graphql-request

Minimal GraphQL client supporting Node and browsers for scripts or simple apps

Features

• Most simple & lightweight GraphQL client
• Promise-based API (works with async / await)
• Typescript support
• Isomorphic (works with Node / browsers)

Install

npm add graphql-request graphql

Quickstart

Send a GraphQL query with a single line of code. ▶️ Try it out.

import { request, gql } from 'graphql-request'

const query = gql`
  {
    Movie(title: "Inception") {
      releaseDate
      actors {
        name
      }
    }
  }
`

request('https://api.graph.cool/simple/v1/movies', query).then((data) => console.log(data))

Usage

import { request, GraphQLClient } from 'graphql-request'

// Run GraphQL queries/mutations using a static function
request(endpoint, query, variables).then((data) => console.log(data))

// ... or create a GraphQL client instance to send requests
const client = new GraphQLClient(endpoint, { headers: {} })
client.request(query, variables).then((data) => console.log(data))

Examples

Authentication via HTTP header

import { GraphQLClient, gql } from 'graphql-request'

async function main() {
  const endpoint = 'https://api.graph.cool/simple/v1/cixos23120m0n0173veiiwrjr'

  const graphQLClient = new GraphQLClient(endpoint, {
    headers: {
      authorization: 'Bearer MY_TOKEN',
    },
  })

  const query = gql`
    {
      Movie(title: "Inception") {
        releaseDate
        actors {
          name
        }
      }
    }
  `

  const data = await graphQLClient.request(query)
  console.log(JSON.stringify(data, undefined, 2))
}

main().catch((error) => console.error(error))

TypeScript Source

Dynamically setting headers

If you want to set headers after the GraphQLClient has been initialised, you can use the setHeader() or setHeaders() functions.

import { setHeaders, setHeader GraphQLClient } from 'graphql-request'

const client = new GraphQLClient(endpoint)

// Set a single header
client.setHeader('authorization', 'Bearer MY_TOKEN')

// Override all existing headers
client.setHeaders({
  authorization: 'Bearer MY_TOKEN'
  anotherheader: 'header_value'
})

Passing more options to fetch

import { GraphQLClient, gql } from 'graphql-request'

async function main() {
  const endpoint = 'https://api.graph.cool/simple/v1/cixos23120m0n0173veiiwrjr'

  const graphQLClient = new GraphQLClient(endpoint, {
    credentials: 'include',
    mode: 'cors',
  })

  const query = gql`
    {
      Movie(title: "Inception") {
        releaseDate
        actors {
          name
        }
      }
    }
  `

  const data = await graphQLClient.request(query)
  console.log(JSON.stringify(data, undefined, 2))
}

main().catch((error) => console.error(error))

TypeScript Source

Using variables

import { request, gql } from 'graphql-request'

async function main() {
  const endpoint = 'https://api.graph.cool/simple/v1/cixos23120m0n0173veiiwrjr'

  const query = gql`
    query getMovie($title: String!) {
      Movie(title: $title) {
        releaseDate
        actors {
          name
        }
      }
    }
  `

  const variables = {
    title: 'Inception',
  }

  const data = await request(endpoint, query, variables)
  console.log(JSON.stringify(data, undefined, 2))
}

main().catch((error) => console.error(error))

Mutations

import { GraphQLClient, gql } from 'graphql-request'

async function main() {
  const endpoint = 'https://api.graph.cool/simple/v1/cixos23120m0n0173veiiwrjr'

  const graphQLClient = new GraphQLClient(endpoint, {
    headers: {
      authorization: 'Bearer MY_TOKEN',
    },
  })

  const mutation = gql`
      mutation AddMovie($title: String!, $releaseDate: Int!) {
        insert_movies_one(object: { title: $title, releaseDate: $releaseDate }) {
            title
            releaseDate
        }
    }
  `

  const variables = {
    title: 'Inception',
    releaseDate: 2010
  }
  const data = await graphQLClient.request(mutation, variables)

  console.log(JSON.stringify(data, undefined, 2))
}

main().catch((error) => console.error(error))

TypeScript Source

Error handling

import { request, gql } from 'graphql-request'

async function main() {
  const endpoint = 'https://api.graph.cool/simple/v1/cixos23120m0n0173veiiwrjr'

  const query = gql`
    {
      Movie(title: "Inception") {
        releaseDate
        actors {
          fullname # "Cannot query field 'fullname' on type 'Actor'. Did you mean 'name'?"
        }
      }
    }
  `

  try {
    const data = await request(endpoint, query)
    console.log(JSON.stringify(data, undefined, 2))
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(JSON.stringify(error, undefined, 2))
    process.exit(1)
  }
}

main().catch((error) => console.error(error))

