GraphQL App Recipes

This repo is an evolving work in progress. As I add more recipes, I will break these out into individual full-stack applications including the front end and adding additional examples. If you have any ideas, please feel free to either contribute or submit an issue!

This repo goes along with the tutorial on building AWS AppSync APIs using the Amplify GraphQL Transform library.

To learn more about GraphQL Transform library, check out the documentation.

To learn more about building full stack serverless applications with GraphQL and AWS Amplify, check out my post Infrastructure as Code in the Era of GraphQL and Full Stack Serverless.

1. Todo App
2. Events App
3. Chat App
4. Multi-user Chat App
5. E Commerce App
6. WhatsApp Clone
7. Reddit Clone
8. Conference App
9. Instagram Clone
10. Giphy Clone

Some applications may require additional custom authorization logic for certain subscriptions that you may not want accessible to all users. To learn more, check out the documentation here.

Todo App

To deploy this app, use the following steps:

1. Create the Amplify project in your app

amplify init

2. Add the GraphQL API

amplify add api

Use the following schema

type Todo @model {
  id: ID!
  name: String!
  description: String
}

3. Deploy the resources

amplify push

Event App

To deploy this app, use the following steps:

1. Create the Amplify project in your app

amplify init

2. Add authentication

amplify add auth

3. Add the GraphQL API

amplify add api

Use the following schema

type Event @model
  @key(name: "itemType", fields: ["itemType", "time"], queryField: "eventsByDate")
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: groups, groups: ["Admin"] },
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ]) {
    id: ID!
    name: String!
    description: String
    time: String!
    itemType: String!
    comments: [Comment] @connection #optional comments field
}

# Optional Comment type
type Comment @model
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "author" },
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ]) {
  id: ID!
  message: String!
  author: String
}

4. Deploy the resources

amplify push

Chat app

To deploy this app, use the following steps:

1. Create the Amplify project in your app

amplify init

2. Add the GraphQL API

amplify add api

Use the following GraphQL Schema:

type Conversation @model {
  id: ID!
  name: String
  messages: [Message] @connection(keyName: "messagesByConversationId", fields: ["id"])
  createdAt: String
  updatedAt: String
}

type Message
  @key(name: "messagesByConversationId", fields: ["conversationId"])
  @model(subscriptions: null, queries: null) {
  id: ID!
  conversationId: ID!
  content: String!
  conversation: Conversation @connection(fields: ["conversationId"])
  createdAt: String
}

Multi-user Chat App

To deploy this app, use the following steps:

1. Create the Amplify project in your app

amplify init

2. Add authentication

amplify add auth

3. Add the GraphQL API

amplify add api

Use the following GraphQL Schema:

type User
  @key(fields: ["userId"])
  @model(subscriptions: null)
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "userId" }
  ]) {
  userId: ID!
  conversations: [ConvoLink] @connection(keyName: "conversationsByUserId", fields: ["userId"])
  messages: [Message] @connection(keyName: "messagesByUserId", fields: ["userId"])
  createdAt: String
  updatedAt: String
}

type Conversation
  @model(subscriptions: null)
  @auth(rules: [{ allow: owner, ownerField: "members" }]) {
  id: ID!
  messages: [Message] @connection(keyName: "messagesByConversationId", fields: ["id"])
  associated: [ConvoLink] @connection(keyName: "convoLinksByConversationId", fields: ["id"])
  members: [String!]!
  createdAt: String
  updatedAt: String
}

type Message
  @key(name: "messagesByConversationId", fields: ["conversationId"])
  @key(name: "messagesByUserId", fields: ["userId"])
  @model(subscriptions: null, queries: null) {
  id: ID!
  userId: ID!
  conversationId: ID!
  author: User @connection(fields: ["userId"])
  content: String!
  conversation: Conversation @connection(fields: ["conversationId"])
  createdAt: String
  updatedAt: String
}

type ConvoLink
  @key(name: "convoLinksByConversationId", fields: ["conversationId"])
  @key(name: "conversationsByUserId", fields: ["userId"])
  @model(
    mutations: { create: "createConvoLink", update: "updateConvoLink" }
    queries: null
    subscriptions: null
  ) {
  id: ID!
  userId: ID!
  conversationId: ID!
  user: User @connection(fields: ["userId"])
  conversation: Conversation @connection(fields: ["conversationId"])
  createdAt: String
  updatedAt: String
}

type Subscription {
  onCreateConvoLink(userId: ID): ConvoLink
    @aws_subscribe(mutations: ["createConvoLink"])
  onCreateMessage(conversationId: ID): Message
    @aws_subscribe(mutations: ["createMessage"])
}

4. Deploy the resources

amplify push

E-commerce App

To deploy this app, use the following steps:

