GraphQL PHP Library: webonyx/graphql-php

GraphQL PHP Library: webonyx/graphql-php and Lighthouse

GraphQL is a query language for APIs that allows clients to request only the necessary data. In the PHP ecosystem, the main library for implementing GraphQL is webonyx/graphql-php. It provides a complete set of tools for creating schemas, types, and resolvers. For the Laravel framework, there is the Lighthouse package, which extends the capabilities of graphql-php and simplifies development.

Installing webonyx/graphql-php

Installation is done via Composer:

composer require webonyx/graphql-php

Creating a Schema and Types

The foundation of GraphQL is a schema that defines data types and their relationships. Let's look at an example of creating a simple schema for retrieving a list of users.

<?phpuse GraphQL\\Type\\Definition\\ObjectType;use GraphQL\\Type\\Definition\\Type;use GraphQL\\Type\\Schema;use GraphQL\\GraphQL;

// Define the User type$userType = new ObjectType([    'name' => 'User',    'fields' => [        'id' => Type::int(),        'name' => Type::string(),        'email' => Type::string(),    ]]);

// Define the Query type (root type for queries)$queryType = new ObjectType([    'name' => 'Query',    'fields' => [        'user' => [            'type' => $userType,            'args' => [                'id' => Type::nonNull(Type::int())            ],            'resolve' => function ($root, $args) {                // Example data - in a real project this would be a database query                $users = [                    1 => ['id' => 1, 'name' => 'Ivan', 'email' => 'ivan@example.com'],                    2 => ['id' => 2, 'name' => 'Maria', 'email' => 'maria@example.com'],                ];                return $users[$args['id']] ?? null;            }        ],        'users' => [            'type' => Type::listOf($userType),            'resolve' => function () {                return [                    ['id' => 1, 'name' => 'Ivan', 'email' => 'ivan@example.com'],                    ['id' => 2, 'name' => 'Maria', 'email' => 'maria@example.com'],                ];            }        ]    ]]);

// Create the schema$schema = new Schema([    'query' => $queryType]);

// Execute the query$rawInput = file_get_contents('php://input');$input = json_decode($rawInput, true);$query = $input['query'];$result = GraphQL::executeQuery($schema, $query);$output = $result->toArray();

header('Content-Type: application/json');echo json_encode($output);

Working with Mutations

In addition to queries (Query), GraphQL supports mutations (Mutation) for modifying data. An example of creating a mutation for adding a user:

<?php// Define the mutation type$mutationType = new ObjectType([    'name' => 'Mutation',    'fields' => [        'addUser' => [            'type' => $userType,            'args' => [                'name' => Type::nonNull(Type::string()),                'email' => Type::nonNull(Type::string())            ],            'resolve' => function ($root, $args) {                // Here should be code for saving to the database                return [                    'id' => 3,                    'name' => $args['name'],                    'email' => $args['email']                ];            }        ]    ]]);

// Update the schema$schema = new Schema([    'query' => $queryType,    'mutation' => $mutationType]);