TypeScript Source

Using require instead of import

const { request, gql } = require('graphql-request')

async function main() {
  const endpoint = 'https://api.graph.cool/simple/v1/cixos23120m0n0173veiiwrjr'

  const query = gql`
    {
      Movie(title: "Inception") {
        releaseDate
        actors {
          name
        }
      }
    }
  `

  const data = await request(endpoint, query)
  console.log(JSON.stringify(data, undefined, 2))
}

main().catch((error) => console.error(error))

Cookie support for node

npm install fetch-cookie

require('fetch-cookie/node-fetch')(require('node-fetch'))

import { GraphQLClient, gql } from 'graphql-request'

async function main() {
  const endpoint = 'https://api.graph.cool/simple/v1/cixos23120m0n0173veiiwrjr'

  const graphQLClient = new GraphQLClient(endpoint, {
    headers: {
      authorization: 'Bearer MY_TOKEN',
    },
  })

  const query = gql`
    {
      Movie(title: "Inception") {
        releaseDate
        actors {
          name
        }
      }
    }
  `

  const data = await graphQLClient.rawRequest(query)
  console.log(JSON.stringify(data, undefined, 2))
}

main().catch((error) => console.error(error))

TypeScript Source

Using a custom fetch method

npm install fetch-cookie

import { GraphQLClient, gql } from 'graphql-request'
import crossFetch from 'cross-fetch';

async function main() {
  const endpoint = 'https://api.graph.cool/simple/v1/cixos23120m0n0173veiiwrjr'

  // a cookie jar scoped to the client object
  const fetch = require('fetch-cookie')(crossFetch)
  const graphQLClient = new GraphQLClient(endpoint, { fetch: fetch})

  const query = gql`
    {
      Movie(title: "Inception") {
        releaseDate
        actors {
          name
        }
      }
    }
  `

  const data = await graphQLClient.rawRequest(query)
  console.log(JSON.stringify(data, undefined, 2))
}

main().catch((error) => console.error(error))

Receiving a raw response

The request method will return the data or errors key from the response. If you need to access the extensions key you can use the rawRequest method:

import { rawRequest, gql } from 'graphql-request'

async function main() {
  const endpoint = 'https://api.graph.cool/simple/v1/cixos23120m0n0173veiiwrjr'

  const query = gql`
    {
      Movie(title: "Inception") {
        releaseDate
        actors {
          name
        }
      }
    }
  `

  const { data, errors, extensions, headers, status } = await rawRequest(endpoint, query)
  console.log(JSON.stringify({ data, errors, extensions, headers, status }, undefined, 2))
}

main().catch((error) => console.error(error))

File Upload

Browser

import { request } from 'graphql-request'

const UploadUserAvatar = gql`
  mutation uploadUserAvatar($userId: Int!, $file: Upload!) {
    updateUser(id: $userId, input: { avatar: $file })
  }
`

request('/api/graphql', UploadUserAvatar, {
  userId: 1,
  file: document.querySelector('input#avatar').files[0],
})

NodeJS

import { createReadStream } from 'fs'
import { request } from 'graphql-request'

const UploadUserAvatar = gql`
  mutation uploadUserAvatar($userId: Int!, $file: Upload!) {
    updateUser(id: $userId, input: { avatar: $file })
  }
`

request('/api/graphql', UploadUserAvatar, {
  userId: 1,
  file: createReadStream('./avatar.img'),
})

TypeScript Source

More examples coming soon...

• Fragments
• Using graphql-tag

FAQ

Why do I have to install graphql?

graphql-request uses a TypeScript type from the graphql package such that if you are using TypeScript to build your project and you are using graphql-request but don't have graphql installed TypeScript build will fail. Details here. If you are a JS user then you do not technically need to install graphql. However if you use an IDE that picks up TS types even for JS (like VSCode) then its still in your interest to install graphql so that you can benefit from enhanced type safety during development.

Do I need to wrap my GraphQL documents inside the gql template exported by graphql-request?

No. It is there for convenience so that you can get the tooling support like prettier formatting and IDE syntax highlighting. You can use gql from graphql-tag if you need it for some reason too.

What's the difference between graphql-request, Apollo and Relay?

graphql-request is the most minimal and simplest to use GraphQL client. It's perfect for small scripts or simple apps.

Compared to GraphQL clients like Apollo or Relay, graphql-request doesn't have a built-in cache and has no integrations for frontend frameworks. The goal is to keep the package and API as minimal as possible.