Schema Transformation

Introduction to Transforms

GraphQL Mesh allows you to modify the schema easily, in order to control the contents of your GraphQL requests and responses; you can use one of the built-in transforms or write your own.

Each transformer can manipulate the schema the way it needs and return the modified schema.

Transforms are specified as a list of objects, and they are executed in order. You can apply them over a specific input source or over the unified schema (after merging all sources).

Transforms location and order

Most of the previous Guides configured Transforms at the root of the .meshrc.yaml YAML configuration.

However, Mesh Transforms can be specified at the Source or Root level as follows:

sources:
  - name: Books
    handler:
      openapi:
        source: http://localhost:3002/openapi.json
    transforms:
  - rename:
      renames:
        - from:
            type: Query
            field: categories
          to:
            type: Query
            field: booksCategories
  - name: Authors
    handler:
      grpc:
        endpoint: localhost:3003
  - name: Stores
    handler:
      graphql:
        endpoint: http://0.0.0.0:3004/graphql
transforms:
  - filterSchema:
      filters:
        - Query.stores

Specifying transforms at the Source level helps to isolate each Source definition better.

The diagram below explains how Mesh process applied when building the final unified Schema and SDK:

The above diagram highlights 2 important points when working with transforms:

Transforms order is important

The sequence diagram shows that Mesh always applies transforms in order, which means a given transformer can impact the following one.

Given the following MyService schema:

type Query {
  books_list: [Book]!
}
 
# …

The following filterSchema transforms configuration will fail:

sources:
   - name: MyService
    handler:
      jsonSchema:
        # …
 
    transforms:
      - namingConvention:
              typeNames: pascalCase
              fieldNames: camelCase
      - filterSchema:
          - Query.books_list

Because Mesh process transforms in the definition order, when filterSchema is processed, all types and fields have been transformed to match the configured naming convention. The Query.books_list does not exist anymore, replaced by the Query.booksList query.

Beware of which transforms are used at the source level

As stated earlier, transforms applied at the source level impact the generated SDK.

For this reason, be careful when using the filterSchema transforms at the Source level since it will also remove it from the SDK, which will make it impossible to use it at the additional resolvers level.

For example:

sources:
   - name: MyService
    handler:
      jsonSchema:
        # ...
 
    transforms:
      - filterSchema:
          - Query.books_list

The above filterSchema Transforms will prevent calling the books_list Query SDK method from the additionalResolvers.

(The MyService.Query.books_list() SDK method won’t be generated)

Two different modes

By default, most transform manipulating schemas work by wrapping the original schema. Still, recently we have also introduced a new “bare” mode to replace the original schema with the transformed one. Although both bare and wrap modes apparently achieve the same result, their behaviors are very different. Let’s take a look at how they operate.

Wrap

The wrap mode applies transformations by adding a wrapping layer to the original GraphQL schema. The handler generates a GraphQL schema and passes it to the transform. When in “wrap” mode, the transform receives this schema. Rather than updating it, it will apply a layer on top of it, with the scope of serving your transformations as an addition to the original schema generated by the handler. This approach is safe as we have used it extensively in graphql-tools; however, be mindful of the implications below.

Implications

The wrap mode is the default mode for schema manipulation transforms because it is safe and works across all data sources. However, you might want to be aware of the following implications.

• Runtime implications Schema wrapping is performed during initialization only and so won’t affect runtime GraphQL operations. However, transforms altering the original schema shape using the “wrap” mode, achieve this by intercepting both the incoming request and original response in order to do the mapping required to transform the original schema into the desired shape. Not all transforms require interception of both request and response. Some require straightforward mapping, so the runtime overhead could hopefully be negligible; however, there will always be some.
• Multiple wrapping layers When using “wrap” mode, the required transformation can be achieved by adding at least one wrapping layer per each transform rule defined. We cannot have a wrapping layer per transform, but we need one per rule since each rule is unique in the way it transforms different parts of the schema. Some rules might even require multiple wrapping layers, f.i. When transforming a field, the transform needs to be applied to RootFields, ObjectFields, and InputObjectFields. As explained in the previous point, the wrapping layers are registered during initialization only. However, each wrapping layer will always have some runtime implications, even if hopefully negligible.
• Working with fixed-schema sources As mentioned, “wrap” is the only mode that works for sources that “speak” GraphQL natively. However, when you work with fixed schema sources, such as JSON-schema, OpenApi, SOAP, …, schema wrapping might have some undesired effects; f.i. You won’t have access to the original “fixed-contract” response from your data source. This might not be ideal, for example, when implementing custom resolvers, where you might want to access several properties returned by your REST service to compute custom data. Still, you will only be able to access properties requested with the GraphQL query. If you don’t want/can’t opt into “bare” mode, this can be easily solved by explicitly declaring a SelectionSet, within your custom resolver to list all properties required to compute your custom data.

