spring-graphql/spring-graphql-docs/modules/ROOT/pages/request-execution.adoc

[[execution]]
= Request Execution

`ExecutionGraphQlService` is the main Spring abstraction to call GraphQL Java to execute
requests. Underlying transports, such as the xref:transports.adoc#server.transports.http[HTTP], delegate to
`ExecutionGraphQlService` to handle requests.

The main implementation, `DefaultExecutionGraphQlService`, is configured with a
`GraphQlSource` for access to the `graphql.GraphQL` instance to invoke.



[[execution.graphqlsource]]
== `GraphQLSource`

`GraphQlSource` is a contract to expose the `graphql.GraphQL` instance to use that also
includes a builder API to build that instance. The default builder is available via
`GraphQlSource.schemaResourceBuilder()`.

The xref:boot-starter.adoc[Boot Starter] creates an instance of this builder and further initializes it
to xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.graphqlsource.schema-resources[load schema files] from a configurable location,
to {spring-boot-ref-docs}/application-properties.html#appendix.application-properties.web[expose properties]
to apply to `GraphQlSource.Builder`, to detect
xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.graphqlsource.runtimewiring-configurer[`RuntimeWiringConfigurer`] beans,
https://www.graphql-java.com/documentation/instrumentation[Instrumentation] beans for
{spring-boot-ref-docs}/actuator.html#actuator.metrics.supported.spring-graphql[GraphQL metrics],
and `DataFetcherExceptionResolver` and `SubscriptionExceptionResolver`  beans for
xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.exceptions[exception resolution]. For further customizations, you can also
declare a `GraphQlSourceBuilderCustomizer` bean, for example:

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
@Configuration(proxyBeanMethods = false)
class GraphQlConfig {

	@Bean
	public GraphQlSourceBuilderCustomizer sourceBuilderCustomizer() {
		return (builder) ->
				builder.configureGraphQl(graphQlBuilder ->
						graphQlBuilder.executionIdProvider(new CustomExecutionIdProvider()));
	}
}
----



[[execution.graphqlsource.schema-resources]]
=== Schema Resources

`GraphQlSource.Builder` can be configured with one or more `Resource` instances to be
parsed and merged together. That means schema files can be loaded from just about any
location.

By default, the Boot starter
{spring-boot-ref-docs}/web.html#web.graphql.schema[looks for schema files] with extensions
".graphqls" or ".gqls" under the location `classpath:graphql/**`, which is typically
`src/main/resources/graphql`. You can also use a file system location, or any location
supported by the Spring `Resource` hierarchy, including a custom implementation that
loads schema files from remote locations, from storage, or from memory.

TIP: Use `classpath*:graphql/**/` to find schema files across multiple classpath
locations, e.g. across multiple modules.


[[execution.graphqlsource.schema-creation]]
=== Schema Creation

By default, `GraphQlSource.Builder` uses the GraphQL Java `SchemaGenerator` to create the
`graphql.schema.GraphQLSchema`. This works for typical use, but if you need to use a
different generator, e.g. for federation, you can register a `schemaFactory` callback:

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
GraphQlSource.Builder builder = ...

builder.schemaResources(..)
		.configureRuntimeWiring(..)
		.schemaFactory((typeDefinitionRegistry, runtimeWiring) -> {
			// create GraphQLSchema
		})
----

The xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.graphqlsource[GraphQlSource section] explains how to configure that with Spring Boot.

For an example with Apollo Federation, see
https://github.com/apollographql/federation-jvm-spring-example[federation-jvm-spring-example].


[[execution.graphqlsource.runtimewiring-configurer]]
=== `RuntimeWiringConfigurer`

You can use `RuntimeWiringConfigurer` to register:

- Custom scalar types.
- xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.graphqlsource.directives[Directives] handling code.
- Default xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.graphqlsource.default-type-resolver[`TypeResolver`] for interface and union types.
- `DataFetcher` for a field although applications will typically use xref:controllers.adoc[Annotated Controllers], and
those are detected and registered as ``DataFetcher``s by `AnnotatedControllerConfigurer`,
which is a `RuntimeWiringConfigurer`. The xref:boot-starter.adoc[Boot Starter] automatically registers
`AnnotatedControllerConfigurer`.

