Designing a URL-based query syntax for GraphQL

Currently, if we want to use HTTP caching in GraphQL, we must use a GraphQL server that supports persisted queries. That’s because the persisted query will already have the GraphQL query stored in the server; as such, we do not need to provide this information in our request.

In order for GraphQL servers to also support HTTP caching via the single endpoint, the GraphQL query must be provided as a URL param. The GraphQL over HTTP specification will hopefully achieve this goal, providing a standardized language for all GraphQL clients, servers, and libraries to interact with each other.

I suspect, though, that all attempts to pass a GraphQL query via a URL param will be far from ideal. This is because a URL param must be provided as a single-line value, so the query will either need to be encoded or reformatted, making it difficult to understand (for us humans, not for machines).

For instance, this is how a GraphQL query looks when replacing all line breaks with spaces to make it fit within a single line:

{ posts(limit:5) { id title @titleCase excerpt @default(value:"No title", condition:IS_EMPTY) author { name } tags { id name } comments(limit:3, order:"date|DESC") { id date(format:"d/m/Y") author { name } content } } }

Can you make sense of it? Me neither.

And this is how the GraphiQL client encodes the simple query { posts { id title } } as a URL param:

%7B%0A%20%20posts%20%7B%0A%20%20%20%20id%0A%20%20%20%20title%0A%20%20%7D%0A%7D

Once again, we don’t know what’s going on here.

Both these examples evince the issue: single-line GraphQL queries can work from a technical point of view, transmitting the information to the server, but it is not easy for people to read and write those queries.

Being able to operate with single-line queries would have many benefits. For instance, we could compose the query directly in the browser’s address bar, doing away with the need for some GraphQL client.

It is not that I dislike GraphQL clients — indeed, I love GraphiQL. But I do dislike the idea that I depend on them.

In other words, we could benefit from a query syntax that allows people to:

• Write a query directly in a single line
• Understand the single-line query at a glance

This is a formidable challenge. But it is not insurmountable.

In this article, I will introduce an alternative syntax, which supports being “easy to read and write in a single line” by us humans.

I am not really proposing introducing this syntax to GraphQL — I understand that would never happen. But the design process for this syntax can, nevertheless, exemplify what we must pay attention to when designing the GraphQL over HTTP specification.

Why is the GraphQL syntax so difficult to understand in a single line?

Let’s first explore what the issue is with the GraphQL syntax and then generalize it to other syntaxes.

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Identifying the problem

As I see it, the difficulty comes from fields in a GraphQL query being nested, wherein the nesting can advance and retreat throughout the query. It is this coming-and-going behavior that makes it hard to grasp when written in a single line.

If the nesting in the query only advances, then it’s not so difficult to understand it. Take this query, for instance:

{
  posts {
    id
    title
    excerpt
    comments {
      id
      date
      content
      author {
        id
        name
        url
        posts {
          id
          title
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Here, the nesting only goes forward:

When looking over the always-going-forward query, and scanning it from left to right, we can still understand to what entity every field belongs:

{ posts { id title excerpt comments { id date content author { id name url posts { id title } } } } }

Now, consider the same GraphQL query, but rearranging the fields so that leaves appear after connections:

{
  posts {
    id
    comments {
      id
      date
      author {
        posts {
          id
          title
        }
        id
        name
        url
      }
      content
    }
    title
    excerpt
  }
}

In this case, we can say that fields advance and also retreat:

This query can be written in a single line, like this:

{ posts { id comments { id date author { posts { id title } id name url } content } title excerpt } }

Now, understanding the query is not so easy anymore. After a retreating level (i.e., right after a connection), we might not remember which entity came before it, so we won’t grasp where the field belongs:

(I guess this is related to the human brain having a limited short-term memory, able to hold not more than a few items at a time.)