Example:

sources:
  - name: Countries
    handler:
      graphql:
        endpoint: https://api.../graphql
    transforms:
      - rename:
          mode: wrap # bare won't work here, since this data source already "speaks" GraphQL
          renames:
            - from:
                type: Country
                field: admin1Admins
              to:
                type: Country
                field: admin1
  - name: Users
    handler:
      openapi:
        source: https://api.../swagger.yaml
    transforms:
      - rename:
          mode: wrap # you can use either wrap or bare here
          renames:
            - from:
                type: User
                field: lastName
              to:
                type: User
                field: surname
transforms:
  - rename:
      mode: wrap # bare won't work here at all-sources (root) level, because you're not using merger-bare
      renames:
        - from:
            type: Country
            field: ISO-3166_Code
          to:
            type: Country
            field: code

Bare

Bare is a recent addition and works by replacing the original schema. The handler generates a GraphQL schema and passes it to the transform. When in “bare” mode, the transform, receives the schema generated by your handler, applies the transform rules defined and finally returns an updated version of the original schema. This means that the transformed schema replaces the original schema from the handler and so Mesh deals with the latter schema only, as opposed to an original schema plus one or more wrapping layers. Bare mode does remove all the implications of “wrap” mode, however, be mindful of the restrictions below.

Restrictions

Bare does provide performance improvements over “wrap”, however it has a main restriction: it needs to access the bare schema. Here are some reasons why this might not work:

• Your data source already “speaks” GraphQL In this case “bare” won’t work as it cannot replace a native GraphQL schema. This is not the same as transforming a “translated” GraphQL schema (e.g. from JSON-schema, OpenApi, SOAP, etc.). The suggestion in this case is to apply “wrap” transforms to your GraphQL data sources and “bare” transforms to source “translated” into GraphQL.

• You are applying transforms at all-sources (root) level This means that “bare” would receive a composed GraphQL schema, rather than a bare and “translated” schema. If you do want to use “bare” at the root level, your only choice is to opt into merger-bare, which lets transforms access the bare schemas; because it merges sources without wrapping them. This works when you don’t have (or you take care of) conflicts between your sources, and you are not applying root-level transforms to data sources that already “speaks” GraphQL.

• You are mixing transforms that support “bare” with transforms that don’t Again, “bare” always needs to access the bare schema. If you define other transforms that don’t support “bare” mode, you will most likely have troubles, since those transforms will apply a wrapping layer which will provide “bare” transforms the wrapping layer, as opposed to the original bare schema. In order to take advantage of “bare” performance improvements, the suggestion here is to apply “wrap” transforms at the all-sources (root) level and “bare” transforms within the data sources level; so that at least you are able to reduce the number of wrapping layers that would otherwise be created if not using “bare” at all.

Example:

sources:
  - name: Countries
    handler:
      soap:
        source: http://webservices.../wso?WSDL
  - name: Users
    handler:
      openapi:
        source: https://api.../swagger.yaml
    transforms:
      - rename:
          mode: bare # bare is a great choice here, at the data source level
          renames:
            - from:
                type: User
                field: lastName
              to:
                type: User
                field: surname
merger: bare # this lets transforms access the bare schemas
transforms:
  - rename:
      mode: bare # bare will work here, at all-sources (root) level, because you're using merger-bare
      renames:
        - from:
            type: Country
            field: ISO-3166_Code
          to:
            type: Country
            field: code

Modes support

The table below illustrates how “bare” and “wrap” modes are supported across all transforms. If you have use cases for which you would require to introduce either “bare” or “wrap” mode to one of the transforms, feel free to open a feature request.