express-graphql-boilerplate

Express GraphQL API with JWT Authentication and support for sqlite, mysql, and postgresql

Authentication via JWT
Support for sqlite, mysql, and postgresql
Support for graphiql an easy way exploring a GraphQL API
Environments for development, testing, and production
Linting via eslint
Integration tests running with Jest
Built with npm scripts
Examples for User, Note, and nested GraphQL Queries

Quick Intro

GraphQL is a Query Language where your REST API can co-exist directly beside your GraphQL API in harmony. To demonstrate this we have two REST endpoints for register and login.

# clone repository
$ git clone https://github.com/aichbauer/express-graphql-boilerplate.git
# cd into project root
$ cd express-graphql-boilerplate
# install dependencies
$ npm i
# start application
$ npm start
# create a User via the REST API
$ curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X POST -d '{"email":"[email protected]","password":"pw","password2":"pw"}' http://localhost:2017/rest/register
# login a User via the REST API
# you will get a JSON with a token and this is your token to get access to the GraphQL API
$ curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X POST -d '{"email":"[email protected]","password":"pw"}' http://localhost:2017/rest/login
# requesting a User via the GraphQL API
$ curl -i -H "Content-Type:application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" -X POST -d '{"query": "{user{id, username}}"}'  http://localhost:2017/graphql
# creating a Note for a user via the GraphQL API
$ curl -i -H "Content-Type:application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" -X POST -d '{"query": "mutation{createNote(userId:1,note:\"this is a note\"){id,userId,note}}"}' http://localhost:2017/graphql
# requesting a User with its Notes via the GraphQL API (nested Query)
$ curl -i -H "Content-Type:application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>" -X POST -d '{"query": "{user{id, username, notes{id, note}}}"}'  http://localhost:2017/graphql

Install & Use
Folder Structure
Controllers
- Create a Controller
GraphQL
Models
- Create a Model
Policies
- auth.policy
Services
Config
- Connection and Database
- Routes
Test
- Setup
npm scripts
Deploy
- database
- nginx

Install and Use

Start by cloning this repository

# HTTPS
$ git clone https://github.com/aichbauer/express-graphql-boilerplate.git

then

# change directory to project root
$ cd express-graphql-boilerplate
# install dependencies
$ npm i
# to use mysql
$ npm i mysql2 -S
# to use postgresql
$ npm i pg pg-hstore -S

# change directory to project root
$ cd express-graphql-boilerplate
# install dependencies
$ yarn
# to use mysql
$ yarn add mysql2
# to use postgresql
$ yarn add pg pg-hstore

SQLite is supported out of the box as it is the default database.

Folder Structure

This boilerplate has four main directories:

api - for controllers, queries, mutations, models, types, services, etc.
config - for routes, database, etc.
db - this is only a directory for the sqlite database, the default for NODE_ENV=development
test - using Jest

Controllers

Controllers in this boilerplate have a naming convention: ModelnameController.js and uses an object factory pattern. To use a model inside of your controller you have to require it. We use Sequelize as ORM, if you want further information read the Docs.

Create a Controller

For an example with all CRUD operations visit the express-rest-api-boilerplate

GraphQL

This directory holds all files that are related to GraphQL (mutations, queries, types, ...).

Create a Query

Note: You need to have a Type, and an existing Model to use queries in combination with a database!

Example query for a User which lets you request all different fields which are defined in args.

// import the required GraphQL Types
const {
  GraphQLInt,
  GraphQLString,
  GraphQLList,
} = require('graphql');

// import the Model and the Type
const { UserType } = require('../types');
const { User } = require('../../models');

// create the query
const userQuery = {
  type: new GraphQLList(UserType), // the Type which it returns (an array of Users)
  args: {
    // arguments you are able to Query
    // notice no password field
    // so the password will not be send as respond
    // neither can you Query for it
    id: {
      name: 'id',
      type: GraphQLInt,
    },
    username: {
      name: 'username',
      type: GraphQLString,
    },
    email: {
      name: 'email',
      type: GraphQLString,
    },
    notes: {
      name: 'notes',
      type: GraphQLString,
    },
    createdAt: {
      name: 'createdAt',
      type: GraphQLString,
    },
    updatedAt: {
      name: 'updatedAt',
      type: GraphQLString,
    },
  },
  // how to get the respond
  // DB call
  resolve: (user, args) => User.findAll({ where: args }),
};

module.exports = { userQuery };

Do not forget to require and export the query in ./api/graphql/queries/index.js.

