Currently the consumption of HTTP REST APIs dominate the client-side world, GraphQL aims to change this. This transition can be time-consuming - this is where graffiti comes into the picture.

We don't want to rewrite our application - no one wants that. graffiti provides an Express middleware, a Hapi plugin and a Koa middleware to convert your existing models into a GraphQL schema and exposes it over HTTP.

What is GraphQL?

GraphQL is a query language created by Facebook in 2012 which provides a common interface between the client and the server for data fetching and manipulations.

The client asks for various data from the GraphQL server via queries. The response format is described in the query and defined by the client instead of the server: they are called client‐specified queries.

For more info check out RisingStack's GraphQL tutorial.

Example server and queries

For a running example server and executable queries, check out our example repository and play with your GraphQL queries: graffiti-example

Adapters

• mongoose
• more coming...

Supported servers

• Express
• Hapi
• Koa

Install

npm install @risingstack/graffiti --save

Usage

0. run MongoDB
1. register the middleware
2. provide a schema (returned by an adapters getSchema method or your own GraphQLSchema instance)
3. the GraphQL endpoint is available on /graphql

Express

import express from 'express';
import { json } from 'body-parser';
import graffiti from '@risingstack/graffiti';
import { getSchema } from '@risingstack/graffiti-mongoose';

import Cat from './models/Cat';
import User from './models/User';

const app = express();

// parse body as json
app.use(json());

app.use(graffiti.express({
  schema: getSchema([User, Cat]),
  context: {} // custom context
}));

app.listen(3000);

Hapi

import { Server } from 'hapi';
import graffiti from '@risingstack/graffiti';
import { getSchema } from '@risingstack/graffiti-mongoose';

const server = new Server();
server.connection({ port: 3000 });

server.register({
  register: graffiti.hapi,
  options: {
    schema: getSchema([User, Cat]),
    context: {} // custom context
  }
}, function (err) {
  if (err) {
    console.error('Failed to load plugin:', err);
  }

  server.start(function () {
      console.log('Server running at:', server.info.uri);
  });
});

Koa

import koa from 'koa';
import parser from 'koa-bodyparser';
import graffiti from '@risingstack/graffiti';
import { getSchema } from '@risingstack/graffiti-mongoose';

import Cat from './models/Cat';
import User from './models/User';

const app = koa();

app.use(parser());

app.use(graffiti.koa({
  schema: getSchema([User, Cat]),
  context: {} // custom context
}));

app.listen(3000);

Options

• schema: a GraphQLSchema instance. You can use an adapters getSchema method, or provide your own schema. (required)
• graphiql: may present GraphiQL when loaded directly from a browser. (default: true)
• context: custom GraphQL context object. (default: {})

Test

npm test