1. Create the Amplify project in your app

amplify init

2. Add authentication

amplify add auth

3. Add the GraphQL API

amplify add api

Use the following GraphQL schema:

# Products - Orders - Customers

type Customer @model(subscriptions: null)
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner },
    { allow: groups, groups: ["Admin"] }
  ]) {
  id: ID!
  name: String!
  email: String!
  address: String
  orders: [Order] @connection(keyName: "byCustomerId", fields: ["id"])
}

type Product @model(subscriptions: null)
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: groups, groups: ["Admin"] },
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ]) {
  id: ID!
  name: String!
  description: String
  price: Float!
  image: String
}

type Order @model(subscriptions: null)
  @key(name: "byCustomerId", fields: ["customerId", "createdAt"], queryField: "ordersByCustomerId")
  @auth(rules: [
   { allow: owner },
   { allow: groups, groups: ["Admin"] }
  ]) {
  id: ID!
  customerId: ID!
  total: Float
  subtotal: Float
  tax: Float
  createdAt: String!
  customer: Customer @connection(fields: ["customerId"])
  lineItems: [LineItem] @connection(keyName: "byOrderId", fields: ["id"])
}

type LineItem @model(subscriptions: null)
  @key(name: "byOrderId", fields: ["orderId"])
  @auth(rules: [
   { allow: owner },
   { allow: groups, groups: ["Admin"] }
  ]) {
  id: ID!
  orderId: ID!
  productId: ID!
  qty: Int
  order: Order @connection(fields: ["orderId"])
  product: Product @connection(fields: ["productId"])
  description: String
  price: Float
  total: Float
}

4. Add Storage (S3)

amplify add storage

? Please select from one of the below mentioned services (Use arrow keys): Content (Images, audio, video, etc.)
? Please provide a friendly name for your resource that will be used to label this category in the project: imagestorage
? Please provide bucket name: <UNIQUE_BUCKET_NAME>
? Who should have access: Auth and Guest users
? What kind of access do you want for Authenticated users? create/update, read, delete
? What kind of access do you want for Guest users? read

5. Deploy the resources

amplify push

Whatsapp Clone

To deploy this app, use the following steps:

1. Create the Amplify project in your app

amplify init

2. Add authentication

amplify add auth

3. Add the GraphQL API

amplify add api

Use the following GraphQL schema:

type User
  @key(fields: ["userId"])
  @model(subscriptions: null)
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "userId" }
  ]) {
  userId: ID!
  avatar: String
  conversations: [ConvoLink] @connection(keyName: "conversationsByUserId", fields: ["userId"])
  messages: [Message] @connection(keyName: "messagesByUserId", fields: ["userId"])
  createdAt: String
  updatedAt: String
}

type Conversation
  @model(subscriptions: null)
  @auth(rules: [{ allow: owner, ownerField: "members" }]) {
  id: ID!
  messages: [Message] @connection(keyName: "messagesByConversationId", fields: ["id"])
  associated: [ConvoLink] @connection(keyName: "convoLinksByConversationId", fields: ["id"])
  members: [String!]!
  createdAt: String
  updatedAt: String
}

type Message
  @key(name: "messagesByConversationId", fields: ["conversationId"])
  @key(name: "messagesByUserId", fields: ["userId"])
  @model(subscriptions: null, queries: null) {
  id: ID!
  userId: ID!
  conversationId: ID!
  author: User @connection(fields: ["userId"])
  content: String!
  image: String
  conversation: Conversation @connection(fields: ["conversationId"])
  createdAt: String
  updatedAt: String
}

type ConvoLink
  @key(name: "convoLinksByConversationId", fields: ["conversationId"])
  @key(name: "conversationsByUserId", fields: ["userId"])
  @model(
    mutations: { create: "createConvoLink", update: "updateConvoLink" }
    queries: null
    subscriptions: null
  ) {
  id: ID!
  userId: ID!
  conversationId: ID!
  user: User @connection(fields: ["userId"])
  conversation: Conversation @connection(fields: ["conversationId"])
  createdAt: String
  updatedAt: String
}

type Subscription {
  onCreateConvoLink(userId: ID): ConvoLink
    @aws_subscribe(mutations: ["createConvoLink"])
  onCreateMessage(conversationId: ID): Message
    @aws_subscribe(mutations: ["createMessage"])
}

4. Add Storage (S3)

amplify add storage

? Please select from one of the below mentioned services (Use arrow keys): Content (Images, audio, video, etc.)
? Please provide a friendly name for your resource that will be used to label this category in the project: imagestorage
? Please provide bucket name: <UNIQUE_BUCKET_NAME>
? Who should have access: Auth and Guest users
? What kind of access do you want for Authenticated users? create/update, read, delete
? What kind of access do you want for Guest users? read

5. Deploy the resources

amplify push

Reddit clone

To deploy this app, use the following steps:

