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= Building a GraphQL service with Spring for GraphQL

This guide...
https://docs.spring.io/spring-graphql/docs/current/reference/html/[Spring for GraphQL] provides support for Spring applications built on https://www.graphql-java.com/[GraphQL Java].

This guide walks you through the process of creating a GraphQL service in Java using Spring for GraphQL.

== What You Will Build
You will build a service that will accept GraphQL requests at `http://localhost:8080/graphql`.

== What You Need

:java_version: 17
include::https://raw.githubusercontent.com/spring-guides/getting-started-macros/main/prereq_editor_jdk_buildtools.adoc[]

include::https://raw.githubusercontent.com/spring-guides/getting-started-macros/main/how_to_complete_this_guide.adoc[]

[[scratch]]
== Starting with Spring Initializr

To manually initialize the project:

. Navigate to https://start.spring.io.
This service pulls in all the dependencies you need for an application and does most of the setup for you.
. Choose either Gradle or Maven and the language you want to use. This guide assumes that you chose Java.
. Choose Spring Boot 3.x.
. Choose at least Java 17 (minimum requirement for Spring Boot 3.x).
. Click *Dependencies* and select *Spring for GraphQL* and *Spring Web*.
. Click *Generate*.
. Download the resulting ZIP file, which is an archive of a GraphQL application that is configured with your choices.

NOTE: If your IDE has the Spring Initializr integration, you can complete this process from your IDE.

NOTE: You can also fork the project from https://github.com/spring-guides/graphql-server[GitHub] and open it in your IDE or other editor.

[[initial]]
== A very short introduction to GraphQL

GraphQL is a query language to retrieve data from a server.
It is an alternative to REST, SOAP, or gRPC.

In this tutorial, we will query the details for a specific book from an online store backend.

This is an example request you can send to a GraphQL server to retrieve book details:

[,graphql]
----
query bookDetails {
bookById(id: "book-1") {
id
name
pageCount
author {
firstName
lastName
}
}
}
----

This GraphQL request says:

* perform a query for a book with id "book-1"
* for the book, return id, name, pageCount and author
* for the author, return firstName and lastName

The response is in JSON. For example:

[,json]
----
{
"bookById": {
"id":"book-1",
"name":"Effective Java",
"pageCount":416,
"author": {
"firstName":"Joshua",
"lastName":"Bloch"
}
}
}
----

An important feature of GraphQL is that it defines a schema language, and that it is statically typed. The server knows exactly what types of objects requests can query and what fields those objects contain. Furthermore, clients can introspect the server to ask for schema details.

NOTE: The word schema in this tutorial refers to a "GraphQL Schema", which is not related to other schemas like "JSON Schema" or "Database Schema".

The schema for the above query is:

[,graphql]
----
type Query {
bookById(id: ID): Book
}

type Book {
id: ID
name: String
pageCount: Int
author: Author
}

type Author {
id: ID
firstName: String
lastName: String
}
----

This tutorial will focus on how to implement a GraphQL server with this schema in Java.

We've barely scratched the surface of what's possible with GraphQL.
Further information can be found on the https://graphql.org/learn/[official GraphQL page].

== Our example API: getting book details
These are the main steps to create a server with https://docs.spring.io/spring-graphql/docs/current/reference/html/[Spring for GraphQL]:

. Define a GraphQL schema
. Implement the logic to fetch the actual data for a query

Our example app will be a simple API to get details for a specific book. It is not intended to be a comprehensive API.

== Schema
In your Spring for GraphQL application prepared earlier, create a directory `src/main/resources/graphql`.

Add a new file `schema.graphqls` to `src/main/resources/graphql` with the following content:

[,graphql]
----
type Query {
bookById(id: ID): Book
}

type Book {
id: ID
name: String
pageCount: Int
author: Author
}

type Author {
id: ID
firstName: String
lastName: String
}
----

Every GraphQL schema has a top-level `Query` type, and the fields under it are the query operations exposed by the application. Here the schema defines one query called `bookById` that returns the details of a specific book.