NOTE: GraphQL Java, server applications use Jackson only for serialization to and from maps of data.
Client input is parsed into a map. Server output is assembled into a map based on the field selection set.
This means you can't rely on Jackson serialization/deserialization annotations.
Instead, you can use https://www.graphql-java.com/documentation/scalars/[custom scalar types].

The xref:boot-starter.adoc[Boot Starter] detects beans of type `RuntimeWiringConfigurer` and
registers them in the `GraphQlSource.Builder`. That means in most cases, you'll' have
something like the following in your configuration:

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
@Configuration
public class GraphQlConfig {

	@Bean
	public RuntimeWiringConfigurer runtimeWiringConfigurer(BookRepository repository) {

		GraphQLScalarType scalarType = ... ;
		SchemaDirectiveWiring directiveWiring = ... ;
		DataFetcher dataFetcher = QuerydslDataFetcher.builder(repository).single();

		return wiringBuilder -> wiringBuilder
				.scalar(scalarType)
				.directiveWiring(directiveWiring)
				.type("Query", builder -> builder.dataFetcher("book", dataFetcher));
	}
}
----

If you need to add a `WiringFactory`, e.g. to make registrations that take into account
schema definitions, implement the alternative `configure` method that accepts both the
`RuntimeWiring.Builder` and an output `List<WiringFactory>`. This allows you to add any
number of factories that are then invoked in sequence.


[[execution.graphqlsource.default-type-resolver]]
=== `TypeResolver`

`GraphQlSource.Builder` registers `ClassNameTypeResolver` as the default `TypeResolver`
to use for GraphQL Interfaces and Unions that don't already have such a registration
through a xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.graphqlsource.runtimewiring-configurer[`RuntimeWiringConfigurer`]. The purpose of
a `TypeResolver` in GraphQL Java is to determine the GraphQL Object type for values
returned from the `DataFetcher` for a GraphQL Interface or Union field.

`ClassNameTypeResolver` tries to match the simple class name of the value to a GraphQL
Object Type and if it is not successful, it also navigates its super types including
base classes and interfaces, looking for a match. `ClassNameTypeResolver` provides an
option to configure a name extracting function along with `Class` to GraphQL Object type
name mappings that should help to cover more corner cases:

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
GraphQlSource.Builder builder = ...
ClassNameTypeResolver classNameTypeResolver = new ClassNameTypeResolver();
classNameTypeResolver.setClassNameExtractor((klass) -> {
	// Implement Custom ClassName Extractor here
});
builder.defaultTypeResolver(classNameTypeResolver);
----

The xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.graphqlsource[GraphQlSource section] explains how to configure that with Spring Boot.


[[execution.graphqlsource.directives]]
=== Directives

The GraphQL language supports directives that "describe alternate runtime execution and
type validation behavior in a GraphQL document". Directives are similar to annotations in
Java but declared on types, fields, fragments and operations in a GraphQL document.

GraphQL Java provides the `SchemaDirectiveWiring` contract to help applications detect
and handle directives. For more details, see
{graphql-java-docs}/sdl-directives/[Schema Directives] in the
GraphQL Java documentation.

In Spring GraphQL you can register a `SchemaDirectiveWiring` through a
xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.graphqlsource.runtimewiring-configurer[`RuntimeWiringConfigurer`]. The xref:boot-starter.adoc[Boot Starter] detects
such beans, so you might have something like:

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
@Configuration
public class GraphQlConfig {

	 @Bean
	 public RuntimeWiringConfigurer runtimeWiringConfigurer() {
		  return builder -> builder.directiveWiring(new MySchemaDirectiveWiring());
	 }

}
----

TIP: For an example of directives support check out the
https://github.com/graphql-java/graphql-java-extended-validation[Extended Validation for Graphql Java]
library.


