Strategies for API hierarchies

We can apply different ideas to set-up a hierarchy for our API endpoints.

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Query first, override schema

We can define the parent to contain a common GraphQL query, and then extend it for each of the different applications.

For instance, the parent persisted query /graphql-query/posts/ will define the GraphQL query:

query GetPosts {
  posts {
    id
    title
    url
  }
}Copy

And the child persisted queries, for the website and the mobile app, will set the corresponding schema configuration:

• /graphql-query/posts/website/ => use schema configuration "Website"
• /graphql-query/posts/mobile-app/ => use schema configuration "Mobile app"

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Schema first, override query

Alternatively, we can declare the schema configuration at the parent level, and then all children inherit it, and implement only the GraphQL query:

• /graphql-query/mobile-app/posts/
• /graphql-query/mobile-app/users/
• /graphql-query/website/posts/
• /graphql-query/website/users/

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Translate endpoint

Translate the content in an endpoint by providing the language code via a variable, which can be overriden by the child endpoint.

For instance, we can create a persisted query /graphql-query/posts/ with this GraphQL query:

query GetTranslatedPosts($lang: String!) {
  posts {
    title @strTranslate(from: "en", to: $lang)
    url
  }
}Copy

We don't need to execute this endpoint directly, so it can be disabled.

Then, we create child persisted query /graphql-query/posts/french/, which overrides the GraphQL variable:

{
  "lang": "fr"
}Copy