It also defines the types `Book` with fields `id`, `name`, `pageCount` and `author`, and the type `Author` with fields `firstName` and `lastName`.

NOTE: The Domain Specific Language used above to describe a schema is called the Schema Definition Language or SDL. For more details, see the https://graphql.org/learn/schema/[GraphQL documentation].

== Source of the data

A key strength of GraphQL is that data can be sourced from anywhere. Data can come from a database, an external service, or a static in-memory list.

To simplify the tutorial, book and author data will come from static lists inside their respective classes.

=== Create the Book class

Add the following to `Book.java`. You choose where to save this file, it can be in the same directory as the class containing the `@SpringBootApplication` annotation.

[,java]
----
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public record Book (String id, String name, int pageCount, String authorId) {

private static List<Book> books = Arrays.asList(
new Book("book-1", "Effective Java", 416, "author-1"),
new Book("book-2", "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", 208, "author-2"),
new Book("book-3", "Down Under", 436, "author-3")
);

public static Book getById(String id) {
return books.stream().filter(book -> book.id().equals(id)).findFirst().orElse(null);
}
}
----

=== Create the Author class

Add the following to `Author.java`. Save it in the same directory as `Book.java`.

[,java]
----
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.List;

public record Author (String id, String firstName, String lastName) {

private static List<Author> authors = Arrays.asList(
new Author("author-1", "Joshua", "Bloch"),
new Author("author-2", "Douglas", "Adams"),
new Author("author-3", "Bill", "Bryson")
);

public static Author getById(String id) {
return authors.stream().filter(author -> author.id().equals(id)).findFirst().orElse(null);
}
}
----

== Adding code to fetch data

Spring for GraphQL provides an https://docs.spring.io/spring-graphql/docs/current/reference/html/#controllers[annotation-based programming model] to declare handler methods to fetch the data for specific GraphQL fields.

Add the following to `BookController.java`. You choose where to save this file, it can be in the same directory as the class containing the `@SpringBootApplication` annotation.

[,java]
----
import org.springframework.graphql.data.method.annotation.Argument;
import org.springframework.graphql.data.method.annotation.QueryMapping;
import org.springframework.graphql.data.method.annotation.SchemaMapping;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;

@Controller
public class BookController {
@QueryMapping
public Book bookById(@Argument String id) {
return Book.getById(id);
}

@SchemaMapping
public Author author(Book book) {
return Author.getById(book.authorId());
}
}
----

The `@QueryMapping` annotation binds this method to a query, a field under the Query type.
The query field is then determined from the method name, `bookById`.
The query field could also be declared on the annotation.

NOTE: Spring for GraphQL uses `RuntimeWiring.Builder` that registers each such controller method as a GraphQL Java `graphql.schema.DataFetcher` that provides the logic to fetch the data for a query or for any schema field. The Spring Boot starter for GraphQL has auto-config that automates this registration.

In the GraphQL Java engine, `DataFetchingEnvironment` provides access to a map of field-specific argument values.
Use the `@Argument` annotation to have an argument bound to a target object and injected into the handler method.
By default, the method parameter name is used to look up the argument.
The argument name can be specified in the annotation.

The `@SchemaMapping` annotation maps a handler method to a field in the GraphQL schema and declares it to be the `DataFetcher` for that field.
The field name defaults to the method name, and the type name defaults to the simple class name of the source/parent object injected into the method.
In this example, the field defaults to `author` and the type defaults to `Book`.
The type and field can be specified in the annotation.

For more, see the https://docs.spring.io/spring-graphql/docs/current/reference/html/#controllers[documentation for the Spring for GraphQL annotated controller feature].

That's all the code we need!

Let's run our first query.

== Running our first query

=== Enable the GraphiQL Playground

GraphiQL is a useful visual interface for writing and executing queries, and much more.
Enable GraphiQL by adding this config to the `application.properties` file.

----
spring.graphql.graphiql.enabled=true
----

=== Boot the application

Start your Spring application.

Navigate to http://localhost:8080/graphiql or your custom URL.

=== Run the query

Type in the query and click the play button at the top of the window.