[[execution.graphqlsource.execution-strategy]]
=== `ExecutionStrategy`

An `ExecutionStrategy` in GraphQL Java drives the fetching of requested fields.
To create an `ExecutionStrategy`, you need to provide a `DataFetcherExceptionHandler`.
By default, Spring for GraphQL creates the exception handler to use as described in
xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.exceptions[Exceptions] and sets it on the
`GraphQL.Builder`. GraphQL Java then uses that to create `AsyncExecutionStrategy`
instances with the configured exception handler.

If you need to create a custom `ExecutionStrategy`, you can detect
``DataFetcherExceptionResolver``s and create an exception handler in the same way, and use
it to create the custom `ExecutionStrategy`. For example, in a Spring Boot application:

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
@Bean
GraphQlSourceBuilderCustomizer sourceBuilderCustomizer(
		ObjectProvider<DataFetcherExceptionResolver> resolvers) {

	DataFetcherExceptionHandler exceptionHandler =
			DataFetcherExceptionResolver.createExceptionHandler(resolvers.stream().toList());

	AsyncExecutionStrategy strategy = new CustomAsyncExecutionStrategy(exceptionHandler);

	return sourceBuilder -> sourceBuilder.configureGraphQl(builder ->
			builder.queryExecutionStrategy(strategy).mutationExecutionStrategy(strategy));
}
----




[[execution.graphqlsource.schema-transformation]]
=== Schema Transformation

You can register a `graphql.schema.GraphQLTypeVisitor` via
`builder.schemaResources(..).typeVisitorsToTransformSchema(..)` if you want to traverse
and transform the schema after it is created, and make changes to the schema. Keep in mind
that this is more expensive than xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.graphqlsource.schema-traversal[Schema Traversal] so generally
prefer traversal to transformation unless you need to make schema changes.


[[execution.graphqlsource.schema-traversal]]
=== Schema Traversal

You can register a `graphql.schema.GraphQLTypeVisitor` via
`builder.schemaResources(..).typeVisitors(..)` if you want to traverse the schema after
it is created, and possibly apply changes to the `GraphQLCodeRegistry`. Keep in mind,
however, that such a visitor cannot change the schema. See
xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.graphqlsource.schema-transformation[Schema Transformation], if you need to make changes to the schema.


[[execution.graphqlsource.schema-mapping-inspection]]
=== Schema Mapping Inspection

If a query, mutation, or subscription operation does not have a `DataFetcher`, it won't
return any data, and won't do anything useful. Likewise, fields on schema types returned
by an operation that are covered neither explicitly through a `DataFetcher`
registration, nor implicitly by the default `PropertyDataFetcher`, which looks for a
matching Java object property, will always be `null`.

GraphQL Java does not perform checks to ensure every schema field is covered, and that
can result in gaps that might not be discovered depending on test coverage. At runtime
you may get a "silent" `null`, or an error if the field is not nullable. As a lower level
library, GraphQL Java simply does not know enough about `DataFetcher` implementations and
their return types, and therefore can't compare schema type structure against Java object
structure.

Spring for GraphQL defines the `SelfDescribingDataFetcher` interface to allow a
`DataFetcher` to expose return type information. All Spring `DataFetcher` implementations
implement this interface. That includes those for xref:controllers.adoc[Annotated Controllers], and those for
xref:data.adoc#data.querydsl[Querydsl] and xref:data.adoc#data.querybyexample[Query by Example] Spring Data repositories. For annotated
controllers, the return type is derived from the declared return type on a
`@SchemaMapping` method.

