@octokit/graphql

What is @octokit/graphql?

The @octokit/graphql npm package is designed to simplify making GraphQL queries to the GitHub API. It provides a straightforward way to execute queries and mutations, handle authentication, and manage GraphQL variables. This package is part of the Octokit suite, which is officially maintained by GitHub, ensuring high compatibility and reliability for developers interacting with GitHub's data.

What are @octokit/graphql's main functionalities?

Executing a GraphQL query

This feature allows you to execute a basic GraphQL query to fetch the login name of the authenticated GitHub user. You need to replace 'YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN' with your actual GitHub token.

{
  "query": "query { viewer { login }}",
  "headers": {
    "authorization": "token YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN"
  }
}

Executing a GraphQL mutation

This feature demonstrates how to execute a mutation to create a new issue in a repository. You need to replace 'REPOSITORY_ID' and 'YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN' with your repository's ID and your GitHub token, respectively.

{
  "mutation": "mutation ($repositoryId: ID!, $issueTitle: String!) { createIssue(input: {repositoryId: $repositoryId, title: $issueTitle}) { issue { id } } }",
  "variables": {
    "repositoryId": "REPOSITORY_ID",
    "issueTitle": "New Issue Title"
  },
  "headers": {
    "authorization": "token YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN"
  }
}

Other packages similar to @octokit/graphql

graphql-request

graphql-request is a minimal GraphQL client for making queries and mutations. It's simpler and has fewer features compared to @octokit/graphql, lacking built-in GitHub authentication mechanisms, but it's versatile for any GraphQL API, not just GitHub's.

apollo-client

Apollo Client is a comprehensive state management library for JavaScript that enables you to manage both local and remote data with GraphQL. It's more feature-rich than @octokit/graphql, offering advanced features like caching and optimistic UI updates, making it suitable for complex applications.

README

graphql.js

GitHub GraphQL API client for browsers and Node

• Usage
  • Send a simple query
  • Authentication
  • Variables
  • Pass query together with headers and variables
  • Use with GitHub Enterprise
  • Use custom @octokit/request instance
• TypeScript
  • Additional Types
• Errors
• Partial responses
• Writing tests
• License

Usage

Browsers	Load @octokit/graphql directly from esm.sh <script type="module"> import { graphql } from "https://esm.sh/@octokit/graphql"; </script>
Node	Install with npm install @octokit/graphql import { graphql } from "@octokit/graphql";

Send a simple query

const { repository } = await graphql(
  `
    {
      repository(owner: "octokit", name: "graphql.js") {
        issues(last: 3) {
          edges {
            node {
              title
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  `,
  {
    headers: {
      authorization: `token secret123`,
    },
  },
);

Authentication

The simplest way to authenticate a request is to set the Authorization header, e.g. to a personal access token.

const graphqlWithAuth = graphql.defaults({
  headers: {
    authorization: `token secret123`,
  },
});
const { repository } = await graphqlWithAuth(`
  {
    repository(owner: "octokit", name: "graphql.js") {
      issues(last: 3) {
        edges {
          node {
            title
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
`);

For more complex authentication strategies such as GitHub Apps or Basic, we recommend the according authentication library exported by @octokit/auth.

const { createAppAuth } = await import("@octokit/auth-app");
const auth = createAppAuth({
  appId: process.env.APP_ID,
  privateKey: process.env.PRIVATE_KEY,
  installationId: 123,
});
const graphqlWithAuth = graphql.defaults({
  request: {
    hook: auth.hook,
  },
});

const { repository } = await graphqlWithAuth(
  `{
    repository(owner: "octokit", name: "graphql.js") {
      issues(last: 3) {
        edges {
          node {
            title
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }`,
);

Variables

⚠️ Do not use template literals in the query strings as they make your code vulnerable to query injection attacks (see #2). Use variables instead:

const { repository } = await graphql(
  `
    query lastIssues($owner: String!, $repo: String!, $num: Int = 3) {
      repository(owner: $owner, name: $repo) {
        issues(last: $num) {
          edges {
            node {
              title
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  `,
  {
    owner: "octokit",
    repo: "graphql.js",
    headers: {
      authorization: `token secret123`,
    },
  },
);

Pass query together with headers and variables

import { graphql } from("@octokit/graphql");
const { repository } = await graphql({
  query: `query lastIssues($owner: String!, $repo: String!, $num: Int = 3) {
    repository(owner: $owner, name: $repo) {
      issues(last: $num) {
        edges {
          node {
            title
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }`,
  owner: "octokit",
  repo: "graphql.js",
  headers: {
    authorization: `token secret123`,
  },
});