And when there are many levels of going forward and back, then it becomes quite impossible to fully grasp. This query is understandable:

{
  posts {
    id
    comments {
      id
      date
      children {
        id
        author {
          name
          url
        }
        content
      }
      author {
        posts {
          id
          title
          tags {
            name
          }
        }
        id
        name
        friends {
          id
          name
        }
        url
      }
      content
    }
    title
    excerpt
  }
  author {
    name
  }
}

But there’s no way we can make sense of its single-line equivalent:

{ posts { id comments { id date children { id author { name url } content } author { posts { id title tags { name } } id name friends { id name } url } content } title excerpt } author { name } }

In conclusion, GraphQL queries cannot be easily represented in a single-line, in such a way that we humans can make sense of it, because of its nesting behavior.

Generalizing the problem

The issue is not specific to GraphQL. Indeed, it will happen for a syntax — any syntax — where the elements advance and retreat.

Take JSON, for instance:

{
  "name": "leoloso/PoP",
  "description": "PoP monorepo",
  "repositories": [
    {
      "type": "package",
      "package": {
        "name": "leoloso-pop-api-wp/newsletter-subscriptions-rest-endpoints",
        "version": "master",
        "type": "wordpress-plugin",
        "source": {
          "url": "https://gist.github.com/leoloso/6588f6c1bdcce82fc317052616d3dfb4",
          "type": "git",
          "reference": "master"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "package",
      "package": {
        "name": "leoloso-pop-api-wp/disable-user-edit-profile",
        "version": "0.1.1",
        "type": "wordpress-plugin",
        "source": {
          "url": "https://gist.github.com/leoloso/4e367eb8d8014a7aa7580567608bd5b4",
          "type": "git",
          "reference": "master"
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "type": "vcs",
      "url": "https://github.com/leoloso/wp-muplugin-loader.git"
    }
  ],
  "minimum-stability": "dev",
  "prefer-stable": true,
  "require": {
    "php": "~8.0",
    "getpop/api-rest": "dev-master",
    "getpop/engine-wp-bootloader": "dev-master"
  },
  "extra": {
    "branch-alias": {
      "dev-master": "1.0-dev"
    },
    "installer-types": [
      "graphiql-client",
      "graphql-voyager"
    ],
    "installer-paths": {
      "wordpress/wp-content/mu-plugins/{$name}/": [
        "type:wordpress-muplugin"
      ],
      "wordpress/wp-content/plugins/{$name}/": [
        "type:wordpress-plugin",
        "getpop/engine-wp-bootloader"
      ]
    }
  },
  "config": {
    "sort-packages": true
  }
}

Converting it to a single line makes it really difficult to comprehend:

{ "name": "leoloso/PoP", "description": "PoP monorepo", "repositories": [ { "type": "package", "package": { "name": "leoloso-pop-api-wp/newsletter-subscriptions-rest-endpoints", "version": "master", "type": "wordpress-plugin", "source": { "url": "https://gist.github.com/leoloso/6588f6c1bdcce82fc317052616d3dfb4", "type": "git", "reference": "master" } } }, { "type": "package", "package": { "name": "leoloso-pop-api-wp/disable-user-edit-profile", "version": "0.1.1", "type": "wordpress-plugin", "source": { "url": "https://gist.github.com/leoloso/4e367eb8d8014a7aa7580567608bd5b4", "type": "git", "reference": "master" } } }, { "type": "vcs", "url": "https://github.com/leoloso/wp-muplugin-loader.git" } ], "minimum-stability": "dev", "prefer-stable": true, "require": { "php": "~8.0", "getpop/api-rest": "dev-master", "getpop/engine-wp-bootloader": "dev-master" }, "extra": { "branch-alias": { "dev-master": "1.0-dev" }, "installer-types": [ "graphiql-client", "graphql-voyager" ], "installer-paths": { "wordpress/wp-content/mu-plugins/{$name}/": [ "type:wordpress-muplugin" ], "wordpress/wp-content/plugins/{$name}/": [ "type:wordpress-plugin", "getpop/engine-wp-bootloader" ] } }, "config": { "sort-packages": true } } 

What’s more, when the syntax uses spacing to nest its elements, it won’t be even possible to write it in a single line.

