Unlock the Power of GraphQL with PostGraphile

When it comes to building fast and reliable APIs, GraphQL is an excellent solution. It allows developers to create APIs that solve the problem of over-fetching and under-fetching of data by specifying the precise structure of the data needed from the server. This results in a better developer experience and faster applications for end-users.

The Magic of PostGraphile

PostGraphile takes GraphQL to the next level by pairing it with PostgreSQL databases. This powerful tool allows developers to quickly set up fully-featured GraphQL servers, leveraging Database-Driven Development to generate and update the server from the Postgres database schema. With PostGraphile, you can focus on building your product while it handles the creation of a performant and standards-compliant GraphQL API layer.

Getting Started with PostGraphile

To get started with PostGraphile, you’ll need:

• Node.js v8.6 or higher
• PostgreSQL v9.6.0 or higher

Once you have these installed, create a database and install PostGraphile globally using npm:

npm install -g postgraphile

Then, run PostGraphile with the database URL and schema name to generate your GraphQL API:

postgraphile --connection "postgres://localhost/mydatabase" --schema public

Defining Your Database Structure

In PostGraphile, you can organize your application using schemas to separate public and private tables. Create a schema for your application and define the structure of your tables. For example, you can create an authors table with columns for id, username, first_name, last_name, and bio, and a posts table with columns for id, headline, body, and created_at.

CREATE TABLE authors (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  username VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
  first_name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
  last_name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
  bio TEXT
);

CREATE TABLE posts (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  headline VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  body TEXT NOT NULL,
  created_at TIMESTAMP NOT NULL DEFAULT NOW()
);

Inserting Data and Querying with GraphQL

Insert some data into your database and use GraphiQL to query the data. You can use the createPost mutation to create a new post and return selected fields:

mutation {
  createPost(headline: "New Post", body: "This is a new post") {
    id
    headline
    body
  }
}

PostGraphile also generates several queries and mutations for you, including allAuthors, allPosts, authorByUsername, and more.

Documentation with Smart Comments

To document your GraphQL types, use smart comments in Postgres. For example, you can add a comment to your authors table to explain what it represents:

COMMENT ON TABLE authors IS 'A table of authors with their details';

This will show up in GraphiQL, making it easy for others to understand your API.

The Power of PostGraphile

PostGraphile is an incredibly powerful tool that can greatly speed up development time on GraphQL APIs. With its ability to generate a fully-featured GraphQL server from your Postgres database schema, you can focus on building your product while it handles the heavy lifting. Check out the complete documentation to learn more about what PostGraphile has to offer.