graphql

A guide to designing GraphQL APIs, a way for applications to request related data through one typed interface. It covers schemas, resolvers, federation, subscriptions, and client tools such as Apollo and urql.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to plan GraphQL schemas, write resolvers, connect data efficiently with DataLoader, combine services, add subscriptions, and integrate clients.
Why use it?
It helps prevent unclear API contracts, repeated database queries, and requests that are too deep or expensive for the server. It also helps decide when a simpler REST API is a better fit.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/beel-collab/presets.dev/graphql
Any agent
npx skills add beel-collab/presets.dev --skill graphql
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/beel-collab/presets.dev

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Per session 51 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 5,978 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00051 $0.05978
Opus 5 $0.00026 $0.02989
Sonnet 5 $0.00010 $0.01196
Haiku 4.5 $0.00005 $0.00598

Measured 2d ago against content hash 2d4d79cd09ea, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

graphql scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

claude/skills/backend/graphql/SKILL.md · 1,075 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 1,075 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

GraphQL

GraphQL gives clients exactly the data they need - no more, no less. One endpoint, typed schema, introspection. But the flexibility that makes it powerful also makes it dangerous. Without proper controls, clients can craft queries that bring down your server.

This skill covers schema design, resolvers, DataLoader for N+1 prevention, federation for microservices, and client integration with Apollo/urql. Key insight: GraphQL is a contract. The schema is the API documentation. Design it carefully.

2025 lesson: GraphQL isn't always the answer. For simple CRUD, REST is simpler. For high-performance public APIs, REST with caching wins. Use GraphQL when you have complex data relationships and diverse client needs.

Principles

  • Schema-first design - the schema is the contract
  • Prevent N+1 queries with DataLoader
  • Limit query depth and complexity
  • Use fragments for reusable selections
  • Mutations should be specific, not generic update operations
  • Errors are data - use union types for expected failures
  • Nullability is meaningful - design it intentionally

Capabilities

  • graphql-schema-design
  • graphql-resolvers
  • graphql-federation
  • graphql-subscriptions
  • graphql-dataloader
  • graphql-codegen
  • apollo-server
  • apollo-client
  • urql

Scope

  • database-queries -> postgres-wizard
  • authentication -> authentication-oauth
  • rest-api-design -> backend
  • websocket-infrastructure -> backend

Tooling

Server

  • @apollo/server - When: Apollo Server v4 Note: Most popular GraphQL server
  • graphql-yoga - When: Lightweight alternative Note: Good for serverless
  • mercurius - When: Fastify integration Note: Fast, uses JIT

Client

  • @apollo/client - When: Full-featured client Note: Caching, state management
  • urql - When: Lightweight alternative Note: Smaller, simpler
  • graphql-request - When: Simple requests Note: Minimal, no caching

Tools

  • graphql-codegen - When: Type generation Note: Essential for TypeScript
  • dataloader - When: N+1 prevention Note: Batches and caches

Read the full file on GitHub · 1,075 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 1,075 lines · 51 tokens per session scan A 2d4d79cd09ea

Subscribe to this mod's changes

graphql is a skill published in the GitHub repository beel-collab/presets.dev (2 stars, last pushed 3mo ago), licensed MIT. It adds 51 tokens to every session and 5,978 once invoked, about $0.0003 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-31.

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