That’s the case, for instance, with YAML:

services:
  _defaults:
    public: true
    autowire: true
    autoconfigure: true

  PoPAPIPersistedQueriesPersistedQueryManagerInterface:
    class: PoPAPIPersistedQueriesPersistedQueryManager

  # Override the service
  PoPComponentModelSchemaFieldQueryInterpreterInterface:
    class: PoPAPISchemaFieldQueryInterpreter

  PoPAPIHooks:
    resource: '../src/Hooks/*' 

Designing a different query syntax

I will describe the design for an alternative to the GraphQL syntax: the PQL syntax, used by GraphQL by PoP (the GraphQL server in PHP that I’ve authored) to accept URL-based queries passed via GET.

Since the problem with the GraphQL syntax arises from retreating nested fields, the solution seems evident: the flow of the query must be always-forward.

How does PQL achieve this? In order to demonstrate, let’s explore the PQL syntax.

Field syntax

In GraphQL, a field is written like this:

{
  alias:fieldName(fieldArgs)@fieldDirective(directiveArgs)
}

In PQL, a field is written like this:

fieldName(fieldArgs)[@alias]<fieldDirective(directiveArgs)>

So it’s quite similar, but there are a few differences:

1. The alias is placed not before the field, but after the field
2. The alias is identified not with :, but with @ (and, optionally, surrounded by [...] for “bookmarks,” explained later on)
3. The directive is identified not with @, but surrounded with <...>

These differences are directly related to the always-forward flow required for the query.

In my own experience, when writing queries directly in the browser’s address bar, I always think of the need for the alias after having written the field name, not before. Therefore, using the order as in GraphQL, I had to backtrack to that position (pressing the left arrow key), add the alias, and go back to the final position (pressing the right arrow key).

That was quite cumbersome. It made much more sense to place the alias after the field name, making it a natural flow.

When defining the alias after the field name, it doesn’t make sense anymore to use :. This symbol is used by GraphQL to have the JSON response respect the shape of the query. Once the order between field and alias is inverted, using @ seems a natural fit.

This, in turn, meant we couldn’t use @ to identify directives anymore. Instead, I chose a surrounding syntax <...> (e.g., <directiveName>) so that directives can also be nested (e.g., <directive1<directive2>>), making it possible for GraphQL by PoP to support the composable directives feature.

Fields

In GraphQL, we can add two or more fields by adding a space or line break between them:

{
  foo
  bar
}

In PQL, we use the character | to separate fields:

foo|bar

We can already visualize how the query is composed as a single line:

• There are no {} chars
• There are no spaces or line breaks

We can also appreciate that the query can be composed directly in the browser, passed via URL param query.

For instance, the URL to execute query id|__typename is: ${endpoint}?query=id|__typename.

Using DevTools, we can see how HTTP caching is supported for the GraphQL single endpoint:

For all queries demonstrated below, there will be a link Execute query in browser. Click on them to visualize how PQL works on an actual site in production.

Making queries visually appealing

Similar to GraphQL, newlines (and also spaces) add no semantic meaning. Thus, we can conveniently add line breaks to help visualize the query:

foo|
bar

When using Firefox, this query can be copied (from a text editor, a webpage, etc.) and pasted into the browser’s address bar, and all line breaks will be automatically removed, creating the equivalent single-line query.

Connections

GraphQL uses characters {} to define data for connections:

{
  posts {
    author {
      id
    }
  }
}

In PQL, the query only advances, never retreats. So there is an equivalent for {, which is ., but there is no equivalent for } since it will not be needed.

posts.
  author.
    id

Execute query in browser.

We can combine | and . to fetch multiple fields for any entity. Consider this GraphQL query:

{
  posts {
    id
    title
    author {
      id
      name
      url
    }
  }
}

Its equivalent in PQL would be:

posts.
  id|
  title|
  author.
    id|
    name|
    url

Execute query in browser.

At this point, we can face the challenge: How does PQL accept only advancing fields?

Syntax for an advancing-only flow

The queries seen above were always advancing. Let’s now tackle queries that also need to retreat, like this GraphQL query:

{
  posts {
    id
    author {
      id
      name
      url
    }
    comments {
      id
      content
    }
  }
}

PQL makes use of character , to join elements. It is similar to | for joining fields, but with a fundamental difference: the field to the right of , starts traversing the graph again from the root.

