Zero to GraphQL Using Elixir

The purpose of this example is to provide details as to how one would go about using GraphQL with the Elixir Language. Thus, I have created two major sections which should be self explanatory: Quick Installation and Tutorial Installation.

Getting Started

Software requirements

• Elixir 1.17.3 or newer

• Erlang 27.1.2 or newer

• Phoenix 1.7.14 or newer

• PostgreSQL 16.4 or newer

Note: This tutorial was updated on macOS 15.0.1.

Communication

• If you need help, use Stack Overflow. (Tag 'absinthe')
• If you'd like to ask a general question, use Stack Overflow.
• If you found a bug, open an issue.
• If you have a feature request, open an issue.
• If you want to contribute, submit a pull request.

Quick Installation

1. clone this repository

   git clone https://github.com/conradwt/zero-to-graphql-using-elixir.git

2. change directory location

   cd zero-to-graphql-using-elixir

3. install and compile dependencies

   mix do deps.get, deps.compile

4. create, migrate, and seed the database

   mix ecto.setup

5. start the server

   mix phx.server

6. navigate to our application within the browser

   open http://localhost:4000/graphiql

7. enter the below GraphQL query on the left side of the browser window

   {
     person(id: 1) {
       firstName
       lastName
       username
       email
       friends {
         firstName
         lastName
         username
         email
       }
     }
   }

8. run the GraphQL query

   Control + Enter
   

   Note: The GraphQL query is responding with same response but different shape within the GraphiQL browser because Elixir Maps perform no ordering on insertion.

Tutorial Installation

1. create the project

   mix phx.new zero-to-graphql-using-elixir \
     --app zero_phoenix \
     --module ZeroPhoenix \
     --no-html \
     --no-assets

   Note: Just answer 'y' to all the prompts that appear.

2. switch to the project directory

   cd zero-to-graphql-using-elixir

3. update username and password database credentials which appears at the bottom of the following files:

   config/dev.exs
   config/test.exs
   

4. create the database

   mix ecto.create

5. generate contexts, schemas, and migrations for the Person resource

   mix phx.gen.context Accounts Person people first_name:string last_name:string username:string email:string

6. replace the generated Person schema with the following:

   lib/zero_phoenix/account/person.ex:

   defmodule ZeroPhoenix.Accounts.Person do
     use Ecto.Schema
   
     import Ecto.Changeset
   
     alias ZeroPhoenix.Accounts.Friendship
     alias ZeroPhoenix.Accounts.Person
   
     schema "people" do
       field :email, :string
       field :first_name, :string
       field :last_name, :string
       field :username, :string
   
       has_many :friendships, Friendship
       has_many :friends, through: [:friendships, :friend]
   
       timestamps()
     end
   
     @doc false
     def changeset(%Person{} = person, attrs) do
       person
       |> cast(attrs, [:first_name, :last_name, :username, :email])
       |> validate_required([:first_name, :last_name, :username, :email])
     end
   end

7. migrate the database

   mix ecto.migrate

8. generate contexts, schemas, and migrations for the Friendship resource

   mix phx.gen.context Accounts Friendship friendships person_id:references:people friend_id:references:people

9. replace the generated CreateFriendship migration with the following:

   priv/repo/migrations/<some datetime>_create_friendship.exs:

   defmodule ZeroPhoenix.Repo.Migrations.CreateFriendship do
     use Ecto.Migration
   
     def change do
       create table(:friendships) do
         add :person_id, references(:people, on_delete: :delete_all)
         add :friend_id, references(:people, on_delete: :delete_all)
   
         timestamps()
       end
   
       create index(:friendships, [:person_id])
       create index(:friendships, [:friend_id])
     end
   end

10. replace the generated Friendship schema with the following:

    lib/zero_phoenix/accounts/friendship.ex:

    defmodule ZeroPhoenix.Accounts.Friendship do
      use Ecto.Schema
    
      import Ecto.Changeset
    
      alias ZeroPhoenix.Accounts.Friendship
      alias ZeroPhoenix.Accounts.Person
    
      @required_fields [:person_id, :friend_id]
    
      schema "friendships" do
        belongs_to :person, Person
        belongs_to :friend, Person
    
        timestamps()
      end
    
      @doc false
      def changeset(%Friendship{} = friendship, attrs) do
        friendship
        |> cast(attrs, @required_fields)
        |> validate_required(@required_fields)
      end
    end

    Note: We want friend_id to reference the people table because our friend_id really represents a Person schema.

