---
title: "API Reference: apollo-server"
sidebar_title: apollo-server
---

This API reference documents the exports from the `apollo-server`.

## `ApolloServer`

The core of an Apollo Server implementation. For an example, see the [Building a server](../essentials/server.html) section within "Essentials".

### `constructor(options)`: <`ApolloServer`>

#### Parameters

* `options`: <`Object`>

  * `typeDefs`: <`DocumentNode`> | <`Array<DocumentNode>`> _(required)_

    DocumentNode(s) generated by using [`gql`](#gql) tag. They are string representations of GraphQL schema in the Schema Definition Language (SDL).

```js
const typeDefs = gql`
  type Author {
    name
  }
`;

new ApolloServer({
	typeDefs,
	resolvers,
	context: ({ req }) => ({
		authScope: getScope(req.headers.authorization)
	}),
});
```

  * `resolvers`: <`Object`> _(required)_

    A map of resolvers for the types defined in `typeDefs`. The key should be the type name and the value should be a `Function` to be executed for that type.

  * `context`: <`Object`> | <`Function`>

    An object or function called with the current request that creates the context shared across all resolvers

```js
new ApolloServer({
	typeDefs,
	resolvers,
	context: ({ req }) => ({
		authScope: getScope(req.headers.authorization)
	}),
});
```

* `mocks`: <`Object`> | <`Boolean`>

  A boolean enabling the default mocks or object that contains definitions

* `schemaDirectives`: <`Object`>

  Contains definition of schema directives used in the `typeDefs`

* `introspection`: <`Boolean`>

  Enables and disables schema introspection

* `playground`: <`Boolean`> | <`Object`>

  Enables and disables playground and allows configuration of GraphQL Playground. The options can be found on GraphQL Playground's [documentation](https://github.com/prismagraphql/graphql-playground/#usage)

* `debug`: <`Boolean`>

  Enables and disables development mode helpers. Defaults to `true`

* `validationRules`: <`Object`>

  Schema validation rules

* `tracing`, `cacheControl`: <`Boolean`>

  Add tracing or cacheControl meta data to the GraphQL response

* `formatError`, `formatResponse`: <`Function`>

  Functions to format the errors and response returned from the server, as well as the parameters to graphql execution(`runQuery`)

* `schema`: <`Object`>

  An executable GraphQL schema that will override the `typeDefs` and `resolvers` provided. If you are using [file uploads](https://www.apollographql.com/docs/guides/file-uploads.html), you will have to add the `Upload` scalar to the schema, as it is not automatically added in case of setting the `schema` manually.

* `subscriptions`: <`Object`> | <`String`> | false

  String defining the path for subscriptions or an Object to customize the subscriptions server. Set to false to disable subscriptions

  * `path`: <`String`>
  * `keepAlive`: <`Number`>
  * `onConnect`: <`Function`>
  * `onDisconnect`: <`Function`>

* `engine`: <`EngineReportingOptions`> | boolean

  Provided the `ENGINE_API_KEY` environment variable is set, the engine reporting agent will be started automatically. The API key can also be provided as the `apiKey` field in an object passed as the `engine` field. See the [EngineReportingOptions](#EngineReportingOptions) section for a full description of how to configure the reporting agent, including how to blacklist variables. When using the Engine proxy, this option should be set to false.

* `persistedQueries`: <`Object`> | false

  The persisted queries option can be set to an object containing a `cache` field, which will be used to store the mapping between hash and query string.

* `cors`: <`Object` | `boolean`> ([apollo-server](https://github.com/expressjs/cors#cors))

  Pass the integration-specific CORS options. `false` removes the CORS middleware and `true` uses the defaults. This option is only available to `apollo-server`. For other server integrations, place `cors` inside of `applyMiddleware`.

#### Returns

`ApolloServer`

### `ApolloServer.listen(options)`: `Promise`

#### Parameters

In `apollo-server`, the listen call starts the subscription server and passes the arguments directly to an http server Node.js' [`net.Server.listen`](https://nodejs.org/api/net.html#net_server_listen) method are supported.

#### Returns

`Promise` that resolves to an object that contains:

  * `url`: <`String`>
  * `subscriptionsPath`: <`String`>
  * `server`: <[`http.Server`](https://nodejs.org/api/http.html#http_class_http_server)>

## ApolloServer.applyMiddleware

The `applyMiddleware` method is provided by the `apollo-server-{integration}` packages that use middleware, such as hapi and express. This function connects ApolloServer to a specific framework.

### Parameters

* `options`: <`Object`>

  * `app`: <`HttpServer`> _(required)_

    Pass an instance of the server integration here.

  * `server`: <`ApolloServer`> _(required)_

    Pass the instance of Apollo Server

  * `path` : <`String`>

    Specify a custom path. It defaults to `/graphql` if no path is specified.

  * `cors`: <`Object` | `boolean`> ([express](https://github.com/expressjs/cors#cors), [hapi](https://hapijs.com/api#-routeoptionscors))

    Pass the integration-specific cors options. False removes the cors middleware and true uses the defaults.

  * `bodyParser`: <`Object` | `boolean`> ([express](https://github.com/expressjs/body-parser#body-parser))

    Pass the body-parser options. False removes the body parser middleware and true uses the defaults.