Then, the query above has this equivalent in PQL:

posts.
  id|
  author.
    id|
    name|
    url,
posts.
  comments.
    id|
    content

Execute query in browser.

Notice how, to make it visually appealing, name| and url have the same padding to their left since | keeps their same path posts.author.. But there is no left padding right after , because the query starts again from the root.

We may think that this query does also retreat:

However, this not so much a retreat as it is a “reset.” In GraphQL, we can go back to the previous position in the query — i.e., the parent node in the graph — as many times as levels down we have traversed. In PQL, though, we can’t: we always go back all the way up to the root of the graph.

Starting from the root again, we must once again specify the complete path to the node to keep adding fields. This makes the query more verbose. For instance, the posts path in the query above appears once in GraphQL but twice in PQL.

This redundancy forces us humans to recreate the path when reading and writing the query for every level in the graph. Doing so allows us to understand the query when expressed in a single line:

posts.id|author.id|name|url,posts.comments.id|content

Because we’re recreating the path anew in our heads, we don’t suffer the short-term memory problem that causes us to get lost when looking at the GraphQL query.

Bookmarks to remove verbosity

Having to recreate the whole path to the node may become a nuisance.

Consider this GraphQL query:

{
  users {
    posts {
      author {
        id
        name
      }
      comments {
        id
        content
      }
    }
  }
}

And its equivalent in PQL:

users.
  posts.
    author.
      id|
      name,
users.
  posts.
    comments.
      id|
      content

Execute query in browser.

To retrieve the comments field, we again need to add users.posts.. The further the level down the graph, the longer the path to replicate.

To address this issue, PQL introduces a new concept: a “bookmark,” which provides a shortcut to an already-traversed path so we can conveniently keep loading data from that point on.

We define a bookmark by enclosing its name with [...] when iterating down some path, and then that path is automatically retrieved when referencing its bookmark, again by enclosing its name with [...], from the root of the query.

In the query above, we can bookmark users.posts as [userposts]:

users.
  posts[userposts].
    author.
      id|
      name,
[userposts].
  comments.
    id|
    content

Execute query in browser.

To make it easier to visualize, we can also add the equivalent padding to the left of the applied bookmark, matching the same padding of its path (so that comments appears below posts):

users.
  posts[userposts].
    author.
      id|
      name,
  [userposts].
    comments.
      id|
      content

With bookmarks, we can still understand the query when expressed in a single line:

users.posts[userposts].author.id|name,[userposts].comments.id|content

If we need to define both a bookmark and an alias, we can have the @ symbol embedded within the [...]:

users.
  posts[@userposts].
    author.
      id|
      name,
  [userposts].
    comments.id|
    content

Execute query in browser.

Simplifying field arguments

In GraphQL, String values in field arguments must be enclosed with quotes "...":

{
  posts {
    id
    title
    date(format: "d/m/Y")
  }
}

Having to type those quotes when composing the query in the browser proved very annoying; I would often forget them and then have to navigate left and right with the arrow keys to add them.

Hence, in PQL, string quotes can be omitted:

posts.
  id|
  title|
  date(format:d/m/Y)

Execute query in browser.

String quotes are necessary when the query would otherwise be disrupted:

posts.
  id|
  title|
  date(format:"d M, Y")

Execute query in browser.

In addition, the field argument could sometimes be made implicit; for instance, when the field has only one field argument. In this case, PQL allows omitting it:

posts.
  id|
  title|
  date(d/m/Y)

Execute query in browser.

Variables

In GraphQL the variables are defined within the body of the request as an encoded JSON:

{
  "query":"query ($format: String) {
    posts {
      id
      title
      date(format: $format)
    }
  }",
  "variables":"{
    "format":"d/m/Y"
  }"
}

Instead, PQL uses the HTTP standard inputs, passing variables via $_GET or $_POST:

?query=
  posts.
    id|
    title|
    date($format)
&format=d/m/Y

Execute query in browser.

We can also pass variables under input variables:

?query=
  posts.
    id|
    title|
    date($format)
&variables[format]=d/m/Y

Execute query in browser.