11. migrate the database

    mix ecto.migrate

12. create dev support directory

    mkdir -p dev/support

13. update the search for compiler within mix.exs:

    change:

    defp elixirc_paths(:test), do: ["lib", "test/support"]
    defp elixirc_paths(_), do: ["lib"]

    to:

    defp elixirc_paths(:test), do: ["lib", "dev/support", "test/support"]
    defp elixirc_paths(:dev), do: ["lib", "dev/support"]
    defp elixirc_paths(_), do: ["lib"]

14. create seeds.ex support file with the following content:

    dev/support/seeds.ex:

    defmodule ZeroPhoenix.Seeds do
      alias ZeroPhoenix.Accounts.{Person, Friendship}
      alias ZeroPhoenix.Repo
    
      def run() do
        #
        # reset database
        #
    
        reset()
    
        #
        # create people
        #
    
        me =
          Repo.insert!(%Person{
            first_name: "Conrad",
            last_name: "Taylor",
            email: "conradwt@gmail.com",
            username: "conradwt"
          })
    
        dhh =
          Repo.insert!(%Person{
            first_name: "David",
            last_name: "Heinemeier Hansson",
            email: "dhh@37signals.com",
            username: "dhh"
          })
    
        ezra =
          Repo.insert!(%Person{
            first_name: "Ezra",
            last_name: "Zygmuntowicz",
            email: "ezra@merbivore.com",
            username: "ezra"
          })
    
        matz =
          Repo.insert!(%Person{
            first_name: "Yukihiro",
            last_name: "Matsumoto",
            email: "matz@heroku.com",
            username: "matz"
          })
    
        #
        # create friendships
        #
    
        me
        |> Ecto.build_assoc(:friendships)
        |> Friendship.changeset(%{friend_id: matz.id})
        |> Repo.insert()
    
        dhh
        |> Ecto.build_assoc(:friendships)
        |> Friendship.changeset(%{friend_id: ezra.id})
        |> Repo.insert()
    
        dhh
        |> Ecto.build_assoc(:friendships)
        |> Friendship.changeset(%{friend_id: matz.id})
        |> Repo.insert()
    
        ezra
        |> Ecto.build_assoc(:friendships)
        |> Friendship.changeset(%{friend_id: dhh.id})
        |> Repo.insert()
    
        ezra
        |> Ecto.build_assoc(:friendships)
        |> Friendship.changeset(%{friend_id: matz.id})
        |> Repo.insert()
    
        matz
        |> Ecto.build_assoc(:friendships)
        |> Friendship.changeset(%{friend_id: me.id})
        |> Repo.insert()
    
        matz
        |> Ecto.build_assoc(:friendships)
        |> Friendship.changeset(%{friend_id: ezra.id})
        |> Repo.insert()
    
        matz
        |> Ecto.build_assoc(:friendships)
        |> Friendship.changeset(%{friend_id: dhh.id})
        |> Repo.insert()
    
        :ok
      end
    
      def reset do
        Person
        |> Repo.delete_all()
      end
    end

15. update the seeds.exs file with the following content:

    priv/repo/seeds.exs:

    ZeroPhoenix.Seeds.run()

16. seed the database

    mix run priv/repo/seeds.exs

17. add absinthe, absinthe_plug, and cors_plug hex package dependencies as follows:

    mix.exs:

    defp deps do
      [
        {:phoenix, "~> 1.7.14"},
        {:phoenix_ecto, "~> 4.4.3"},
        {:ecto_sql, "~> 3.10.1"},
        {:postgrex, "~> 0.17.5"},
        {:phoenix_live_dashboard, "~> 0.7.2"},
        {:swoosh, "~> 1.11.6"},
        {:finch, "~> 0.16.0"},
        {:telemetry_metrics, "~> 0.6.2"},
        {:telemetry_poller, "~> 1.0.0"},
        {:gettext, "~> 0.22.3"},
        {:jason, "~> 1.4.4"},
        {:bandit, "~> 1.3.0"},
        {:absinthe, "~> 1.7.8"},
        {:absinthe_plug, "~> 1.5.8"},
        {:cors_plug, "~> 3.0.3"}
      ]
    end

18. install and compile dependencies

    mix do deps.get, deps.compile

19. configure CORSPlug by adding the following content:

    lib/zero_phoenix_web/endpoint.ex:

    plug CORSPlug, origin: ["*"]

    Note: The above code should be added right before the following line:

    plug(ZeroPhoenixWeb.Router)