On startup, Spring for GraphQL can inspect schema fields, `DataFetcher` registrations,
and the properties of Java objects returned from `DataFetcher` implementations to check
if all schema fields are covered either by an explicitly registered `DataFetcher`, or
a matching Java object property. The inspection also performs a reverse check looking for
`DataFetcher` registrations against schema fields that don't exist.

To enable inspection of schema mappings:

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
GraphQlSource.Builder builder = ...

builder.schemaResources(..)
		.inspectSchemaMappings(report -> {
			logger.debug(report);
		})
----

Below is an example report:

----
GraphQL schema inspection:
    Unmapped fields: {Book=[title], Author[firstName, lastName]} // <1>
    Unmapped registrations: {Book.reviews=BookController#reviews[1 args]} <2>
    Skipped types: [BookOrAuthor] // <3>
----

<1> List of schema fields and their source types that are not mapped
<2> List of `DataFetcher` registrations on fields that don't exist
<3> List of schema types that are skipped, as explained next

There are limits to what schema field inspection can do, in particular when there is
insufficient Java type information. This is the case if an annotated controller method is
declared to return `java.lang.Object`, or if the return type has an unspecified generic
parameter such as `List<?>`, or if the `DataFetcher` does not implement
`SelfDescribingDataFetcher` and the return type is not even known. In such cases, the
Java object type structure remains unknown, and the schema type is listed as skipped in
the resulting report. For every skipped type, a DEBUG message is logged to indicate why
it was skipped.

Schema union types are always skipped because there is no way for a controller method to
declare such a return type in Java, and the Java type structure is unknown.

Schema interface types are supported only as far as fields declared directly, which are
compared against properties on the Java type declared by a `SelfDescribingDataFetcher`.
Additional fields on concrete implementations are not inspected. This could be improved
in a future release to also inspect schema `interface` implementation types and to try
to find a match among subtypes of the declared Java return type.


[[execution.graphqlsource.operation-caching]]
=== Operation Caching

GraphQL Java must _parse_ and _validate_ an operation before executing it. This may impact
performance significantly. To avoid the need to re-parse and validate, an application may
configure a `PreparsedDocumentProvider` that caches and reuses Document instances. The
{graphql-java-docs}/execution/#query-caching[GraphQL Java docs] provide more details on
query caching through a `PreparsedDocumentProvider`.

In Spring GraphQL you can register a `PreparsedDocumentProvider` through
`GraphQlSource.Builder#configureGraphQl`:
.

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
// Typically, accessed through Spring Boot's GraphQlSourceBuilderCustomizer
GraphQlSource.Builder builder = ...

// Create provider
PreparsedDocumentProvider provider =
        new ApolloPersistedQuerySupport(new InMemoryPersistedQueryCache(Collections.emptyMap()));

builder.schemaResources(..)
		.configureRuntimeWiring(..)
		.configureGraphQl(graphQLBuilder -> graphQLBuilder.preparsedDocumentProvider(provider))
----

The xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.graphqlsource[GraphQlSource section] explains how to configure that with Spring Boot.




[[execution.thread-model]]
== Thread Model

Most GraphQL requests benefit from concurrent execution in fetching nested fields. This is
why most applications today rely on  GraphQL Java's `AsyncExecutionStrategy`, which allows
data fetchers to return `CompletionStage` and to execute concurrently rather than serially.

Java 21 and virtual threads add an important ability to use more threads efficiently, but
it is still necessary to execute concurrently rather than serially in order for request
execution to complete more quickly.

Spring for GraphQL supports:

- <<execution.reactive-datafetcher, Reactive data fetchers>>, and those are
adapted to `CompletionStage` as expected by `AsyncExecutionStrategy`.
- `CompletionStage` as return value.
- Controller methods that are Kotlin coroutine methods.
- xref:controllers.adoc#controllers.schema-mapping[@SchemaMapping] and
xref:controllers.adoc#controllers.schema-mapping[@BatchMapping] methods can return
`Callable` that is submitted to an `Executor` such as the Spring Framework
`VirtualThreadTaskExecutor`. To enable this, you must configure an `Executor` on
`AnnotatedControllerConfigurer`.

