GraphQL

Prerequisites

Node.js
npm/yarn

Installation

Use the following command to install the Neo4j GraphQL Library dependencies using npm:

npm install @neo4j/graphql graphql apollo-server neo4j-driver

Use the following command to install the Neo4j GraphQL Library dependencies using yarn:

yarn add @neo4j/graphql graphql apollo-server neo4j-driver

Code example

const { Neo4jGraphQL } = require("@neo4j/graphql");
const { ApolloServer, gql } = require("apollo-server");
const neo4j = require("neo4j-driver");

// (You may need to replace your connection details, username and password)
const AURA_ENDPOINT = 'neo4j+s://<Bolt url for Neo4j Aura instance>';
const USERNAME = '<Username for Neo4j Aura instance>';
const PASSWORD = '<Password for Neo4j Aura instance>';

// Create Neo4j driver instance
const driver = neo4j.driver(AURA_ENDPOINT, neo4j.auth.basic(USERNAME, PASSWORD));

const typeDefs = gql`
  type Person {
    name: String
    knows: [Person!]! @relationship(type: "KNOWS", direction: OUT)
    friendCount: Int @cypher(statement:"RETURN SIZE((this)-[:KNOWS]->(:Person))")
  }
`;

// Create instance that contains executable GraphQL schema from GraphQL type definitions
const neo4jGraphQL = new Neo4jGraphQL({
  typeDefs,
  driver
});

// Generate GraphQL schema
neo4jGraphQL.getSchema().then((schema) => {
  // Create ApolloServer instance to serve GraphQL schema
  const server = new ApolloServer({
    schema,
    context: { driverConfig: { database: 'neo4j' } }
  });

  // Start ApolloServer
  server.listen().then(({ url }) => {
    console.log(`GraphQL server ready at ${url}`);
  });
})

Running the example

Follow the steps below to run the example code:

Copy and paste the code above into a file named example.js.
Enter the information for the AuraDB instance you want to connect to by replacing:
- <Bolt url for Neo4j Aura instance> with the URI.
- <Username for Neo4j Aura instance> with the username.
- <Password for Neo4j Aura instance> with the password.
Use the following command to run the example code:
```
node example.js
```

Example walkthrough

You use the Neo4j GraphQL Library to create a GraphQL API backed by your Neo4j Aura instance. The Neo4j GraphQL Library can generate a full GraphQL API, including auto-generated data fetching logic from GraphQL type definitions.

The example creates GraphQL type definitions to define the data model of the API and the instance. It then passes these to the Neo4jGraphQL class that contains an executable GraphQL schema object.

You then use Apollo Server to host the GraphQL schema. Once the GraphQL server is running, navigate to localhost:4000 in your web browser to query the GraphQL API using Apollo Studio.

Querying with GraphQL

In GraphQL Playground, run the following mutation to create two Person nodes, Alice and Dave, connected by a KNOWS relationship in the graph:

mutation {
  createPeople(
    input: [
      {
        name: "Alice"
        knows: { create: [{ name: "David" }] }
      }
    ]
  ) {
    people {
      name
      knows {
        name
      }
    }
  }
}

Then you can query for the Person named Alice, and her friends:

query {
  people(where: { name: "Alice" }) {
    name
    friendCount
    knows {
      name
    }
  }
}

References

Was this page helpful?