Does apollo-client work on node.js?

Question

I need a graphql client lib to run on node.js for some testing and some data mashup - not in a production capacity. I'm using apollo everywhere else (react-apollo, apollo's graphql-server-express). My needs are pretty simple.

Is apollo-client a viable choice? I can find no examples or docs on using it on node - if you're aware of any, please share.

Or maybe I should/can use the reference graphql client on node?

Answer 1

Apollo Client should work just fine on Node. You only have to install cross-fetch because it assumes fetch exists.

Here is a complete TypeScript implementation of Apollo Client working on Node.js.

import ApolloClient from "apollo-boost";
import gql from "graphql-tag";
import { InsertJob } from "./graphql-types";
import 'cross-fetch/polyfill';

const client = new ApolloClient({
  uri: "http://localhost:3000/graphql"
});


client.mutate<InsertJob.AddCompany, InsertJob.Variables>({
  mutation: gql`mutation insertJob($companyName: String!) {
      addCompany(input: { displayName: $companyName } ) {
          id
      }
  }`,
  variables: {
    companyName: "aaa"
  }
})
  .then(result => console.log(result));

Answer 2

Here is simple node js implementation.

'graphiql' client is good enough for development activities.

1. run npm install
2. start server with "node server.js"
3. hit "http://localhost:8080/graphiql"  for graphiql client

server.js

var graphql = require ('graphql').graphql  
var express = require('express')  
var graphQLHTTP = require('express-graphql')  

var Schema = require('./schema')  

// This is just an internal test
var query = 'query{starwar{name, gender,gender}}'  
graphql(Schema, query).then( function(result) {  
  console.log(JSON.stringify(result,null," "));
});

var app = express()  
  .use('/', graphQLHTTP({ schema: Schema, pretty: true, graphiql: true }))
  .listen(8080, function (err) {
    console.log('GraphQL Server is now running on localhost:8080');
  });

schema.js

//schema.js
var graphql = require ('graphql');  
var http = require('http');

var StarWar = [  
  { 
    "name": "default",
    "gender": "default",
    "mass": "default"
  }
];

var TodoType = new graphql.GraphQLObjectType({  
  name: 'starwar',
  fields: function () {
    return {
      name: {
        type: graphql.GraphQLString
      },
      gender: {
        type: graphql.GraphQLString
      },
      mass: {
        type: graphql.GraphQLString
      }
    }
  }
});



var QueryType = new graphql.GraphQLObjectType({  
  name: 'Query',
  fields: function () {
    return {
      starwar: {
        type: new graphql.GraphQLList(TodoType),
        resolve: function () {
          return new Promise(function (resolve, reject) {
            var request = http.get({
              hostname: 'swapi.co',
              path: '/api/people/1/',
              method: 'GET'
            }, function(res){
                    res.setEncoding('utf8');
                    res.on('data', function(response){
                    StarWar = [JSON.parse(response)];
                    resolve(StarWar)

                    console.log('On response success:' , StarWar);
                });
            });

            request.on('error', function(response){
                    console.log('On error' , response.message);
                });

            request.end();                      
          });
        }
      }
    }
  }
});

module.exports = new graphql.GraphQLSchema({  
  query: QueryType
});

Answer 3

In response to @YakirNa 's comment:

I can't speak to the other needs I described, but I have done a fair amount of testing. I ended up doing all of my testing in-process.

Most testing ends up being resolver testing, which I do via a jig that invokes the graphql library's graphql function with a test query and then validates the response.

I also have an (almost) end-to-end test layer that works at the http-handling level of express. It creates a fake HTTP request and verifies the response in-process. This is all within the server process; nothing goes over the wire. I use this lightly, mostly for testing JWT authentication and other request-level behavior that's independent of the graphql request body.

Answer 4

If someone is looking for a JavaScript version:

require('dotenv').config();
const gql = require('graphql-tag');
const ApolloClient = require('apollo-boost').ApolloClient;
const fetch = require('cross-fetch/polyfill').fetch;
const createHttpLink = require('apollo-link-http').createHttpLink;
const InMemoryCache = require('apollo-cache-inmemory').InMemoryCache;
const client = new ApolloClient({
    link: createHttpLink({
        uri: process.env.API,
        fetch: fetch
    }),
    cache: new InMemoryCache()
});

client.mutate({
    mutation: gql`
    mutation popJob {
        popJob {
            id
            type
            param
            status
            progress
            creation_date
            expiration_date
        }
    }
    `,
}).then(job => {
    console.log(job);
})