Spring for GraphQL runs on either Spring MVC or WebFlux as the transport. Spring MVC
uses async request execution, unless the resulting `CompletableFuture` is done
immediately after the GraphQL Java engine returns, which would be the case if the
request is simple enough and did not require asynchronous data fetching.




[[execution.reactive-datafetcher]]
== Reactive `DataFetcher`

The default `GraphQlSource` builder enables support for a `DataFetcher` to return `Mono`
or `Flux` which adapts those to a `CompletableFuture` where `Flux` values are aggregated
and turned into a List, unless the request is a GraphQL subscription request,
in which case the return value remains a Reactive Streams `Publisher` for streaming
GraphQL responses.

A reactive `DataFetcher` can rely on access to Reactor context propagated from the
transport layer, such as from a WebFlux request handling, see
xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.context.webflux[WebFlux Context].



[[execution.context]]
== Context Propagation

Spring for GraphQL provides support to transparently propagate context from the
xref:transports.adoc#server.transports.http[HTTP] transport, through GraphQL Java, and to
`DataFetcher` and other components it invokes. This includes both `ThreadLocal` context
from the Spring MVC request handling thread and Reactor `Context` from the WebFlux
processing pipeline.


[[execution.context.webmvc]]
=== WebMvc

A `DataFetcher` and other components invoked by GraphQL Java may not always execute on
the same thread as the Spring MVC handler, for example if an asynchronous
xref:transports.adoc#server.interception[`WebGraphQlInterceptor`] or `DataFetcher` switches to a
different thread.

Spring for GraphQL supports propagating `ThreadLocal` values from the Servlet container
thread to the thread a `DataFetcher` and other components invoked by GraphQL Java to
execute on. To do this, an application needs to implement
`io.micrometer.context.ThreadLocalAccessor` for a `ThreadLocal` values of interest:

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
public class RequestAttributesAccessor implements ThreadLocalAccessor<RequestAttributes> {

    @Override
    public Object key() {
        return RequestAttributesAccessor.class.getName();
    }

    @Override
    public RequestAttributes getValue() {
        return RequestContextHolder.getRequestAttributes();
    }

    @Override
    public void setValue(RequestAttributes attributes) {
        RequestContextHolder.setRequestAttributes(attributes);
    }

    @Override
    public void reset() {
        RequestContextHolder.resetRequestAttributes();
    }

}
----

You can register a `ThreadLocalAccessor` manually on startup with the global
`ContextRegistry` instance, which is accessible via
`io.micrometer.context.ContextRegistry#getInstance()`. You can also register it
automatically through the `java.util.ServiceLoader` mechanism.


[[execution.context.webflux]]
=== WebFlux

A xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.reactive-datafetcher[Reactive `DataFetcher`] can rely on access to Reactor context that
originates from the WebFlux request handling chain. This includes Reactor context
added by xref:transports.adoc#server.interception[WebGraphQlInterceptor] components.



[[execution.exceptions]]
== Exceptions

In GraphQL Java, `DataFetcherExceptionHandler` decides how to represent exceptions from
data fetching in the "errors" section of the response. An application can register a
single handler only.

Spring for GraphQL registers a `DataFetcherExceptionHandler` that provides default
handling and enables the `DataFetcherExceptionResolver` contract. An application can
register any number of resolvers via xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.graphqlsource[`GraphQLSource`] builder and those are in
order until one them resolves the `Exception` to a `List<graphql.GraphQLError>`.
The Spring Boot starter detects beans of this type.

`DataFetcherExceptionResolverAdapter` is a convenient base class with protected methods
`resolveToSingleError` and `resolveToMultipleErrors`.

The xref:controllers.adoc[Annotated Controllers] programming model enables handling data fetching exceptions with
annotated exception handler methods with a flexible method signature, see
xref:controllers.adoc#controllers.exception-handler[`@GraphQlExceptionHandler`] for details.