Fragments

GraphQL employs fragments to reuse query sections:

{
  users {
    ...userData
    posts {
      comments {
        author {
          ...userData
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment userData on User {
  id
  name
  url
}

In PQL, fragments follow the same method as variables for their definition: as inputs in $_GET or $_POST. They are referenced with --:

?query=
  users.
    --userData|
    posts.
      comments.
        author.
          --userData
&userData=
  id|
  name|
  url

Execute query in browser.

The fragment can also be defined under input fragments:

?query=
  users.
    --userData|
    posts.
      comments.
        author.
          --userData
&fragments[userData]=
  id|
  name|
  url

Execute query in browser.

Converting queries between GraphQL and PQL syntaxes

PQL is a superset of the GraphQL query syntax. Thus, any query written using the standard GraphQL syntax can also be written in PQL.

Conversely, not every query written in PQL can be written using the GraphQL syntax because PQL supports features such as composable fields and composable directives that are not supported by GraphQL.

PQL comprises most of the same elements:

• Fields and field arguments
• Directives and directive arguments
• Aliases
• Fragments
• Variables

The elements it does not support are:

• Operation
• Operation name, variable definitions, and default variables
• The on element, to indicate what type/interface a fragment must be applied on

Even though these elements are not supported, their underlying functionality is supported via a different method.

The operation is missing because there’s no need for it anymore: we now have the option to request the query using either GET (for queries) or POST (for mutations).

The operation name is only needed in GraphQL when the document contains many operations, and we need to specify which one to execute, or maybe execute several of them together, tying them via @export.

In the previous case, there’s no need for it for PQL — we only pass the query that must be executed, not all of them.

In the latter case, the multiple operations can be executed together in a single request, while guaranteeing their execution order, by joining them with ; like so:

posts.
  author.
    id|
    name|
    url;

posts.
  comments.
    id|
    content

Execute query in browser.

In GraphQL, the variable definition is used to define the type of the variable, enabling clients like GraphiQL to show an error whenever the type is different. This is a nice-to-have, but not really needed for executing the query itself.

Default variable values can be defined like any variable: via a URL param.

The on element is not needed since we can instead use the directive @include, passing a composable field isType as argument, to find out the type of the object and, based on this value, apply the intended fragment or not.

For instance, take this GraphQL query:

{
  customPosts {
    __typename
    ... on Post {
      title
    }
  }
}

This is the PQL equivalent:

customPosts.
  __typename|
  title<include(if:isType(Post))>

Execute query in browser.

Converting the introspection query

Let’s convert the introspection query used by GraphiQL (and other clients) to obtain the schema metadata from the GraphQL syntax to PQL.

The introspection query is this one:

query IntrospectionQuery {
  __schema {
    queryType {
      name
    }
    mutationType {
      name
    }
    subscriptionType {
      name
    }
    types {
      ...FullType
    }
    directives {
      name
      description
      locations
      args {
        ...InputValue
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment FullType on __Type {
  kind
  name
  description
  fields(includeDeprecated: true) {
    name
    description
    args {
      ...InputValue
    }
    type {
      ...TypeRef
    }
    isDeprecated
    deprecationReason
  }
  inputFields {
    ...InputValue
  }
  interfaces {
    ...TypeRef
  }
  enumValues(includeDeprecated: true) {
    name
    description
    isDeprecated
    deprecationReason
  }
  possibleTypes {
    ...TypeRef
  }
}

fragment InputValue on __InputValue {
  name
  description
  type {
    ...TypeRef
  }
  defaultValue
}

fragment TypeRef on __Type {
  kind
  name
  ofType {
    kind
    name
    ofType {
      kind
      name
      ofType {
        kind
        name
        ofType {
          kind
          name
          ofType {
            kind
            name
            ofType {
              kind
              name
              ofType {
                kind
                name
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Its equivalent PQL query is this one:

