@apollo/core-schema

typescript library for processing core schemas

to install via npm:

npm install @apollo/core-schema

to build from source:

npm install
npm test

quickly

parse a schema

import { Schema, gql } from '@apollo/core-schema'

const schema = Schema.basic(gql`${"example.graphql"}
  @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v1.0")
  @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/inaccessible/v0.1")

  type User @inaccessible {
    id: ID!
  }
`);

expect([...schema]).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
  Array [
    <>[GraphQL request] 👉@link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v1.0"),
    <#User>[GraphQL request] 👉type User @inaccessible {,
  ]
`);

expect([...schema.scope]).toMatchInlineSnapshot()

expect([...schema.refs]).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
  Array [
    <>[example.graphql] 👉@link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v1.0"),
    <https://specs.apollo.dev/link/v1.0#@>[example.graphql] 👉@link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v1.0"),
    <https://specs.apollo.dev/link/v1.0#@>[example.graphql] 👉@link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/inaccessible/v0.1"),
    <#User>[example.graphql] 👉type User @inaccessible {,
    <https://specs.apollo.dev/inaccessible/v0.1#@>[example.graphql] type User 👉@inaccessible {,
    <#ID>[example.graphql] id: 👉ID!,
  ]
`);

look for directives by their global graph position

import {Schema, Defs, GRef, directives} from '@apollo/core-schema'

const schema = Schema.basic(gql `
  extend schema
    @link(url: "https://spec.example.io/hidden/v1.0", as: "private")

  type Product
  type Admin @private
  type User
`)

const HIDDEN = GRef.rootDirective('https://spec.example.io/hidden/v1.0')
function *hiddenDefs(defs: Defs) {
  for (const def of defs) {
    for (const directive of directives(def)) {
      if (directive.gref === HIDDEN) {
        yield def
        break
      }
    }
  }
}

expect([...hiddenDefs(schema)].map(def => def.name))
  .toEqual(['Admin'])

lookup names in a core schema

get a Schema from a document with Schema.from and then look up document names via schema.scope:

import {Schema, GRef, ref} from '@apollo/core-schema'

const doc = Schema.from(gql `
  extend schema
    @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/link/v1.0")
    @link(url: "https://example.com/someSpec/v1.0")
    @link(url: "https://spec.example.io/another/v1.0", as: "renamed")
`)
expect(doc.scope.lookup('@link')).toBe(
  GRef.rootDirective('https://specs.apollo.dev/link/v1.0')
)
expect(doc.scope.lookup('renamed__Type'))).toBe(
  GRef.named('Type', "https://spec.example.io/another/v1.0")
)

build a document with implicit scope

it's often useful to interpret a document with a set of builtin links already in scope.

Scope.from takes a second argument—the so-called frame—to enable this:

const SUBGRAPH_BUILTINS = Schema.from(gql `
  extend schema
    @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/link/v1.0")
    @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v1.0",
          import: "@key @requires @provides @external")
`)

function subgraph(document: DocumentNode) {
  return Schema.from(document, SUBGRAPH_BUILTINS)
}

subgraph(gql `
  # @key in the next line will be linked to:
  #
  #   https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v1.0#@key
  type User @key(field: "id") {
    id: ID!
  }
`)

subgraph(gql `
  # this will shadow the built-in link to @key:
  extend schema @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0",
    import: "@key")

  # @key in the next line will be linked to:
  #
  #   https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0#@key
  type User @key(field: "id") {
    id: ID!
  }`)

iterate over links from a document

function linksFed2(doc: Schema) {
  for (const link of doc.scope) {
    if (link.gref.graph.satisfies(LinkUrl.from("https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0"))) {
      // child links federation 2.0
      return true
    }  
  }
  return false
}

expect(
  linksFed2(Schema.basicFrom(gql `
    extend schema @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0")
  `))
).toBe(true)

expect(
  linksFed2(Schema.basicFrom(gql `
    extend schema @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v1.9")
  `))
).toBe(false)

expect(
  linksFed2(Schema.basicFrom(gql ``))
).toBe(false)

standardize names within a document

perhaps you want to scan directives in a document without having to worry about whether the user has renamed them.

