GraphQL

Overview

Design, build, and consume GraphQL APIs. This skill covers schema-first and code-first approaches, resolver patterns, real-time subscriptions, authentication, performance optimization with DataLoader, pagination, federation for microservices, and client-side consumption with Apollo Client.

Instructions

Step 1: Project Setup

Server (Apollo Server):

npm install @apollo/server graphql@16     # Apollo Server 5 needs graphql 16.11+ (not 17)
npm install express cors @as-integrations/express4   # Express 5: @as-integrations/express5
npm install dataloader graphql-subscriptions         # N+1 batching, PubSub
npm install graphql-ws ws @graphql-tools/schema      # subscriptions over WebSocket

Apollo Server 5 no longer ships @apollo/server/express4; expressMiddleware now comes from the separate @as-integrations/express4 package. Without Express, startStandaloneServer from @apollo/server/standalone is enough.