?query=
    __schema[schema].
        queryType.
            name,
    [schema].
        mutationType.
            name,
    [schema].
        subscriptionType.
            name,
    [schema].
        types.
            --FullType,
    [schema].
        directives.
            name|
            description|
            locations|
            args.
                --InputValue
&fragments[FullType]=
    kind|
    name|
    description|
    fields(includeDeprecated: true)[@fields].
        name|
        description|
        args.
            --InputValue,
    [fields].
        type.
            --TypeRef,
    [fields].
        isDeprecated|
        deprecationReason,
    [fields].
        inputFields.
            --InputValue,
    [fields].
        interfaces.
            --TypeRef,
    [fields].
        enumValues(includeDeprecated: true)@enumValues.
            name|
            description|
            isDeprecated|
            deprecationReason,
    [fields].
        possibleTypes.
            --TypeRef
&fragments[InputValue]=
    name|
    description|
    defaultValue|
    type.
        --TypeRef
&fragments[TypeRef]=
    kind|
    name|
    ofType.
        kind|
        name|
        ofType.
            kind|
            name|
            ofType.
                kind|
                name|
                ofType.
                    kind|
                    name|
                    ofType.
                        kind|
                        name|
                        ofType.
                            kind|
                            name|
                            ofType.
                                kind|
                                name

Execute query in browser. (Note that the query in this link is slightly different than the one above since I still need to add support for the , token within fragments.)

And this is the query written in a single line:

?query=__schema[schema].queryType.name,[schema].mutationType.name,[schema].subscriptionType.name,[schema].types.--FullType,[schema].directives.name|description|locations|args.--InputValue&fragments[FullType]=kind|name|description|fields(includeDeprecated: true)[@fields].name|description|args.--InputValue,[fields].type.--TypeRef,[fields].isDeprecated|deprecationReason,[fields].inputFields.--InputValue,[fields].interfaces.--TypeRef,[fields].enumValues(includeDeprecated: true)@enumValues.name|description|isDeprecated|deprecationReason,[fields].possibleTypes.--TypeRef&fragments[InputValue]=name|description|defaultValue|type.--TypeRef&fragments[TypeRef]=kind|name|ofType.kind|name|ofType.kind|name|ofType.kind|name|ofType.kind|name|ofType.kind|name|ofType.kind|name|ofType.kind|name

Some more examples

This query has a fragment containing nested paths, variables, directives, and other fragments:

?query=
  posts(limit:$limit, order:$order).
    --postData|
    author.
      posts(limit:$limit).
        --postData
&postData=
  id|
  title|
  --nestedPostData|
  date(format:$format)
&nestedPostData=
  comments<include(if:$include)>.
    id|
    content
&format=d/m/Y
&include=true
&limit=3
&order=title

Execute query in browser.

This query applies a directive to a fragment, which is consequently applied on all the fields within the fragment:

?query=
  posts.
    id|
    --props<include(if:hasComments())>
&fragments[props]=
  title|
  date

Execute query in browser.

Finally, there are many examples of single-line queries embedded directly as a URL param, and containing additional properties from the PQL syntax (not described in this article), in this blog post.

Conclusion

In order to support HTTP caching, we must currently use GraphQL servers that support persisted queries.

But what about the GraphQL single endpoint? Could it also support HTTP caching? And if so, could it be done in a way that people can write the query instead of having to depend on a client or library?

The response to these questions is: yes, it can be done. However, the GraphQL syntax currently stands in the way due to its nesting behavior.

In this article I demonstrated an alternative syntax, called PQL, that would enable GraphQL servers to accept the query via the URL param, while enabling people to read and write the query in a single line, even directly in the browser’s address bar.

Monitor failed and slow GraphQL requests in production

While GraphQL has some features for debugging requests and responses, making sure GraphQL reliably serves resources to your production app is where things get tougher. If you’re interested in ensuring network requests to the backend or third party services are successful, try LogRocket.https://logrocket.com/signup/

LogRocket is like a DVR for web and mobile apps, recording literally everything that happens on your site. Instead of guessing why problems happen, you can aggregate and report on problematic GraphQL requests to quickly understand the root cause. In addition, you can track Apollo client state and inspect GraphQL queries' key-value pairs.

LogRocket instruments your app to record baseline performance timings such as page load time, time to first byte, slow network requests, and also logs Redux, NgRx, and Vuex actions/state. Start monitoring for free.