Create a Mutation

Note: You need to have a Type, and an existing Model to use mutations in combination with a database!

// import the rqeuired GraphQL Types
const {
  GraphQLString,
  GraphQLInt,
  GraphQLNonNull,
} = require('graphql');
const merge = require('lodash.merge');

// import the Model and the Type
const { UserType } = require('../types');
const { User } = require('../../models');

// create the mutation
const updateUser = {
  // the Type which it returns (one user)
  type: UserType,
  description: 'The mutation that allows you to update an existing User by Id',
  // arguments you can use
  // have to be fields that are
  // resolvable by the UserType
  args: {
    id: {
      name: 'id',
      type: new GraphQLNonNull(GraphQLInt),
    },
    username: {
      name: 'username',
      type: GraphQLString,
    },
    email: {
      name: 'email',
      type: GraphQLString,
    },
  },
  // find the User in the DB
  // update the fields for this user
  resolve: async (user, { id, username, email }) => {
    const foundUser = await User.findByPk(id);

    if (!foundUser) {
      throw new Error(`User with id: ${id} not found!`);
    }

    const updatedUser = merge(foundUser, {
      username,
      email,
    });

    return foundUser.update(updatedUser);
  },
};

// the delete mutation
const deleteUser = {
  // the Type which it returns (one user)
  type: UserType,
  description: 'The mutation that allows you to delete a existing User by Id',
  // arguments you can use
  args: {
    id: {
      name: 'id',
      type: new GraphQLNonNull(GraphQLInt),
    },
  },
  resolve: async (user, { id }) => {
    const foundUser = await User.findByPk(id);

    if (!foundUser) {
      throw new Error(`User with id: ${id} not found!`);
    }

    await User.destroy({
      where: {
        id,
      },
    });

    return foundUser;
  },
};

module.exports = {
  updateUser,
  deleteUser,
};

Do not forget to require and export the mutation in ./api/graphql/mutations/index.js.

Create a Type

Types are necessary to let GraphQL know, how to resolve the different fields you provide in your queries and mutations.

// import the required GraphQL Types
const {
  GraphQLObjectType,
  GraphQLInt,
  GraphQLString,
  GraphQLList,
} = require('graphql');

// our UserType definition
const UserType = new GraphQLObjectType({
  name: 'User',
  description: 'This represents a User',
  // all the fields a User can have
  fields: () => ({
    id: {
      type: GraphQLInt,
      resolve: (user) => user.id,
    },
    username: {
      type: GraphQLString,
      resolve: (user) => user.username,
    },
    email: {
      type: GraphQLString,
      resolve: (user) => user.email,
    },
    createdAt: {
      type: GraphQLString,
      resolve: (user) => user.createdAt,
    },
    updatedAt: {
      type: GraphQLString,
      resolve: (user) => user.updatedAt,
    },
  }),
});

module.exports = { UserType };

Do not forget to require and export the type in ./api/graphql/types/index.js.

Create an InputType

InputTypes are a way to simplify your arguments on a mutation or a query. You may not need to implement InputTypes, but it is common that some kind of mutations or queries accept the same input types, what makes them pretty handy.

The simpliest version would of a InputType could look like this:

// import the GraphQL types
// that you need for your
// input type
const {
  GraphQLInputObjectType,
  GraphQLInt,
  GraphQLNonNull,
  GraphQLString,
} = require('graphql');

// create a InputType
const UserInputType = new GraphQLInputObjectType({
  name: 'UserInputType',
  description: 'This represents a UserInputType',
  fields: {
    id: {
      type: new GraphQLNonNull(GraphQLInt),
    },
    username: {
      type: GraphQLString,
    },
    email: {
      type: GraphQLString,
    },
  },
});


module.exports = { UserInputType };

But you can reuse the same implementation for multiple purposes of the same InputType, e.g. update and delete. To delete a user you only need to send the Id and nothing else, this could help front end developers.

