Docker

Docker is a tool that allows you to package an application and its dependencies into a container that can run on any system. This makes it easy to deploy applications in a consistent and reproducible way, regardless of the underlying infrastructure.

To simplify running your GraphQL gateway, you can use the Docker image and the Docker Compose template we provide. This setup allows you to easily configure and run the gateway without the need to install Node.js and the required gateway npm packages.

Prerequisites

Make sure you have Docker installed on your system.

You can follow the official Docker Engine install manual in case you don’t have Docker installed already.

Configuration

Arguments

Hive Gateway can be configured with CLI arguments even when running the image!

For example, changing the supergraph to use the my-schema.graphql schema instead looks like this:

docker run \
  -p 4000:4000 \
  -v "$(pwd)/my-schema.graphql:/gateway/my-schema.graphql" \
  ghcr.io/graphql-hive/gateway supergraph my-schema.graphql

For a full list of CLI arguments, please refer to the CLI arguments.

Config File

Instead of configuring Hive Gateway with CLI arguments, we support configuring with a config file.

You’re recommended to use the gateway.config.ts file to configure Hive Gateway. Simply mount the config file when running the image.

gateway.config.ts

import { defineConfig } from '@graphql-hive/gateway'
 
export const gatewayConfig = defineConfig({
  proxy: {
    endpoint: 'https://example.com/graphql'
  }
})

docker run \
  -p 4000:4000 \
  -v "$(pwd)/gateway.config.ts:/gateway/gateway.config.ts" \
  ghcr.io/graphql-hive/gateway proxy

For a full list of CLI arguments, please refer to the Config Reference.

Changing Port in Container

The default port where Hive Gateway listens is 4000; however, maybe the container is running inside a network (like when using Networking in Compose) and you wish to change the port of Hive Gateway in the image.

You can use the gateway.config.ts to change the port, or simply pass in the --port argument when running the image:

docker run \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -v "$(pwd)/supergraph.graphql:/gateway/supergraph.graphql" \
  ghcr.io/graphql-hive/gateway supergraph --port=8080

Running

Having a supergraph.graphql already composed with GraphQL Mesh, running the Docker image is as easy as:

docker run \
  -p 4000:4000 \
  -v "$(pwd)/supergraph.graphql:/gateway/gateway.config.ts" \
  ghcr.io/graphql-hive/gateway supergraph

Docker Compose

You may have an environment where you want to use Docker Compose and would like to add Hive Gateway there.

Start by defining the docker-compose.yml

services:
  hive-gateway:
    image: ghcr.io/graphql-hive/gateway
    command: supergraph
    ports:
      - '4000:4000'
    # Add Hive Registry environment variables in case you use it
    # environment:
    #   HIVE_CDN_ENDPOINT: <secret>
    #   HIVE_CDN_KEY: <secret>
    #   HIVE_REGISTRY_TOKEN: <secret>
    volumes:
      - ./gateway.config.ts:/gateway/gateway.config.ts

And then simply start the services with:

docker compose up

Extend Docker Image

Install Plugin

You may want to add additional functionality, or plugins to the base image - you just need to create a new Dockerfile basing the image off ghcr.io/graphql-hive/gateway.

If need only a handful of plugins (or some other dependencies), you can simply extend the image and install the modules with npm i:

For example, adding Block Field Suggestions Plugin to the container would look like this:

Dockerfile

FROM ghcr.io/graphql-hive/gateway
 
RUN npm i @escape.tech/graphql-armor-block-field-suggestions

docker build -t hive-gateway-w-block-suggestions .

