apollo-server

A practical guide to building GraphQL servers with Apollo Server 5.x, the framework-agnostic, open-source server that runs standalone or integrates with Express, Fastify, and serverless runtimes. It suits developers starting a new Apollo project, writing resolvers and schemas, wiring up authentication, building plugins or data sources, or troubleshooting server errors and performance problems. Guidance is pinned to the 5.x line and assumes Node.js v20+ and TypeScript 4.7+.

A quick-start sequence covers installing @apollo/server and graphql (adding @as-integrations/express5 for Express), declaring type definitions, writing resolvers, and starting the server. Two startup paths are shown: startStandaloneServer, positioned strictly for prototyping, and an Express integration with the drain-HTTP-server plugin for graceful shutdown that is recommended for production. Schema material walks through the built-in scalar types, object and input types, non-null markers, enums, and interfaces, while the resolver section explains the parent, args, contextValue, info signature and shows thin resolvers that delegate to data sources. A dedicated context section demonstrates building a per-request, TypeScript-typed context carrying tokens, the authenticated user, and data sources for both standalone and Express setups.

The skill closes with condensed rules and reference pointers: design schemas with meaningful non-null fields and input types, keep resolvers thin, batch with DataLoader to defeat N+1 queries, and consider @defer/@stream and persisted queries for performance. Its ground rules are firm - always use 5.x patterns, type the context with generics, raise errors as GraphQLError from the graphql package, never leak stack traces in production, and move to a real framework integration rather than the standalone server for production apps. Companion reference files expand on resolvers, context and auth, plugins, data sources, error handling, and troubleshooting.