// import the GraphQL types
// that you need for your
// input type
const {
  GraphQLInputObjectType,
  GraphQLInt,
  GraphQLNonNull,
  GraphQLString,
} = require('graphql');

// the function that accepts a
// string, specifying the type
// e.g. 'create', 'update', or 'delete'
const UserInputType = (type) => {
  let allGraphFields = {};
  const standardGraphFields = {
    id: {
      type: new GraphQLNonNull(GraphQLInt),
    },
  };

  // add args for different mutations
  switch (type) {
    case 'delete':
      allGraphFields = {
        ...standardGraphFields,
      };
      break;
    case 'update':
      allGraphFields = {
        ...standardGraphFields,
        username: {
          type: GraphQLString,
        },
        email: {
          type: GraphQLString,
        },
      };
      break;
    default:
      allGraphFields = {
        ...standardGraphFields,
      };
  }

  // create a InputType
  // keep in mind that
  // one name can only
  // exist once in a schema
  const userInputType = new GraphQLInputObjectType({
    name: `UserInputType${type[0].toUpperCase() + type.slice(1, type.length - 1)}`,
    description: 'This represents a UserInputType',
    fields: allGraphFields,
  });

  return userInputType;
};

module.exports = { UserInputType };

Now you can use this on a mutation or a query like:

const updateUser = {
  type: UserType,
  description: 'The mutation that allows you to update an existing User by Id',
  args: {
    user: {
      name: 'user',
      // use the InputType
      type: UserInputType('update'),
    },
  },
  resolve: async (_, { user }) => {
    const foundUser = await User.findByPk(user.id);

    if (!foundUser) {
      throw new Error(`User with id: ${user.id} not found!`);
    }

    const updatedUser = merge(foundUser, {
      username: user.username,
      email: user.email,
    });

    return foundUser.update(updatedUser);
  },
};

const deleteUser = {
  type: UserType,
  description: 'The mutation that allows you to delete a existing User by Id',
  args: {
    user: {
      name: 'user',
      // use the InputType
      type: UserInputType('delete'),
    },
  },
  resolve: async (_, { user }) => {
    const foundUser = await User.findByPk(user.id);

    if (!foundUser) {
      throw new Error(`User with id: ${user.id} not found!`);
    }

    await User.destroy({
      where: {
        id: user.id,
      },
    });

    return foundUser;
  },
};

RootQuery, RootMutation and Schema

The schema holds the RootQuery and the RootMutation which holds all the other Queries and Mutations, that is applied to one route which is your entrypoint for your GraphQL API. The schema has to be exported and used in the ./api/api.js file.

// import required GraphQL Types
const {
  GraphQLSchema,
  GraphQLObjectType,
} = require('graphql');

// import Query and Mutations
const { userQuery } = require('./queries');
const {
  updateUser,
  deleteUser,
} = require('./mutations');

// add Queries to RootQuery
const RootQuery = new GraphQLObjectType({
  name: 'rootQuery',
  description: 'This is the RootQuery which holds all possible READ entrypoints for the GraphQL API',
  fields: () => ({
    user: userQuery,
  }),
});

// add Mutations to RootMutations
const RootMutation = new GraphQLObjectType({
  name: 'rootMutation',
  description: 'This is the root Mutation which holds all possible WRITE entrypoints for the GraphQL API',
  fields: () => ({
    updateUser,
    deleteUser,
  }),
});

// add RootQuery and RootMutation
// to your Schema
const schema = new GraphQLSchema({
  query: RootQuery,
  mutation: RootMutation,
});

module.exports = { schema };

To use the this schema for your API we need to add it to a route, as you can see we use our auth service to protect our GraphQL API to be used without authorization via a valid JSON Web Token. We get a nice web interface for our GraphQL API via the graphql-playground-middleware-express package. You can use it if you visit http://localhost:2017/explore. If you want to use it in production you should make sure only you have access to /explore.

api.all('/graphql', (req, res, next) => auth(req, res, next));
api.use('/graphql', bodyParser.json(), graphqlExpress({ schema }));
api.get('/explore', expressPlayground({ endpoint: '/graphql' }));

The entrypoint for our GraphQL API is http://localhost:2017/graphql

Models

This folder holds all models. Every model is required and exported in index.js.

Create a model

Models in this boilerplate have a naming convention: Model.js and uses Sequelize to define our Models, if you want further information, read the Docs.