1. Create the Amplify project in your app

amplify init

2. Add authentication

amplify add auth

3. Add the GraphQL API

amplify add api

Use the following GraphQL Schema:

type User @model(subscriptions: null)
  @key(fields: ["userId"])
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "userId" }
  ]) {
  userId: ID!
  posts: [Post] @connection(keyName: "postByUser", fields: ["userId"])
  createdAt: String
  updatedAt: String
}

type Post @model
  @key(name: "postByUser", fields: ["authorId", "createdAt"])
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "authorId" },
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ]) {
  id: ID!
  authorId: ID!
  author: User @connection(fields: ["authorId"])
  postContent: String
  postImage: String
  comments: [Comment] @connection(keyName: "commentsByPostId", fields: ["id"])
  votes: [PostVote] @connection(keyName: "votesByPostId", fields: ["id"])
  createdAt: String
  voteCount: Int
}

type Comment @model
  @key(name: "commentsByPostId", fields: ["postId"])
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "authorId" },
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ]) {
  id: ID!
  authorId: ID!
  postId: ID!
  text: String!
  author: User @connection(fields: ["authorId"])
  votes: [CommentVote] @connection(keyName: "votesByCommentId", fields: ["id"])
  post: Post @connection(fields: ["postId"])
  voteCount: Int
}

type PostVote @model
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "userId"},
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ])
  @key(name: "votesByPostId", fields: ["postId"]) {
  id: ID!
  postId: ID!
  userId: ID!
  post: Post @connection(fields: ["postId"])
  createdAt: String!
  vote: VoteType
}

type CommentVote @model
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "userId"},
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ])
  @key(name: "votesByCommentId", fields: ["commentId"]) {
  id: ID!
  userId: ID!
  commentId: ID!
  comment: Comment @connection(fields: ["commentId"])
  createdAt: String!
  vote: VoteType
}

input VoteInput {
  type: VoteType!
  id: ID!
}

enum VoteType {
  up
  down
}

Custom resolver for votes

In the request mapping template,

# Set the vote ID as a combination of the postId and the user's userId.
#set($itemId = "$context.identity.username#$context.args.postId")
$util.qr($context.args.input.put("id", $util.defaultIfNull($ctx.args.input.id, $itemId)))

# delete or comment out the conditional expression code that does not allow the vote to be overridden:
#set( $condition = {
  "expression": "attribute_not_exists(#id)",
  "expressionNames": {
      "#id": "id"
  }
})

4. Add Storage (S3)

amplify add storage

? Please select from one of the below mentioned services (Use arrow keys): Content (Images, audio, video, etc.)
? Please provide a friendly name for your resource that will be used to label this category in the project: imagestorage
? Please provide bucket name: <UNIQUE_BUCKET_NAME>
? Who should have access: Auth and Guest users
? What kind of access do you want for Authenticated users? create/update, read, delete
? What kind of access do you want for Guest users? read

5. Deploy the resources

amplify push

Conference App

To deploy this app, use the following steps:

1. Create the Amplify project in your app

amplify init

2. Add authentication

amplify add auth

3. Add the GraphQL API

amplify add api

Use the following GraphQL Schema:

type Talk @model
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: groups, groups: ["Admin"] },
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ]) {
  id: ID!
  name: String!
  speakerName: String!
  speakerBio: String!
  time: String
  timeStamp: String
  date: String
  location: String
  summary: String!
  twitter: String
  github: String
  speakerAvatar: String
  comments: [Comment] @connection(keyName: "commentsByTalkId", fields: ["id"])
}

type Comment @model
  @key(name: "commentsByTalkId", fields: ["talkId"])
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "authorId" },
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ])
{
  id: ID!
  talkId: ID!
  talk: Talk @connection(fields: ["talkId"])
  message: String
  createdAt: String
  authorId: ID!
  deviceId: ID
}

type Report @model
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, operations: [create, update, delete] },
    { allow: groups, groups: ["Admin"] }
  ])
  {
  id: ID!
  commentId: ID!
  comment: String!
  talkTitle: String!
  deviceId: ID
}

type ModelCommentConnection {
  items: [Comment]
  nextToken: String
}

type Query {
  listCommentsByTalkId(talkId: ID!): ModelCommentConnection
}

type Subscription {
  onCreateCommentWithId(talkId: ID!): Comment
        @aws_subscribe(mutations: ["createComment"])
}

4. Deploy the resources

amplify push

Instagram Clone

To deploy this app, use the following steps:

1. Create the Amplify project in your app

amplify init

2. Add authentication

amplify add auth

3. Add the GraphQL API

amplify add api

Use the following GraphQL Schema:

type User @model(subscriptions: null)
  @key(fields: ["userId"])
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "userId" },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
    ]) {
  userId: ID!
  posts: [Post] @connection(keyName: "postsByUserId", fields: ["userId"])
  createdAt: String
  updatedAt: String
  following: [Following] @connection(keyName: "followingByUserId", fields: ["userId"])
}

type Post @model
  @key(name: "postsByUserId", fields: ["authorId"])
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner ownerField: "authorId" },
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ]) {
  id: ID!
  authorId: ID!
  content: String!
  postImage: String
  author: User @connection(fields: ["authorId"])
  comments: [Comment] @connection(keyName: "commentsByPostId", fields: ["id"])
  likes: [PostLike] @connection(keyName: "postLikesByPostId", fields: ["id"])
}

type Comment @model
  @key(name: "commentsByPostId", fields: ["postId"])
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "authorId" },
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ]) {
  id: ID!
  postId: ID!
  authorId: ID!
  text: String!
  likes: [CommentLike] @connection(keyName: "commentLikesByCommentId", fields: ["id"])
  author: User @connection(fields: ["authorId"])
  post: Post @connection(fields: ["postId"])
}

type PostLike @model
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "userId" },
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ])
  @key(name: "postLikesByPostId", fields: ["postId"])
  @key(name: "postLikesByUser", fields: ["userId", "createdAt"], queryField: "likesByUser") {
  id: ID!
  postId: ID!
  userId: ID!
  user: User @connection(fields: ["userId"])
  post: Post @connection(fields: ["postId"])
  createdAt: String!
}

type CommentLike @model
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "userId" },
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ])
  @key(name: "commentLikesByCommentId", fields: ["commentId"])
  @key(name: "commentLikesByUser", fields: ["userId", "createdAt"], queryField: "likesByUser") {
  id: ID!
  userId: ID!
  postId: ID!
  commentId: ID!
  user: User @connection(fields: ["userId"])
  post: Post @connection(fields: ["postId"])
  createdAt: String!
}

type Following @model
  @auth(rules: [
    { allow: owner, ownerField: "followerId" },
    { allow: public, operations: [read] },
    { allow: private, operations: [read] }
  ])
  @key(name: "followingByUserId", fields: ["followerId"]) {
  id: ID
  followerId: ID!
  followingId: ID!
  follower: User @connection(fields: ["followerId"])
  following: User @connection(fields: ["followingId"])
  createdAt: String!
}

4. Add Storage (S3)

amplify add storage

? Please select from one of the below mentioned services (Use arrow keys): Content (Images, audio, video, etc.)
? Please provide a friendly name for your resource that will be used to label this category in the project: imagestorage
? Please provide bucket name: <UNIQUE_BUCKET_NAME>
? Who should have access: Auth and Guest users
? What kind of access do you want for Authenticated users? create/update, read, delete
? What kind of access do you want for Guest users? read

5. Deploy the resources

amplify push

---

To learn more about uploading images in a GraphQL application with Amplify and AppSync, check out my tutorial How to Manage Image & File Uploads & Downloads with AWS AppSync & AWS Amplify

Giphy Clone

To deploy this app, use the following steps:

1. Create the Amplify project in your app

amplify init

2. Add a lambda function

amplify add function

3. Enter the following when prompted

4. From the root of your project, change into your function's source directory

cd amplify/backend/function/giphyfunction/src

5. Install axios and dotenv

npm install axios && npm install -D dotenv

6. Update the contents of your functions index.js file

const axios = require("axios");
const dotenv = require("dotenv");
dotenv.config();

exports.handler = (event, _, callback) => {
  const { GIPHY_API_KEY } = process.env;
  let apiUrl = `https://api.giphy.com/v1/gifs/search?api_key=${GIPHY_API_KEY}&q=hello`;

  if (event.arguments) {
    const { searchTerm = "hi", limit = 25 } = event.arguments;
    apiUrl = `https://api.giphy.com/v1/gifs/search?api_key=${GIPHY_API_KEY}&q=${searchTerm}&limit=${limit}`;
  }

  axios
    .get(apiUrl)
    .then(response => callback(null, response.data.data))
    .catch(err => callback(err));
};

7. Login to Giphy's Developer portal and create an app to get an API Key.

8. Back in the function's src directory, create a .env file and add in the API Key that was obtained in the previous step as a secret.

GIPHY_API_KEY=<YOUR_API_KEY>

Your .env file should NOT be committed to Github

9. Head back to the root of your project

cd ../../../../../

10. Add the GraphQL API

amplify add api

Use the following GraphQL Schema:

type Gif {
  id: ID!
  slug: String!
  images: GifImage!
}

type GifImage {
  original: GifAttributes!
  fixed_width: GifAttributes!
}

type GifAttributes {
  url: String!
  width: String!
  height: String!
}

type Query {
  getGifs(searchTerm: String, limit: Int): [Gif]
    @function(name: "giphyfunction-${env}")
}

11. Deploy the Resources

amplify push