[,graphql]
----
query bookDetails {
bookById(id: "book-1") {
id
name
pageCount
author {
id
firstName
lastName
}
}
}
----

You should see a response like this.
image:https://raw.githubusercontent.com/spring-guides/graphql-server/main/graphiql.png[GraphQL response]

Congratulations, you have built a GraphQL service and executed your first query! With the help of Spring for GraphQL, you were able to achieve this with only a few lines of code.

=== Testing
Spring for GraphQL provides helpers for GraphQL testing in the `spring-graphql-test` artifact. We have already included this artifact as part of the project generated by Spring Initializr.

Thoroughly testing a GraphQL service requires tests with different scopes. In this tutorial, we will write a `@GraphQlTest` slice test, which focuses on a single controller. There are other helpers to assist with full end-to-end integration tests and focused server side tests. For the full details, see the https://docs.spring.io/spring-graphql/docs/current/reference/html/#testing[Spring for GraphQL Testing documentation] and https://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/current/reference/htmlsingle/#features.testing.spring-boot-applications.spring-graphql-tests[Auto-configured Spring for GraphQL tests] in the Spring Boot documentation.

Let's write a controller slice test that verifies the same `bookDetails` query requested in the GraphiQL playground a few moments ago.

Add the following to a test file `BookControllerTest.java`. Save this file in a location within the `test` folder.

[,java]
----
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.boot.test.autoconfigure.graphql.GraphQlTest;
import org.springframework.graphql.test.tester.GraphQlTester;

@GraphQlTest(BookController.class)
public class BookControllerTest {

@Autowired
private GraphQlTester graphQlTester;

@Test
void shouldGetFirstBook() {
this.graphQlTester
.document("""
query bookDetails {
bookById(id: "book-1") {
id
name
pageCount
author {
id
firstName
lastName
}
}
}
""")
.execute()
.path("bookById")
.matchesJson("""
{
"id": "book-1",
"name": "Effective Java",
"pageCount": 416,
"author": {
"firstName": "Joshua",
"lastName": "Bloch"
}
}
""");
}
}
----

Run the test and verify that the result is identical to the GraphQL query manually requested in the GraphiQL playground.

The `@GraphQlTest` annotation is useful for writing controller slice tests, which are focused on a single controller. `@GraphQlTest` auto-configures the Spring for GraphQL infrastructure, without any transport nor server being involved. Automatic configuration enables us to write tests faster by skipping boilerplate code. As this is a focused slice test, only a limited number of beans are scanned including `@Controller` and `RuntimeWiringConfigurer`. For the list of scanned beans, see the
https://docs.spring.io/spring-boot/docs/current/reference/htmlsingle/#appendix.test-auto-configuration[documentation].

`GraphQlTester` is a contract that declares a common workflow for testing GraphQL requests, independent of transport. In our test, we provide a document (our query text) with `document`, then `execute` the request, then select a part of the response to verify with `path`. Finally, we verify that the JSON at this path matches the expected result.

Congratulations! In this tutorial you built a GraphQL service, ran your first query, and wrote your first GraphQL test!

== Further reading

=== Sample source code

The source code for this tutorial can be found on https://github.com/spring-guides/graphql-server[GitHub].

=== Documentation

Read the https://docs.spring.io/spring-graphql/docs/current/reference/html/[Spring for GraphQL documentation].

GraphQL Java is the GraphQL engine powering Spring for GraphQL. Read the https://www.graphql-java.com/documentation/getting-started[GraphQL Java documentation].

=== More Spring for GraphQL examples

See more samples in the
https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-graphql/tree/1.0.x/samples[1.0.x branch], which will soon be https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-graphql/issues/208[moved into] a separate repository.

=== Stack Overflow questions
You can raise questions on https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/spring-graphql[Stack Overflow with the spring-graphql] tag.

Want to write a new guide or contribute to an existing one? Check out our https://github.com/spring-guides/getting-started-guides/wiki[contribution guidelines].

All guides are released with an ASLv2 license for the code, and an https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/[Attribution, NoDerivatives creative commons license] for the writing.
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