Example User Model:

// as our ORM
const Sequelize = require('sequelize');
// for encrypting our passwords
const bcryptSevice = require('../services/bcrypt.service');

// the DB connection
const sequelize = require('../../config/database');

// hooks are functions that can run before or after a specific event
const hooks = {
  beforeCreate(user) {
    user.password = bcryptSevice().password(user); // eslint-disable-line no-param-reassign
  },
};

// naming the table in the DB
const tableName = 'users';

// the actual Model
const User = sequelize.define('User', {
  username: {
    type: Sequelize.STRING,
  },
  password: {
    type: Sequelize.STRING,
  },
  email: {
    type: Sequelize.STRING,
    unique: true,
  },
}, { hooks, tableName });

// instanceMethods are functions that run on instances of our Model
// toJSON runs before delivering it to our client
// we delete the password, that the client has no sensitive data
User.prototype.toJSON = function () {
  const values = Object.assign({}, this.get());

  delete values.password;

  return values;
};

module.exports = { User };

Do not forget to require the the model in ./api/models/index.js.

Policies

Policies are middleware functions that can run before hitting a specific or more specified route(s).

Example policy:

Only allow if the user is marked as admin.

Note: this is not a secure example, only for presentation puposes

module.exports = (req, res, next) => {
  if(req.body.userrole === 'admin') {
    // do some verification stuff
    const verified = verifyAdmin(req.body.userid);

    if(verified) {
      return next();
    }

    return res.status(401).json({ msg: 'Unauthorized' });
  }

  return res.status(401).json({ msg: 'Unauthorized' });
};

To use this policy on all routes that only admins are allowed:

api.js

const adminPolicy = require('./policies/admin.policy');

app.all('/admin/*', (req, res, next) => adminPolicy(req, res, next));

Or for one specific route

api.js

const adminPolicy = require('./policies/admin.policy');

app.get('/admin/myroute',
  (req, res, next) => adminPolicy(req, res, next),
  (req, res) => {
  //do some fancy stuff
});

auth.policy

The auth.policy checks wether a JSON Web Token is send in the header of an request as Authorization: Bearer [JSON Web Token] or inside of the body of an request as token: [JSON Web Token]. The policy runs default on all API routes that are are prefixed with /graphql. To map multiple routes read the express-routes-mapper docs.

To use this policy on all routes of a specific prefix:

app.js

app.use('/prefix', yourRoutes);
app.all('/prefix', (req, res, next) => auth(req, res, next));

or to use this policy on one specific route:

app.js

app.get('/specificRoute',
  (req, res, next) => auth(req, res, next),
  (req, res) => {
  // do some fancy stuff
});

Services

Services are little useful snippets, or calls to another API that are not the main focus of your API.

Example service:

Get comments from another API:

module.exports = {
  getComments: () => (
    fetch('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/comments', {
      method: 'get'
    }).then(function(res) {
      // do some fancy stuff with the response
    }).catch(function(err) {
      // Error :(
    })
  );
};

Config

Holds all the server configurations.

Connection and Database

Note: If you use mysql make sure mysql server is running on the machine

Note: If you use postgresql make sure postgresql server is running on the machine

These two files are the way to establish a connection to a database.

You only need to touch connection.js, default for development is sqlite, but it is easy as typing mysql or postgres to switch to another db.

Note: To run a mysql db install these package with: npm i mysql2 -S or yarn add mysql2

Note: To run a postgres db run these package with: npm i -S pg pg-hstore or yarn add pg pg-hstore

Now simple configure the keys with your credentials.

{
  database: 'databasename',
  username: 'username',
  password: 'password',
  host: 'localhost',
  dialect: 'sqlite' || 'mysql' || 'postgres',
}

To not configure the production code.

To start the DB, add the credentials for production. Add environment variables by typing e.g. export DB_USER=yourusername before starting the API.

Routes

For an example REST API with routes visit express-rest-api-boilerplate

Here you define all your routes for your API. It doesn't matter how you structure them. By default they are mapped on privateRoutes and publicRoutes. You can define as much routes files as you want e.g. for every Model or for specific use cases, e.g. normal user and admins.

Test

All test for this boilerplate uses Jest and supertest for integration testing. So read their docs on further information.

npm scripts

There are no automation tools or task runners like grunt or gulp used for this boilerplate. This boilerplate only uses npm scripts for automatization.

npm start

This is the entry for a developer.