the schema.standardize(...urls) method can help:

const subgraph = Schema.basic(gql `
  @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0",
        # what weird naming choices!
        import: """
          @key      (as @fkey)
          @requires (as @frequires)
          @provides (as @fprovides)
          @tag      (as @ftag)
        """)

  type User @fkey(fields: "id") {
    id: ID! @ftag(name: "hi") @tag(name: "my tag")
  }

  # note: this is our *own* @tag directive, which looks
  # just like but means something different than
  # federation's @tag:
  directive @tag(name: string) on FIELD_DEFINITION
`);

expect(
  raw(
    // standardize takes LinkUrls and ensures that all references to that schema
    // are prefixed with its standard name
    subgraph.standardize("https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0").print()
  )
).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
  extend schema @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/link/v1.0") @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/id/v1.0") @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0")

  type User @federation__key(fields: "id") {
    id: ID! @federation__tag(name: "hi") @tag(name: "my tag")
  }

  directive @tag(name: string) on FIELD_DEFINITION
`);

motivation

this library exists to help you read and manipulate core schemas.

background

core schemas can reference elements from one another.

for example, this schema references federation 2.0 and uses the @key directive from it:

extend schema
  @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0")

type User @federation__key(fields: "id") {
  id: ID!
}

here, we link the federation spec by its url. this links the name federation to the url https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0, instructing core-aware processors that identifiers like federation__FieldSet and @federation__key are defined by https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0.

@link inferred the name federation (and also the version 2.0) from the url. you can also set the name explicitly:

extend schema
  @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0", as: fedv2)

type User @fedv2__key(fields: "id") {
  id: ID!
}

these namespaced names can get annoying, so @link also provides an import argument, which links unprefixed names to remote definitions:

extend schema
  @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0",
        import: "@key")

type User @key(fields: "id") {
  id: ID!
}

the lets us fix name conflicts. for example, say i have this schema:

type User @key(column: "id") {
  id: ID!
}

directive @key(column: string) on OBJECT

now say i want to make this schema a federation subgraph. federation already defines a @key directive; it will conflict with my own @key directive, which is unrelated.

with @link, i can give federation's @key directive any name i want, avoiding the conflict:

extend schema
  @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0",
        import: "@fedKey: @key")

type User @fedKey(fields: "id") @key(column: "id") {
  id: ID!
}

directive @key(column: string) on OBJECT

note that this also works for the @link directive itself:

extend schema
  @coreLink(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/link/v1.0", as: coreLink)
  @coreLink(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0",
        import: "@fedKey: @key")

compilation

the examples above are not valid GraphQL schemas because they do not contain definitions of all the elements they name. specifically, they don't contain definitions of the federation directives, nor of @link itself. if you feed them to a tool which expects a valid GraphQL schema, that tool will break.

it seems like we should be able to fix this. @link strongly resembles an import statement—its existence seems to imply some compilation process which can somehow look up the relevant definitions and insert them into the document.

this library provides such a mechanism. along the way, it provides a framework for working with global graph definitions—constructing schemas out of them, copying them from one document to another, and so on.

the compiler's problem

take this schema again:

extend schema
  @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0",
        import: "@fedKey: @key")

type User @fedKey(fields: "id") {
  id: ID!
}

the compiler has to look at this schema and insert definitions for any elements which are referenced but not defined in the document. say we have an atlas with one schema in it:

extend schema
  # @id is @link's sister, specifying this schema's
  # position within the global graph
  @id(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0")

directive @key(fields: FieldSet!) on OBJECT
scalar FieldSet

the compiler needs to copy the definition for @key into the document. and then it also needs to copy the definition for FieldSet, since @key references FieldSet. and when it inserts these definitions into the document, it needs to change their names to fit the namespace of the document. core schemas can transitively @link other core schemas, so this may involve adding @links to other schemas as well.

this library exposes an editing model designed to make this tricky task—and others like it—much easier.

editing model

the basic approach is:

