')
  .disable()

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# Using getters

The following getters can be used to retrieve information about operations allowed on content-types:

Content-type getter	Description	Argument type	Possible argument values
`isEnabled()`	Returns whether a content-type is enabled	-	-
`isDisabled()`	Returns whether a content-type is disabled	-	-
`areQueriesEnabled()`	Returns whether queries are enabled on a content-type	-	-
`areQueriesDisabled()`	Returns whether queries are disabled on a content-type	-	-
`areMutationsEnabled()`	Returns whether mutations are enabled on a content-type	-	-
`areMutationsDisabled()`	Returns whether mutations are disabled on a content-type	-	-
`isActionEnabled(action)`	Returns whether the passed `action` is enabled on a content-type	String	One value from the list: `create` `find` `findOne` `update` `delete`
`isActionDisabled(action)`	Returns whether the passed `action` is disabled on a content-type	String	One value from the list: `create` `find` `findOne` `update` `delete`

The following getters can be used to retrieve information about operations allowed on fields:

Field getter	Description
`isEnabled()`	Returns whether a field is enabled
`isDisabled()`	Returns whether a field is disabled
`hasInputEnabled()`	Returns whether a field has input enabled
`hasOutputEnabled()`	Returns whether a field has output enabled
`hasFiltersEnabled()`	Returns whether a field has filtering enabled

# Extending the schema

The schema generated by the Content API can be extended by registering an extension.

This extension, defined either as an object or a function returning an object, will be used by the use() function exposed by the extension service provided with the GraphQL plugin.

The object describing the extension accepts the following parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
`types`	Array	Allows extending the schema types using Nexus (opens new window)-based type definitions
`typeDefs`	String	Allows extending the schema types using GraphQL SDL (opens new window)
`plugins`	Array	Allows extending the schema using Nexus plugins (opens new window)
`resolvers`	Object	Defines custom resolvers
`resolversConfig`	Object	Defines configuration options for the resolvers, such as authorization, policies and middlewares

💡 TIP

The types and plugins parameters are based on Nexus (opens new window). To use them, register the extension as a function that takes nexus as a parameter:

Example:

# Custom configuration for resolvers

A resolver is a GraphQL query or mutation handler (i.e. a function, or a collection of functions, that generate(s) a response for a GraphQL query or mutation). Each field has a default resolver.

When extending the GraphQL schema, the resolversConfig key can be used to define a custom configuration for a resolver, which can include:

authorization configuration with the auth key
policies with the policies key
and middlewares with the middlewares key

# Authorization configuration

By default, the authorization of a GraphQL request is handled by the registered authorization strategy that can be either API token or through the Users & Permissions plugin. The Users & Permissions plugin offers a more granular control.

Authorization with the Users & Permissions plugin

With the Users & Permissions plugin, a GraphQL request is allowed if the appropriate permissions are given.

For instance, if a 'Category' content-type exists and is queried through GraphQL with the Query.categories handler, the request is allowed if the appropriate find permission for the 'Categories' content-type is given.

To query a single category, which is done with the Query.category handler, the request is allowed if the the findOne permission is given.

Please refer to the user guide on how to define permissions with the Users & Permissions plugin.

To change how the authorization is configured, use the resolver configuration defined at resolversConfig.[MyResolverName]. The authorization can be configured:

either with auth: false to fully bypass the authorization system and allow all requests,
or with a scope attribute that accepts an array of strings to define the permissions required to authorize the request.

Examples of authorization configuration

# Policies

Policies can be applied to a GraphQL resolver through the resolversConfig.[MyResolverName].policies key.

The policies key is an array accepting a list of policies, each item in this list being either a reference to an already registered policy or an implementation that is passed directly (see policies configuration documentation).

Policies directly implemented in resolversConfig are functions that take a context object and the strapi instance as arguments. The context object gives access to:

the parent, args, context and info arguments of the GraphQL resolver,
Koa's context (opens new window) with context.http and state (opens new window) with context.state.

Example of a custom GraphQL policy applied to a resolver

# Middlewares

Middlewares can be applied to a GraphQL resolver through the resolversConfig.[MyResolverName].middlewares key.

The middlewares key is an array accepting a list of middlewares, each item in this list being either a reference to an already registered policy or an implementation that is passed directly (see middlewares configuration documentation).

Middlewares directly implemented in resolversConfig can take the GraphQL resolver's parent, args, context and info objects (opens new window) as arguments.

💡 TIP

Middlewares with GraphQL can even act on nested resolvers, which offer a more granular control than with REST.

Examples of custom GraphQL middlewares applied to a resolver

# Usage with the Users & Permissions plugin

The Users & Permissions plugin is an optional plugin that allows protecting the API with a full authentication process.

# Registration

Usually you need to sign up or register before being recognized as a user then perform authorized requests.

Mutation

mutation {
  register(input: { username: "username", email: "email", password: "password" }) {
    jwt
    user {
      username
      email
    }
  }
}

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You should see a new user is created in the Users collection type in your Strapi admin panel.

# Authentication

To perform authorized requests, you must first get a JWT:

Mutation

mutation {
  login(input: { identifier: "email", password: "password" }) {
    jwt
  }
}

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Then on each request, send along an Authorization header in the form of { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_JWT_GOES_HERE" }. This can be set in the HTTP Headers section of your GraphQL Playground.

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