A `GraphQLError` can be assigned to a category based on the GraphQL Java
`graphql.ErrorClassification`, or the Spring GraphQL `ErrorType`, which defines the following:

- `BAD_REQUEST`
- `UNAUTHORIZED`
- `FORBIDDEN`
- `NOT_FOUND`
- `INTERNAL_ERROR`

If an exception remains unresolved, by default it is categorized as an `INTERNAL_ERROR`
with a generic message that includes the category name and the `executionId` from
`DataFetchingEnvironment`. The message is intentionally opaque to avoid leaking
implementation details. Applications can use a `DataFetcherExceptionResolver` to customize
error details.

Unresolved exception are logged at ERROR level along with the `executionId` to correlate
to the error sent to the client. Resolved exceptions are logged at DEBUG level.


[[execution.exceptions.request]]
=== Request Exceptions

The GraphQL Java engine may run into validation or other errors when parsing the request
and that in turn prevent request execution. In such cases, the response contains a
"data" key with `null` and one or more request-level "errors" that are global, i.e. not
having a field path.

`DataFetcherExceptionResolver` cannot handle such global errors because they are raised
before execution begins and before any `DataFetcher` is invoked. An application can use
transport level interceptors to inspect and transform errors in the `ExecutionResult`.
See examples under xref:transports.adoc#server.interception.web[`WebGraphQlInterceptor`].


[[execution.exceptions.subscription]]
=== Subscription Exceptions

The `Publisher` for a subscription request may complete with an error signal in which case
the underlying transport (e.g. WebSocket) sends a final "error" type message with a list
of GraphQL errors.

`DataFetcherExceptionResolver` cannot resolve errors from a subscription `Publisher`,
since the data `DataFetcher` only creates the `Publisher` initially. After that, the
transport subscribes to the `Publisher` that may then complete with an error.

An application can register a `SubscriptionExceptionResolver` in order to resolve
exceptions from a subscription `Publisher` in order to resolve those to GraphQL errors
to send to the client.



[[execution.pagination]]
== Pagination

The GraphQL https://relay.dev/graphql/connections.htm[Cursor Connection specification]
defines a way to navigate large result sets by returning a subset of items at a time where
each item is paired with a cursor that clients can use to request more items before or
after the referenced item.

The specification calls the pattern _"Connections"_. A schema type with a name that ends
on Connection is a _Connection Type_ that represents a paginated result set. All `~Connection`
types contain an "edges" field where `~Edge` type pairs the actual item with a cursor, as
well as a "pageInfo" field with boolean flags to indicate if there are more items forward
and backward.


[[execution.pagination.types]]
=== Connection Types

`Connection` type definitions must be created for every type that needs pagination, adding
boilerplate and noise to the schema. Spring for GraphQL provides
`ConnectionTypeDefinitionConfigurer` to add these types on startup, if not already
present in the parsed schema files. That means in the schema you only need this:

[source,graphql,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	Query {
		books(first:Int, after:String, last:Int, before:String): BookConnection
	}

	type Book {
		id: ID!
		title: String!
	}
----

Note the spec-defined forward pagination arguments `first` and `after` that clients can use
to request the first N items after the given cursor, while `last` and `before` are backward
pagination arguments to request the last N items before the given cursor.

Next, configure `ConnectionTypeDefinitionConfigurer` as follows:

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
GraphQlSource.schemaResourceBuilder()
		.schemaResources(..)
		.typeDefinitionConfigurer(new ConnectionTypeDefinitionConfigurer)
----

and the following type definitions will be transparently added to the schema:
[source,graphql,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
	type BookConnection {
		edges: [BookEdge]!
		pageInfo: PageInfo!
	}

	type BookEdge {
		node: Book!
		cursor: String!
	}

	type PageInfo {
		hasPreviousPage: Boolean!
		hasNextPage: Boolean!
		startCursor: String
		endCursor: String
	}
----

The xref:boot-starter.adoc[Boot Starter] registers `ConnectionTypeDefinitionConfigurer` by default.