20. create the GraphQL directory structure

    mkdir -p lib/zero_phoenix_web/graphql/{resolvers,schemas/{queries,mutations},types}

21. add the GraphQL schema which represents our entry point into our GraphQL structure:

    lib/zero_phoenix_web/graphql/schema.ex:

    defmodule ZeroPhoenixWeb.GraphQL.Schema do
      use Absinthe.Schema
    
      import_types(ZeroPhoenixWeb.GraphQL.Types.Person)
    
      import_types(ZeroPhoenixWeb.GraphQL.Schemas.Queries.Person)
    
      query do
        import_fields(:person_queries)
      end
    end

22. add our Person type which will be performing queries against:

    lib/zero_phoenix_web/graphql/types/person.ex:

    defmodule ZeroPhoenixWeb.GraphQL.Types.Person do
      use Absinthe.Schema.Notation
    
      import Ecto
    
      alias ZeroPhoenix.Repo
    
      @desc "a person"
      object :person do
        @desc "unique identifier for the person"
        field :id, non_null(:string)
    
        @desc "first name of a person"
        field :first_name, non_null(:string)
    
        @desc "last name of a person"
        field :last_name, non_null(:string)
    
        @desc "username of a person"
        field :username, non_null(:string)
    
        @desc "email of a person"
        field :email, non_null(:string)
    
        @desc "a list of friends for our person"
        field :friends, list_of(:person) do
          resolve fn _, %{source: person} ->
            {:ok, Repo.all(assoc(person, :friends))}
          end
        end
      end
    end

23. add the person_queries object to contain all the queries for a person:

    lib/zero_phoenix_web/graphql/schemas/queries/person.ex:

    defmodule ZeroPhoenixWeb.GraphQL.Schemas.Queries.Person do
      use Absinthe.Schema.Notation
    
      object :person_queries do
        field :person, type: :person do
          arg :id, non_null(:id)
    
          resolve(&ZeroPhoenixWeb.GraphQL.Resolvers.PersonResolver.find/3)
        end
      end
    end

24. add the PersonResolver to fetch the individual fields of our person object:

    lib/zero_phoenix_web/graphql/resolvers/person_resolver.ex:

    defmodule ZeroPhoenixWeb.GraphQL.Resolvers.PersonResolver do
      alias ZeroPhoenix.Accounts
      alias ZeroPhoenix.Accounts.Person
    
      def find(_parent, %{id: id}, _info) do
        case Accounts.get_person(id) do
          %Person{} = person ->
            {:ok, person}
    
          _error ->
            {:error, "Person id #{id} not found"}
        end
      end
    end

25. add routes for our GraphQL API and GraphiQL browser endpoints:

    lib/zero_phoenix_web/router.ex:

    replace

    scope "/api", ZeroPhoenixWeb do
      pipe_through :api
    end

    with

    scope "/" do
      pipe_through :api
    
      if Mix.env() in [:dev, :test] do
        forward "/graphiql",
          Absinthe.Plug.GraphiQL,
          schema: ZeroPhoenixWeb.GraphQL.Schema,
          json_codec: Jason,
          interface: :playground
      end
    
      forward "/graphql",
        Absinthe.Plug,
        schema: ZeroPhoenixWeb.GraphQL.Schema
    end

26. start the server

    mix phx.server

27. navigate to our application within the browser

    open http://localhost:4000/graphiql

28. enter the below GraphQL query on the left side of the browser window

    {
      person(id: 1) {
        firstName
        lastName
        username
        email
        friends {
          firstName
          lastName
          username
          email
        }
      }
    }

29. run the GraphQL query

    Control + Enter
    

    Note: The GraphQL query is responding with same response but different shape within the GraphiQL browser because Elixir Maps perform no ordering on insertion.

Production Setup

Ready to run in production? Please check our deployment guides.

Phoenix References

• Official website: http://www.phoenixframework.org/
• Guides: http://phoenixframework.org/docs/overview
• Docs: https://hexdocs.pm/phoenix
• Mailing list: http://groups.google.com/group/phoenix-talk
• Source: https://github.com/phoenixframework/phoenix

GraphQL References

• Official Website: http://graphql.org
• Absinthe GraphQL Elixir: http://absinthe-graphql.org

Support

Bug reports and feature requests can be filed with the rest for the Phoenix project here:

• File Bug Reports and Features

License

Zero to GraphQL Using Elixir is released under the MIT license.

Copyright

Copyright © 2018 - 2024 Conrad Taylor. All rights reserved.