By default it uses a sqlite databse, if you want to migrate the sqlite database by each start, disable the prestart and poststart command. Also mind if you are using a sqlite database to delete the drop-sqlite-db in the prepush hook.

runs a nodemon watch task for the all files in the project root
sets the environment variable NODE_ENV to development
opens the db connection for development
starts the server on 127.0.0.1:2017

npm test

This command:

runs npm run lint (eslint) with the airbnb styleguide without arrow-parens rule for better readability
sets the environment variable NODE_ENV to testing
creates the database.sqlite for the test
runs jest --coverage for testing with Jest and the coverage
drops the database.sqlite after the test

npm run production

This command:

sets the environment variable to production
opens the db connection for production
starts the server on 127.0.0.1:2017 or on 127.0.0.1:PORT_ENV

Before running on production you have to set the environment vaiables:

DB_NAME - database name for production
DB_USER - database username for production
DB_PASS - database password for production
DB_HOST - database host for production
JWT_SECRET - secret for json web token

Optional:

PORT - the port your API on 127.0.0.1, default to 2017

other commands

npm run project clean - clean up controllers, models, graphql, config/routes to start developing your own api
npm run dev - simply starts the server without a watch task
npm run creates-sqlite-db - creates the sqlite database file
npm run drop-sqlite-db - deletes the sqlite database file
npm run lint - linting with eslint
npm run nodemon - same as npm start
npm run prepush - a hook which runs before pushing to a repository, runs npm test and npm run drop-sqlite-db
pretest - runs linting before npm test
test-ci - only runs tests, nothing in pretest, nothing in posttest, for better use with ci tools

Deploy

This section gives an overview of how to deploy this project to a server. For this examples we use an ubuntu server.

Database

This section gives an overview of how to set up the database (for this example we will use a postgres database).

# update package database
$ sudo apt-get update
# install all postgres required resources
$ sudo apt-get install python-psycopg2 libpq-dev postgresql postgresql-contrib
# open postgres
$ sudo -u postgres psql postgres
# set passsword for postgres user
$ \password postgres
# create a new DB
$ CREATE DATABASE db_name;
# list all dbs
$ \l
# exit psql
$ \q

To use postgres with this project you need to install two additional packages from npm. See next section.

nginx

This section gives an overview of how to use ngingx as a webserver for this project.

# update package database
$ sudo apt-get update
# install all required resources for this project and nginx
$ sudo apt-get install nginx git-all
$ curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_8.x | sudo -E bash -
$ sudo apt-get install -y nodejs
# install forever js
$ npm i -g forever
# now copy your project to the server
$ git clone https://example.com/your/repository

To use this project with postgres you need to install two additional packages from npm.

# cd into your project
$ cd project
# install dependencies
$ npm i
# install two new packages for postgres
$ npm i pg pg-hstore -S
# start project with forever
$ NODE_ENV=production DB_NAME=DB_NAME DB_USER=DB_USER DB_PASS=DB_PASS DB_HOST=DB_HOST DB_PORT=DB_PORT JWT_SECRET=JWT_SECRET forever start -c node ./api/api.js

You need to update the config/connection.js to use postgres, see config.

Now we need our nginx configuration to be set up. Save the following in /etc/nginx/sites-available/project_name. Where project_name is the name of your project. You need to replace everything that is written in UPPERCASE with your details.

If you do not have a domain yet just fill _ for PUBLIC_SERVER_NAME. PUBLIC_IP is the IP of your server and PUBLIC_PORT is most likely 80 for http and 443 for https.

server {
    listen PUBLIC_IP:PUBLIC_PORT;

    server_name PUBLIC_SERVER_NAME;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:2017;
    }
}

Now configure nginx to use your config.

#stop nginx
$ sudo systemctl stop nginx
# delete symlink default config
$ sudo rm /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default
# create new sysmlink to sites enabled
$ ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/project_name /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/project_name
# reload and start nginx with new configuration
$ sudo systemctl start nginx

Your project is now live under http://PUBLIC_SEVER_NAME or http://PUBLIC_IP.

If you now visit http://PUBLIC_SEVER_NAME/explore or http://PUBLIC_IP/explore you need a valid HTTP header to access the server.

For example register a new user if you just used this blank boilerplate.

# you will get a JSON with a token and this is your token to get access to the GraphQL API
$ curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X POST -d '{"email":"[email protected]","password":"pw"}' http://localhost:2017/rest/login

Use this token and add it under HTTP headers on the bottom left of the graphql playground you are now able to use the graphql playground on a server.

{
  "Authorization": "Bearer <token>"
}

aichbauer/express-graphql-boilerplate

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