[[execution.pagination.adapters]]
=== `ConnectionAdapter`

Once xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.pagination.types[Connection Types] are available in the schema, you also need
equivalent Java types. GraphQL Java provides those, including generic `Connection` and
`Edge`, as well as a `PageInfo`.

One option is to populate a `Connection` and return it from your controller method or
`DataFetcher`. However, this requires boilerplate code to create the `Connection`,
creating cursors, wrapping each item as an `Edge`, and creating the `PageInfo`.
Moreover, you may already have an underlying pagination mechanism such as when using
Spring Data repositories.

Spring for GraphQL defines the `ConnectionAdapter` contract to adapt a container of items
to `Connection`. Adapters are applied through a `DataFetcher` decorator that is in turn
installed through a `ConnectionFieldTypeVisitor`. You can configure it as follows:

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
ConnectionAdapter adapter = ... ;
GraphQLTypeVisitor visitor = ConnectionFieldTypeVisitor.create(List.of(adapter)) // <1>

GraphQlSource.schemaResourceBuilder()
		.schemaResources(..)
		.typeDefinitionConfigurer(..)
		.typeVisitors(List.of(visitor)) // <2>
----

<1> Create type visitor with one or more ``ConnectionAdapter``s.
<2> Resister the type visitor.

There are xref:data.adoc#data.pagination.scroll[built-in] ``ConnectionAdapter``s for Spring Data's
`Window` and `Slice`. You can also create your own custom adapter. `ConnectionAdapter`
implementations rely on a xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.pagination.cursor.strategy[`CursorStrategy`] to
create cursors for returned items. The same strategy is also used to support the
xref:controllers.adoc#controllers.schema-mapping.subrange[`Subrange`] controller method argument that contains
pagination input.


[[execution.pagination.cursor.strategy]]
=== `CursorStrategy`

`CursorStrategy` is a contract to encode and decode a String cursor that refers to the
position of an item within a large result set. The cursor can be based on an index or
on a keyset.

A xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.pagination.adapters[`ConnectionAdapter`] uses this to encode cursors for returned items.
xref:controllers.adoc[Annotated Controllers] methods, xref:data.adoc#data.querydsl[Querydsl] repositories, and xref:data.adoc#data.querybyexample[Query by Example]
repositories use it to decode cursors from pagination requests, and create a `Subrange`.

`CursorEncoder` is a related contract that further encodes and decodes String cursors to
make them opaque to clients. `EncodingCursorStrategy` combines `CursorStrategy` with a
`CursorEncoder`. You can use `Base64CursorEncoder`, `NoOpEncoder` or create your own.

There is a xref:data.adoc#data.pagination.scroll[built-in] `CursorStrategy` for the Spring Data
`ScrollPosition`. The xref:boot-starter.adoc[Boot Starter] registers a `CursorStrategy<ScrollPosition>` with
`Base64Encoder` when Spring Data is present.


[[execution.pagination.sort.strategy]]
=== Sort

There is no standard way to provide sort information in a GraphQL request. However,
pagination depends on a stable sort order. You can use a default order, or otherwise
expose input types and extract sort details from GraphQL arguments.

There is xref:data.adoc#data.pagination.sort[built-in] support for Spring Data's `Sort` as a controller
method argument. For this to work, you need to have a `SortStrategy` bean.


[[execution.batching]]
== Batch Loading

Given a `Book` and its `Author`, we can create one `DataFetcher` for a book and another
for its author. This allows selecting books with or without authors, but it means books
and authors aren't loaded together, which is especially inefficient when querying multiple
books as the author for each book is loaded individually. This is known as the N+1 select
problem.


