What is GraphQL for Azure?

Discover the services and tools you need to build and deploy your GraphQL applications on Azure. Whether you're hosting your existing GraphQL applications or creating new GraphQL endpoints, Azure provides the resources to do so without changes to your code.

Understand how to use GraphQL on Azure.

• Bring GraphQL applications to the Azure web app hosting services such as Static Web Apps, App Service, and Azure Functions.
• Build GraphQL endpoints to your existing data sources without adding GraphQL infrastructure. Integrate microservices, stitching together calls to existing backed services, using API Management or access to database via GraphQL using Data API builder.

What is GraphQL?

GraphQL is a query language for APIs and a runtime for fulfilling those queries with your existing data. GraphQL provides a complete and understandable description of the data in your API, gives clients the power to ask for exactly what they need and nothing more, makes it easier to evolve APIs over time, and enables powerful developer tools.

GraphQL language support is extensive, allowing you to choose your language of choice to build GraphQL applications. GraphQL is also supported by many client libraries and server libraries.

Bring your GraphQL applications to Azure

When you bring your existing application to Azure, consider the following services and their uses:

• Hosting: You can bring your existing applications to Azure and take advantage of the benefits of Azure's web app hosting services. Which service depends on how you deploy your application.
  • Static site: use Azure Static Web Apps.
  • Server or full-stack
    • Use Azure App Service.
    • Use Azure Container Apps for containerized applications.
  • Serverless: use Azure Functions.
• Authentication: Use Identity platform to add authentication to your application.
• Query and mutate data: Use a data service to store data and take advantage of Data API builder to use GraphQL to query and mutate data.
  • GraphQL for Databases: Use Data API builder to automatically turn your databases into GraphQL endpoints
  • Relational data: Use Azure SQL Database or Azure Database for PostgreSQL.
  • NoSQL data: Use Azure Cosmos DB.
• API layer: Use GraphQL APIs in Azure API Management

Build GraphQL endpoints to your existing data sources

When you build GraphQL endpoints to your existing data sources, consider the following services and their uses:

• Custom API endpoints: Use Azure API Management to build a GraphQL endpoint to your existing Azure data sources.
• Static data endpoints: Use Static Web Apps and the data-api endpoint configured in the staticwebapp.database.config.json file to build a GraphQL endpoint available from your static client app to your existing Azure data sources.

Resources

Learn more about building GraphQL applications on Azure:

• Azure API Management

Related content

• Azure SQL DB
• Azure Cosmos DB
• Data API builder
• Azure API Management
• Static Web Apps