### Usage

The `applyMiddleware` method from `apollo-server-express` registration of middleware as shown in the example below:

```js
const { ApolloServer } = require('apollo-server-express');
const { typeDefs, resolvers } = require('./schema');

const server = new ApolloServer({
  // These will be defined for both new or existing servers
  typeDefs,
  resolvers,
});

// Additional middleware can be mounted at this point to run before Apollo.
app.use('*', jwtCheck, requireAuth, checkScope);

server.applyMiddleware({ app, path: '/specialUrl' }); // app is from an existing express app. Mount Apollo middleware here. If no path is specified, it defaults to `/graphql`.
```

## `gql`

The `gql` is a [template literal tag](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Template_literals#Tagged_templates). Template literals were introduced in recent versions of ECMAScript to provide embedded expressions (i.e. `` `A string with interpolated ${variables}` ``) and template literal tags exist to provide additional functionality for what would otherwise be a normal template literal.

In the case of GraphQL, the `gql` tag is used to surround GraphQL operation and schema language (which are represented as `String`s), and makes it easier to differentiate from ordinary strings. This is particularly useful when performing static analysis on GraphQL language (e.g. to enable syntax highlighting, code generation, etc.) and avoids need for tools to "guess" if a string contains GraphQL language.

### Usage

Import the `gql` template literal tag into the current context from the `apollo-server` or `apollo-server-{integration}` modules:

```js
const { gql } = require('apollo-server');
```

Then, place GraphQL schema definitions (SDL), queries or other operations into the `gql` template literal tag. Keep in mind that template literals use the grave accent (`` ` ``) and not normal quotation marks (e.g. not `"` or `'`):

```js
const typeDefs = gql`
  type Author {
    name
  }
`;
```

## `makeExecutableSchema`

The `makeExecutableSchema` method is re-exported from apollo-server as a convenience.

### Parameters

* `options` : <`Object`>
  * `typeDefs`: <`GraphQLSchema`> _(required)_
  * `resolvers` : <`Object`>
  * `logger` : <`Object`>
  * `allowUndefinedInResolve` = false
  * `resolverValidationOptions` = {}
  * `directiveResolvers` = null
  * `schemaDirectives` = null
  * `parseOptions` = {}
  * `inheritResolversFromInterfaces` = false

## `addMockFunctionsToSchema(options)`

The `addMockFunctionsToSchema` method is re-exported from `apollo-server` as a convenience.

Given an instance of a `GraphQLSchema` and a `mock` object, modifies the schema (in place) to return mock data for any valid query that is sent to the server.

If preserveResolvers is set to true, existing resolve functions will not be overwritten to provide mock data. This can be used to mock some parts of the server and not others.

### Parameters

* `options`: <`Object`>

  * `schema`: <`GraphQLSchema`> _(required)_

    Pass an executable schema (`GraphQLSchema`) to be mocked.

  * `mocks`: <`Object`>

    Should be a map of types to mock resolver functions, e.g.:

    ```js
    {
      Type: () => true,
    }
    ```

    When `mocks` is not defined, the default scalar types (e.g. `Int`, `Float`, `String`, etc.) will be mocked.

  * `preserveResolvers`: <`Boolean`>

    When `true`, resolvers which were already defined will not be over-written with the mock resolver functions specified with `mocks`.

### Usage

```js
const { addMockFunctionsToSchema } = require('apollo-server');

// We'll make an assumption that an executable schema
// is already available from the `./schema` file.
const executableSchema = require('./schema');

addMockFunctionsToSchema({
  schema: executableSchema,
  mocks: {
    // Mocks the `Int` scalar type to always return `12345`.
    Int: () => 12345,

    // Mocks the `Movies` type to always return 'Titanic'.
    Movies: () => 'Titanic',
  },
  preserveResolvers: false,
});
```

## `EngineReportingOptions`

*  `apiKey`: string __(required)__

  API key for the service. Get this from
  [Engine](https://engine.apollographql.com) by logging in and creating
  a service. You may also specify this with the `ENGINE_API_KEY`
  environment variable the option takes precedence.

*  `calculateSignature`: (ast: DocumentNode, operationName: string) => string

   Specify the function for creating a signature for a query. See signature.ts
   for details.

*  `reportIntervalMs`: number

   How often to send reports to the Engine server. We'll also send reports
   when the report gets big see maxUncompressedReportSize.

*  `maxUncompressedReportSize`: number

   We send a report when the report size will become bigger than this size in
   bytes (default: 4MB).  (This is a rough limit --- we ignore the size of the
   report header and some other top level bytes. We just add up the lengths of
   the serialized traces and signatures.)

*  `endpointUrl`: string

   The URL of the Engine report ingress server.

*  `debugPrintReports`: boolean

   If set, prints all reports as JSON when they are sent.

*  `maxAttempts`: number

   Reporting is retried with exponential backoff up to this many times
   (including the original request). Defaults to 5.

*  `minimumRetryDelayMs`: number

   Minimum backoff for retries. Defaults to 100ms.

*  `reportErrorFunction`: (err: Error) => void

   By default, errors sending reports to Engine servers will be logged
   to standard error. Specify this function to process errors in a different
   way.

*  `privateVariables`: Array<String> | boolean

   A case-sensitive list of names of variables whose values should not be sent
   to Apollo servers, or 'true' to leave out all variables. In the former
   case, the report will indicate that each private variable was redacted in
   the latter case, no variables are sent at all.

*  `privateHeaders`: Array<String> | boolean

   A case-insensitive list of names of HTTP headers whose values should not be
   sent to Apollo servers, or 'true' to leave out all HTTP headers. Unlike
   with privateVariables, names of dropped headers are not reported.

*  `handleSignals`: boolean

   By default, EngineReportingAgent listens for the 'SIGINT' and 'SIGTERM'
   signals, stops, sends a final report, and re-sends the signal to
   itself. Set this to false to disable. You can manually invoke 'stop()' and
   'sendReport()' on other signals if you'd like. Note that 'sendReport()'
   does not run synchronously so it cannot work usefully in an 'exit' handler.