graphql-tools VS graphql-multipart-request-spec

A few months ago I used the graphql-tools library to build a schema-stitching gateway, but have ran into several difficulties that need support. Unfortunately it seems like the team behind the project is completely unreachable. I’ve tried using the chatbox on their website, posting a question on discord, and even starting a github discussion thread, but all of these channels have remained silent.

I use this contributor chart on GitHub to get a feel for how active a project is - looks healthy to me: https://github.com/ardatan/graphql-tools/graphs/contributors

From the previous example, you note that depending on Query Directives is inconsistent due to the different handling from the GraphQL providers, as a result, GraphQL Tools discourages using the Query Directives:

You might know us from projects such as graphql-code-generator, envelop or graphql-tools.

This article will document how you can do the same with minimal amount of code 😏 We'll be leveraging awesome utilities provided by graphql-tools

npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This package has been deprecated and now it only exports makeExecutableSchema.\nAnd it will no longer receive updates.\nWe recommend you to migrate to scoped packages such as u/graphql-tools/schema, u/graphql-tools/utils and etc.\nCheck out https://www.graphql-tools.com to learn what package you should use instead

Schema Stitching (a component of GraphQL Tools[v6 and under]) got a bad rap when it was famously abandoned by Apollo in favor of their Federation architecture some years back. However, Stitching came under the stewardship of The Guild and friends in 2020, and they've since overhauled it with numerous automation and performance enhancements. Seemingly out of nowhere, Schema Stitching has reemerged as something of a nimble hummingbird racing alongside the stallion that is Apollo Federation.

npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: See https://github.com/lydell/source-map-url#deprecated npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: this library is no longer supported npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Please see https://github.com/lydell/urix#deprecated npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: The `apollo-tracing` package is no longer part of Apollo Server 3. See https://www.apollographql.com/docs/apollo-server/migration/#tracing for details npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: See https://github.com/lydell/source-map-resolve#deprecated npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: CircularJSON is in maintenance only, flatted is its successor. npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: https://github.com/lydell/resolve-url#deprecated npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: The `graphql-extensions` API has been removed from Apollo Server 3. Use the plugin API instead: https://www.apollographql.com/docs/apollo-server/integrations/plugins/ npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Debug versions >=3.2.0 <3.2.7 || >=4 <4.3.1 have a low-severity ReDos regression when used in a Node.js environment. It is recommended you upgrade to 3.2.7 or 4.3.1. (https://github.com/visionmedia/debug/issues/797) npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by @ipld/dag-cbor and multiformats npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: The functionality provided by the `apollo-cache-control` package is built in to `apollo-server-core` starting with Apollo Server 3. See https://www.apollographql.com/docs/apollo-server/migration/#cachecontrol for details. npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated @nodefactory/[email protected]: Package is deprecated in favour of @chainsafe/filsnap-adapter npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Please upgrade to version 7 or higher. Older versions may use Math.random() in certain circumstances, which is known to be problematic. See https://v8.dev/blog/math-random for details. npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Please upgrade to version 7 or higher. Older versions may use Math.random() in certain circumstances, which is known to be problematic. See https://v8.dev/blog/math-random for details. npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Please upgrade to version 7 or higher. Older versions may use Math.random() in certain circumstances, which is known to be problematic. See https://v8.dev/blog/math-random for details. npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Please upgrade to version 7 or higher. Older versions may use Math.random() in certain circumstances, which is known to be problematic. See https://v8.dev/blog/math-random for details. npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: request has been deprecated, see https://github.com/request/request/issues/3142 npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Please upgrade to version 7 or higher. Older versions may use Math.random() in certain circumstances, which is known to be problematic. See https://v8.dev/blog/math-random for details. npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Please upgrade to version 7 or higher. Older versions may use Math.random() in certain circumstances, which is known to be problematic. See https://v8.dev/blog/math-random for details. npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Please upgrade to version 7 or higher. Older versions may use Math.random() in certain circumstances, which is known to be problematic. See https://v8.dev/blog/math-random for details. npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Please upgrade to version 7 or higher. Older versions may use Math.random() in certain circumstances, which is known to be problematic. See https://v8.dev/blog/math-random for details. npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Legacy versions of mkdirp are no longer supported. Please update to mkdirp 1.x. (Note that the API surface has changed to use Promises in 1.x.) npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by @ipld/dag-pb and multiformatsnpm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Please upgrade to @mapbox/node-pre-gyp: the non-scoped node-pre-gyp package is deprecated and only the @mapbox scoped package will recieve updates in the future npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: Critical security vulnerability fixed in v0.21.1. For more information, see https://github.com/axios/axios/pull/3410 npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This module has been superseded by the multiformats module npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: This package has been deprecated and now it only exports makeExecutableSchema.\nAnd it will no longer receive updates.\nWe recommend you to migrate to scoped packages such as @graphql-tools/schema, @graphql-tools/utils and etc.\nCheck out https://www.graphql-tools.com to learn what package you should use instead npm WARN deprecated [email protected]: core-js@<3.4 is no longer maintained and not recommended for usage due to the number of issues. Because of the V8 engine whims, feature detection in old core-js versions could cause a slowdown up to 100x even if nothing is polyfilled. Please, upgrade your dependencies to the actual version of core-js. npm ERR! code 1 npm ERR! path C:\Users\andre\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\truffle\node_modules\ganache\node_modules\keccak npm ERR! command failed npm ERR! command C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /d /s /c node-gyp rebuild npm ERR! gyp info it worked if it ends with ok npm ERR! gyp info using [email protected] npm ERR! gyp info using [email protected] | win32 | x64 npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python Python is not set from command line or npm configuration npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python Python is not set from environment variable PYTHON npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python checking if "python3" can be used npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python - "python3" is not in PATH or produced an error npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python checking if "python" can be used npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python - "python" is not in PATH or produced an error npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python checking if Python is C:\Users\andre\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\python.exe npm ERR! 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find Python - "py.exe" is not in PATH or produced an error npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python ********************************************************** npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python You need to install the latest version of Python. npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python Node-gyp should be able to find and use Python. If not, npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python you can try one of the following options: npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python - Use the switch --python="C:\Path\To\python.exe" npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python (accepted by both node-gyp and npm) npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python - Set the environment variable PYTHON npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python - Set the npm configuration variable python: npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python npm config set python "C:\Path\To\python.exe" npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python For more information consult the documentation at: npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python https://github.com/nodejs/node-gyp#installation npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python ********************************************************** npm ERR! gyp ERR! find Python npm ERR! gyp ERR! configure error npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack Error: Could not find any Python installation to use npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack at PythonFinder.fail (C:\Users\andre\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\node_modules\node-gyp\lib\find-python.js:330:47) npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack at PythonFinder.runChecks (C:\Users\andre\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\node_modules\node-gyp\lib\find-python.js:159:21) npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack at PythonFinder. (C:\Users\andre\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\node_modules\node-gyp\lib\find-python.js:228:18) npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack at PythonFinder.execFileCallback (C:\Users\andre\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\npm\node_modules\node-gyp\lib\find-python.js:294:16) npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack at ChildProcess.exithandler (node:child_process:404:5) npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:390:28) npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack at maybeClose (node:internal/child_process:1064:16) npm ERR! gyp ERR! stack at Process.ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:301:5) npm ERR! gyp ERR! System Windows_NT 10.0.22000 npm ERR! gyp ERR! command "C:\\Program Files\\nodejs\\node.exe" "C:\\Users\\andre\\AppData\\Roaming\\npm\\node_modules\\npm\\node_modules\\node-gyp\\bin\\node-gyp.js" "rebuild" npm ERR! gyp ERR! cwd C:\Users\andre\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules\truffle\node_modules\ganache\node_modules\keccak npm ERR! gyp ERR! node -v v16.13.2 npm ERR! gyp ERR! node-gyp -v v8.4.1 npm ERR! gyp ERR! not ok