[[execution.batching.dataloader]]
=== `DataLoader`

GraphQL Java provides a `DataLoader` mechanism for batch loading of related entities.
You can find the full details in the
{graphql-java-docs}/batching/[GraphQL Java docs]. Below is a
summary of how it works:

 1. Register ``DataLoader``'s in the `DataLoaderRegistry` that can load entities, given unique keys.
 2. ``DataFetcher``'s can access ``DataLoader``'s and use them to load entities by id.
 3. A `DataLoader` defers loading by returning a future so it can be done in a batch.
 4. ``DataLoader``'s maintain a per request cache of loaded entities that can further
 improve efficiency.


[[execution.batching.batch-loader-registry]]
=== `BatchLoaderRegistry`

The complete batching loading mechanism in GraphQL Java requires implementing one of
several `BatchLoader` interface, then wrapping and registering those as ``DataLoader``s
with a name in the `DataLoaderRegistry`.

The API in Spring GraphQL is slightly different. For registration, there is only one,
central `BatchLoaderRegistry` exposing factory methods and a builder to create and
register any number of batch loading functions:

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
@Configuration
public class MyConfig {

	public MyConfig(BatchLoaderRegistry registry) {

		registry.forTypePair(Long.class, Author.class).registerMappedBatchLoader((authorIds, env) -> {
				// return Mono<Map<Long, Author>
		});

		// more registrations ...
	}

}
----

The xref:boot-starter.adoc[Boot Starter] declares a `BatchLoaderRegistry` bean that you can inject into
your configuration, as shown above, or into any component such as a controller in order
register batch loading functions. In turn the `BatchLoaderRegistry` is injected into
`DefaultExecutionGraphQlService` where it ensures `DataLoader` registrations per request.

By default, the `DataLoader` name is based on the class name of the target entity.
This allows an `@SchemaMapping` method to declare a
xref:controllers.adoc#controllers.schema-mapping.data-loader[DataLoader argument] with a generic type, and
without the need for specifying a name. The name, however, can be customized through the
`BatchLoaderRegistry` builder, if necessary, along with other `DataLoaderOptions`.

To configure default `DataLoaderOptions` globally, to use as a starting point for any
registration, you can override Boot's `BatchLoaderRegistry` bean and use the constructor
for `DefaultBatchLoaderRegistry` that accepts `Supplier<DataLoaderOptions>`.

For many cases, when loading related entities, you can use
xref:controllers.adoc#controllers.batch-mapping[@BatchMapping] controller methods, which are a shortcut
for and replace the need to use `BatchLoaderRegistry` and `DataLoader` directly.

`BatchLoaderRegistry` provides other important benefits too. It supports access to
the same `GraphQLContext` from batch loading functions and from `@BatchMapping` methods,
as well as ensures xref:request-execution.adoc#execution.context[Context Propagation] to them. This is why applications are expected
to use it. It is possible to perform your own `DataLoader` registrations directly but
such registrations would forgo the above benefits.


[[execution.batching.testing]]
=== Testing Batch Loading

Start by having `BatchLoaderRegistry` perform registrations on a `DataLoaderRegistry`:

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
BatchLoaderRegistry batchLoaderRegistry = new DefaultBatchLoaderRegistry();
// perform registrations...

DataLoaderRegistry dataLoaderRegistry = DataLoaderRegistry.newRegistry().build();
batchLoaderRegistry.registerDataLoaders(dataLoaderRegistry, graphQLContext);
----

Now you can access and test individual ``DataLoader``'s as follows:

[source,java,indent=0,subs="verbatim,quotes"]
----
DataLoader<Long, Book> loader = dataLoaderRegistry.getDataLoader(Book.class.getName());
loader.load(1L);
loader.loadMany(Arrays.asList(2L, 3L));
List<Book> books = loader.dispatchAndJoin(); // actual loading

assertThat(books).hasSize(3);
assertThat(books.get(0).getName()).isEqualTo("...");
// ...
----