1. read a schema and construct its scope by examining its @link directives. the scope manages the namespace—it is able to look at any definition or reference in the document and associate it with a global graph position (a url, essentially). the scope is completely unconcerned with whether a given element has a definition within the document—its only job is to associate names with urls.
2. when copying nodes out of a document, annotate those nodes and their descendants with their global graph positions. we call this process detachment or denormalization (because the metadata carried by the @link directives has been denormalized into the entire tree).
3. move definitions around as needed without worrying about namespaces
4. before emitting a finished document, collect all its references, generate appropriate @link headers, and renormalize all its nodes, setting their names as appropriate.

the process of denormalizing and renormalizing nodes is mostly transparent.

in practice

you can construct a Schema from a GraphQL document like so:

import {Schema, gql} from '@apollo/core-schema'

const schema = Schema.from(gql `
  extend schema
    @id(url: "https://my/schema")
    @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/link/v1.0")
    @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation", import: "@key")
    @link(url: "https://myorg.internal/future")

  type User @key(fields: "id") @future
`)

Schemas are iterable, yielding each of the definitions in the document:

const defs = [...schema]

Schemas always yield detached subtrees. definitions and references in a detached subtree have a .gref property, which locates the node within the global graph:

import {GRef} from '@apollo/core-schema'

expect(defs[defs.length - 1].gref).toBe(
  GRef.named('User', 'https://my/schema')
)

(an "gref" is an "href" for the "g"raph).

you can insert detached nodes into the document using whatever mechanism:

// helper to create a detached @tag directive
function $tag(name: string) {
  return {
    kind: Kind.DIRECTIVE,
    name: "tag",
    arguments: [{
      name: { kind: Kind.NAME, value: "name" },
      value: { kind: Kind.STRING, value: name }
    }],
    gref: GRef.rootDirective("https://specs.apollo.dev/tag/v0.1")
  }
])

// replace @future with @tag(name: "future")
const newSchema = schema.mapDoc(schema =>
  visit(schema.document, {
    Directive(node) {
      if (!hasRef(node)) return
      if (node.gref === GRef.rootDirective("https://myorg.internal/future")) {
        // replace @future with @tag(name: "future")
        return $tag("future")
      }
    }
  }))

finally, we can call compile to renormalize everything and ensure the appropriate @link headers are present:

return newSchema.compile()

schema.compile() takes an optional argument, an atlas from which it will try to fill any definitions which are referenced but not present in the document. atlas can be any iterable over detached definitions. for example, it can be another Schema:

const tagSchema = Schema.basic(gql`
  @id(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/tag/v0.1")
  directive @tag(name: string) repeatable on OBJECT
`)
return newSchema.compile(tagSchema)

you can use the Atlas class to join multiple schemas together into an atlas.

design principles

AST-focused

this library takes an AST-focused approach to working with schemas.

this is nice because the AST can represent many situations which cannot be represented with a GraphQLSchema. for example, schemas which do not contain all their definitions (a principle motivation for this library!) cannot be represented in the GraphQL* class structure. thus, we just don't try: this library never calls buildSchema, nor do we touch execution-focused classes like GraphQLSchema.

additionally, working with the AST gives us the ability to make small changes to the document without radically changing the structure. by default, operations implemented here try to make minimal changes to the document, preserving its structure as well as possible. alas, limitations in the graphql parser mean that we cannot currently preserve comments.

finally, AST nodes are given a source position by the parser and retain that position even across complex transforms. this helps with error reporting, and would also make it relatively easy to generate sourcemaps, though we do not currently do this.

pure and immutable

essentially this whole library is implemented as pure functions on immutable data structures, starting with ASTNodes (which we treat as immutable). expensive operations are memoized.

lazy

a consequence of the pure/immutable/memoized design is that we generally do not compute anything until we need it. for example, Schema.from does not even scan the document's @links and construct a scope until schema.scope is actually used. similarly, nodes are not denormalized until they are accessed.

canonized value types

a few types—notably GRef, LinkUrl, and Version—are canonized. that is, they can only be created via a memoized function, which ensures that two equivalent instances will always be the same instance:

expect(LinkUrl.from('https://specs/example/?extraneous&stuff&ignored'))
  .toBe(LinkUrl.from('https://specs/example'))

these are effectively value types, and they can be (and are) used e.g. as keys in Maps.