apollo-mcp-server

Apollo MCP Server Guide

Apollo MCP Server exposes GraphQL operations as MCP tools, enabling AI agents to interact with GraphQL APIs through the Model Context Protocol.

Quick Start

Step 1: Install

# Linux / MacOS
curl -sSL https://mcp.apollo.dev/download/nix/latest | sh

# Windows
iwr 'https://mcp.apollo.dev/download/win/latest' | iex

Step 2: Configure

Create config.yaml in your project root:

transport:
  type: streamable_http
schema:
  source: local
  path: ./schema.graphql
operations:
  source: local
  paths:
    - ./operations/
introspection:
  introspect:
    enabled: true
  search:
    enabled: true
  validate:
    enabled: true
  execute:
    enabled: true

Start the server:

apollo-mcp-server ./config.yaml

The MCP endpoint is available at http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp (streamable_http defaults: address 127.0.0.1, port 8000). The GraphQL endpoint defaults to http://localhost:4000/ — override with the endpoint key if your API runs elsewhere.

The server watches the config file for changes and automatically restarts with updated configuration.

Step 3: Connect

Add to your MCP client configuration:

Streamable HTTP (recommended):

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "graphql-api": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-remote", "http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code:

claude mcp add graphql-api -- npx mcp-remote http://127.0.0.1:8000/mcp

Stdio (client launches the server directly):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "graphql-api": {
      "command": "./apollo-mcp-server",
      "args": ["./config.yaml"]
    }
  }
}

Built-in Tools

Tool	Purpose	When to Use
introspect	Explore schema types in detail	Need type definitions, fields, relationships
search	Find types in schema	Looking for specific types or fields
validate	Check operation validity	Before executing operations
execute	Run ad-hoc GraphQL operations	Testing or one-off queries
explorer	Open operation in Apollo Explorer	Generate Explorer URLs (requires GraphOS graph ref)