Hello,
My company is moving to Neo4j Aura.
We also use GraphQL.
However, the current beta system does not allow Instrospection (to check nodes, properties, etc). It also doesnt allow 'options' (e.g, options: { offset: 0, limit: 100 })
Please fix these 2 issues or we would struggle to migrate.
Also, please fix the docs for using the Graphql, I did not find them very helpful
Do you have a potential ETA for fixes?
Hi Joseph
You can enable / disable Introspection today using the Aura API and we're working on getting this option into the UI. I'll update you on when the UI work will be done.
If you want to do this using the Aura API, it's a bit more involved. Let me know if this is of interest to you.
For options, e.g limit , you can do this like this
query getAllMovies{
movies(limit: 10) {
name
}
}
What options are not working?
Also can you point to specific parts of the documentation that require improvement so that we can take action?
Thanks
Jonathan Giffard, PM Drivers & GraphQL.
Hi
Hi Jonathan!
Thank you for your swift response. Sorry if I appeared curt, I was a little frustrated. As you’ve opened the gates to my questions, and appear quite responsive, I will suggest some changes. I mean these in the best spirit, as a fellow programmer who appreciates user feedback. QA on our own work is difficult at the best of times.
All in all, great app, and I love the ‘explore’ section. VERY cool! Good luck in everything, and if you could let me know ETAs for the above (or if even possible), I would appreciate it so I could pass it ups the chain on my end.
All the best,
Fellow Programmer
Joseph
Hi Joseph,
We always welcome feedback on what we are doing and it is even more welcome when we're in a pre-production Beta phase.
Let me address the points you raised.
We are actively working on making the changes to the UI for toggling introspection on / off. The estimate is a week or so , ( not months ! ) for this to appear in the console.
I take your point on the current iteration of the docs. At the time when the Beta started this was the only way to manage the GraphQL APIs. Now that the UI is available, I'll work on updating the docs.
Instant feedback for Type Definitions is something we are very aware of and working on. This has turned out to be more complex than we first envisioned which means I don't yet have an E.T.A for you. As soon as I do, then I'll let you know.
If you would like introspection enabled now then we can do that behind the scenes for you. Please let me know the ID of the API and the associated Instance ID. You will find those when you select Data API Beta. in the Console. From the table that shows the list of Data APIs, there is a column for ID and another for Instance ID. Please DM me those and we will get introspection switched on.
If there's anything else, please let me know
Jonathan
Hey Jonathan,
Sounds great!
Can you just ping me those commands and I'll plug them in on my end?
I am not sure how to DM you on here, or should I contact you on linkedin?
I can't seem to find them in the docs
All the best,
Joseph
Rather awkwardly, after looking around, I'm not sure of how to DM here so go ahead and message me on LinkedIn . I am at Jonathan Giffard - Neo4j | LinkedIn
To enable introspection yourself, you will need to use the Aura API and a CURL command. There's a number of steps to follow which I will write up and post here later today.
Thanks to @joseph.shepherd who field tested these instructions. I've made a change from the feedback to use aura-cli credential list rather than aura-cli config list
Here's what you need to do to set Introspection On / Off using the Aura API.
Although we will use CURL to enable / disable introspection, we will need to use the Aura CLI to get the Instance ID, the ID of the associated GraphQL API , and tell us the token to use with the Aura API.
Get the Aura CLI installed and configured by following the steps given in the GraphQL Beta Prerequisites
Onto finding the Instance ID. List all of your Aura instances using the table output which makes it easier to locate the ID
aura-cli instance list --output table
Make a note of the instance ID.
Now get the ID of the GraphQL API for that instance, changing YOUR_INSTANCE_ID for your value
aura-cli data-api graphql list --instance-id YOUR_INSTANCE_ID
Write down the ID of the GraphQL Data API
Finally, we need a token to auth to the Aura API. The Aura CLI caches these locally as the tokens last for 1 hour and there is no point in getting another one until it expires. This also avoids spamming the token endpoint.
You can see the token by asking the Aura CLI for it's configuration settings. Do this with
aura-cli credential list
This returns a JSON document that contains the current token as the value for the key access-token
Make a note of that as well
At this point you should have three items
Here's the CURL command to set Instrospection on using those values
curl --location --request PATCH 'https://api.neo4j.io/v1beta5/instances/YOUR_AURA_INSTANCE_ID/data-apis/graphql/YOUR_GRAPHQL_API_ID' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Accept: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer YOUR_AURA_API_TOKEN ' \
--data '{
"security": {
"introspection_enabled": true
}
}
}'
To disable introspection, set the value to false
Hi Jonathan,
Works when I run the below for the access-token:
aura-cli credentials list
If you now have the GraphQL ID and the ID of the Aura instance, just send them to me at jon.giffard@neo4j.com and I will get the change done at the backend
Updated the instructions to reflect that - thanks !
And , as of last week, introspection can be enabled / disabled in the AuraDB new console experience.