Configure to use the block field suggestions plugin:

gateway.config.ts

import { blockFieldSuggestionsPlugin } from '@escape.tech/graphql-armor-block-field-suggestions'
import { defineConfig } from '@graphql-hive/gateway'
 
export const gatewayConfig = defineConfig({
  plugins: pluginCtx => [
    blockFieldSuggestionsPlugin({
      // Toggle the plugin | Default: true
      enabled: true,
      // Mask applied to the error message | default: '[Suggestion hidden]'
      mask: '[Suggestion hidden]'
    })
  ]
})

And then simply start the new image with the config file mounted:

docker run \
  -p 4000:4000 \
  -v "$(pwd)/gateway.config.ts:/gateway/gateway.config.ts" \
  hive-gateway-w-block-suggestions supergraph

Develop Plugin

However, you may be developing a plugin and have a setup with some dependencies and source code, copying over your project’s files is the way to go.

In the following example, we’re developing a useTiming plugin that will add a human readable execution duration to the GraphQL result extensions property.

package.json

{
  "name": "my-timing",
  "dependencies": {
    "moment": "^2"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@graphql-hive/gateway": "latest",
    "@graphql-hive/gateway": "latest"
  }
}

my-timing.ts

import moment from 'moment'
import type { GatewayPlugin } from '@graphql-hive/gateway'
 
export function useTiming(): GatewayPlugin {
  return {
    onExecute() {
      const start = Date.now()
      return {
        onExecuteDone({ result, setResult }) {
          const duration = moment.duration(Date.now() - start)
          if (isAsyncIterable(result)) {
            setResult(
              mapAsyncIterator(result, result => ({
                ...result,
                extensions: {
                  ...result?.extensions,
                  duration: duration.humanize()
                }
              }))
            )
            return
          }
          setResult({
            ...result,
            extensions: {
              ...result?.extensions,
              duration: duration.humanize()
            }
          })
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

gateway.config.ts

import { defineConfig } from '@graphql-hive/gateway'
import { useTiming } from './my-timing'
 
export const gatewayConfig = defineConfig({
  plugins: () => [useTiming()]
})

Your Dockerfile should then look something like this:

Dockerfile

FROM ghcr.io/graphql-hive/gateway
 
# we dont install dev deps because:
#   1. we need them for type checking only
#   2. Hive Gateway is already available in the docker image
COPY package*.json .
RUN npm i --omit=dev
 
COPY my-time.ts .
COPY gateway.config.ts .

Then build your image:

docker build -t hive-gateway-w-my-timing .

And finally start it (the config file is in the image and doesn’t need to be mounted):

docker run -p 4000:4000 hive-gateway-w-my-timing supergraph

💡

For faster development, you can mount the source code as volumes so that you don’t have to rebuild the image on each run.

docker run -p 4000:4000 \
  -v "$(pwd)/gateway.config.ts":/gateway/gateway.config.ts \
  -v "$(pwd)/my-timing.ts":/gateway/my-timing.ts \
  hive-gateway-w-my-timing supergraph

Additional Resolvers

Instead maybe you need to define additional resolvers that depend on other dependencies. Similarily to the Develop Plugin approach, you can just copy the project code over and build another image.

Say you have the following files:

package.json

{
  "name": "my-time",
  "dependencies": {
    "moment": "^2"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@graphql-hive/gateway": "latest"
  }
}

my-time.ts

import moment from 'moment'
 
export const additionalResolvers = {
  Query: {
    formattedToday() {
      return moment().format('DD.MM.YYYY')
    }
  }
}

gateway.config.ts

import { defineConfig } from '@graphql-hive/gateway'
import { additionalResolvers } from './my-time'
 
export const gatewayConfig = defineConfig({ additionalResolvers })

Your Dockerfile should then look something like this:

Dockerfile

FROM ghcr.io/graphql-hive/gateway
 
# we dont install dev deps because:
#   1. we need them for type checking only
#   2. Hive Gateway is already available in the docker image
COPY package*.json .
RUN npm i --omit=dev
 
COPY my-time.ts .
COPY gateway.config.ts .

Then build your image:

docker build -t hive-gateway-w-add-res .

And finally start it (the config file is in the image and doesn’t need to be mounted):

docker run -p 4000:4000 hive-gateway-w-add-res supergraph

Overview Introduction