Did I said AppSync GraphQL completely different with “normal” GraphQL???? In fact, you can’t use GraphQL API or other tools like GraphQL Tools (https://www.graphql-tools.com) to parse AppSync GraphQL files. For example did normal GraphQL have this kind of syntax: “type Order @model @key(fields: ["customerEmail", "createdAt"]) {….” (Pasted from Amplify docs)

The GraphQL specification itself doesn't natively support file uploads, so the solution typically involves using extensions or additional libraries. The easiest and most straightforward way is by converting the file to Base64 before sending it to the server, you can include it as a string in the GraphQL request. This offcourse has a downside, it can increase the payload size, so it may not be the most efficient solution for large files. Other options that involve using extensions or additional libraries are using GraphQL multipart request specification and Apollo Server with Apollo Upload Client

Also, we manage to upload files via GraphQL just fine. Turns out nothing prevents you from putting a GraphQL query in a multipart form. Frameworks support this just fine, and if not, just write your own middleware, it's not even that hard.

GraphQL-Multipart-Request: enables great file upload support.

Multipart File Uploads ✔️

One important thing which GraphQL Spec did not discuss about is a way to transmit files over the wire when using GraphQL. This is where GraphQL Upload comes in. While not an official spec from GraphQL foundation, Jayden had done a great job to put together a multi part spec to address exactly this problem.

This is what I get as an error: app.js:169321 Error: GraphQL error: Variable "$productImage" got invalid value []; Expected type Upload; Could not get uploaded file, be sure to conform to GraphQL multipart request specification: https://github.com/jaydenseric/graphql-multipart-request-spec Instead got: [] at new ApolloError (app.js:4873) at Object.next (app.js:5812) at notifySubscription (app.js:181947) at onNotify (app.js:181991) at SubscriptionObserver.next (app.js:182047) at app.js:5674 at Set.forEach () at Object.next (app.js:5674) at notifySubscription (app.js:181947) at onNotify (app.js:181991)