Use with GitHub Enterprise

import { graphql } from "@octokit/graphql";
graphql = graphql.defaults({
  baseUrl: "https://github-enterprise.acme-inc.com/api",
  headers: {
    authorization: `token secret123`,
  },
});
const { repository } = await graphql(`
  {
    repository(owner: "acme-project", name: "acme-repo") {
      issues(last: 3) {
        edges {
          node {
            title
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
`);

Use custom @octokit/request instance

import { request } from "@octokit/request";
import { withCustomRequest } from "@octokit/graphql";

let requestCounter = 0;
const myRequest = request.defaults({
  headers: {
    authorization: "bearer secret123",
  },
  request: {
    hook(request, options) {
      requestCounter++;
      return request(options);
    },
  },
});
const myGraphql = withCustomRequest(myRequest);
await request("/");
await myGraphql(`
  {
    repository(owner: "acme-project", name: "acme-repo") {
      issues(last: 3) {
        edges {
          node {
            title
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
`);
// requestCounter is now 2

TypeScript

@octokit/graphql is exposing proper types for its usage with TypeScript projects.

Additional Types

Additionally, GraphQlQueryResponseData has been exposed to users:

import type { GraphQlQueryResponseData } from "@octokit/graphql";

Errors

In case of a GraphQL error, error.message is set to a combined message describing all errors returned by the endpoint. All errors can be accessed at error.errors. error.request has the request options such as query, variables and headers set for easier debugging.

import { graphql, GraphqlResponseError } from "@octokit/graphql";
graphql = graphql.defaults({
  headers: {
    authorization: `token secret123`,
  },
});
const query = `{
  viewer {
    bioHtml
  }
}`;

try {
  const result = await graphql(query);
} catch (error) {
  if (error instanceof GraphqlResponseError) {
    // do something with the error, allowing you to detect a graphql response error,
    // compared to accidentally catching unrelated errors.

    // server responds with an object like the following (as an example)
    // class GraphqlResponseError {
    //  "headers": {
    //    "status": "403",
    //  },
    //  "data": null,
    //  "errors": [{
    //   "message": "Field 'bioHtml' doesn't exist on type 'User'",
    //   "locations": [{
    //    "line": 3,
    //    "column": 5
    //   }]
    //  }]
    // }

    console.log("Request failed:", error.request); // { query, variables: {}, headers: { authorization: 'token secret123' } }
    console.log(error.message); // Field 'bioHtml' doesn't exist on type 'User'
  } else {
    // handle non-GraphQL error
  }
}

Partial responses

A GraphQL query may respond with partial data accompanied by errors. In this case we will throw an error but the partial data will still be accessible through error.data

import { graphql } from "@octokit/graphql";
graphql = graphql.defaults({
  headers: {
    authorization: `token secret123`,
  },
});
const query = `{
  repository(name: "probot", owner: "probot") {
    name
    ref(qualifiedName: "master") {
      target {
        ... on Commit {
          history(first: 25, after: "invalid cursor") {
            nodes {
              message
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}`;

try {
  const result = await graphql(query);
} catch (error) {
  // server responds with
  // {
  //   "data": {
  //     "repository": {
  //       "name": "probot",
  //       "ref": null
  //     }
  //   },
  //   "errors": [
  //     {
  //       "type": "INVALID_CURSOR_ARGUMENTS",
  //       "path": [
  //         "repository",
  //         "ref",
  //         "target",
  //         "history"
  //       ],
  //       "locations": [
  //         {
  //           "line": 7,
  //           "column": 11
  //         }
  //       ],
  //       "message": "`invalid cursor` does not appear to be a valid cursor."
  //     }
  //   ]
  // }

  console.log("Request failed:", error.request); // { query, variables: {}, headers: { authorization: 'token secret123' } }
  console.log(error.message); // `invalid cursor` does not appear to be a valid cursor.
  console.log(error.data); // { repository: { name: 'probot', ref: null } }
}

Writing tests

You can pass a replacement for the built-in fetch implementation as request.fetch option. For example, using fetch-mock works great to write tests

import assert from "assert";
import fetchMock from "fetch-mock";

import { graphql } from "@octokit/graphql";

graphql("{ viewer { login } }", {
  headers: {
    authorization: "token secret123",
  },
  request: {
    fetch: fetchMock
      .sandbox()
      .post("https://api.github.com/graphql", (url, options) => {
        assert.strictEqual(options.headers.authorization, "token secret123");
        assert.strictEqual(
          options.body,
          '{"query":"{ viewer { login } }"}',
          "Sends correct query",
        );
        return { data: {} };
      }),
  },
});

License

MIT