Example

Set up a new nest app

npm i -g @nestjs/cli
nest new nestjs-query-getting-started

Install Dependencies

Install your packages.

Be sure to install the correct ORM package!

Install extra dependencies for the example.

npm i pg apollo-server-express

Generate the Module

From the root of your project run:

npx nest g mo todo-item

Create the Entity

From the root of your project run:

npx nest g cl todo-item.entity todo-item --flat

Now lets fill out the entity. Add the following to src/todo-item/todo-item.entity.ts.

TypeOrm
Sequelize
Mongoose
Typegoose

import {
  Column,
  CreateDateColumn,
  Entity,
  PrimaryGeneratedColumn,
  UpdateDateColumn,
} from 'typeorm'

@Entity()
export class TodoItemEntity {

  @PrimaryGeneratedColumn()
  id!: string;

  @Column()
  title!: string;

  @Column()
  completed!: boolean;

  @CreateDateColumn()
  created!: Date;

  @UpdateDateColumn()
  updated!: Date;
}

import {
  Table,
  Column,
  Model,
  CreatedAt,
  UpdatedAt,
  PrimaryKey,
  AutoIncrement,
} from 'sequelize-typescript'

@Table
export class TodoItemEntity extends Model<TodoItemEntity, Partial<TodoItemEntity>> {

  @PrimaryKey
  @AutoIncrement
  @Column
  id!: number;

  @Column
  title!: string;

  @Column
  completed!: boolean;

  @CreatedAt
  created!: Date;

  @UpdatedAt
  updated!: Date;
}

import { Prop, Schema, SchemaFactory } from '@nestjs/mongoose'
import { Document } from 'mongoose'

@Schema({ timestamps: { createdAt: 'created', updatedAt: 'updated' } })
export class TodoItemEntity extends Document {

  @Prop({ required: true })
  title!: string;

  @Prop()
  description?: string;

  @Prop({ required: true })
  completed!: boolean;

  @Prop({ default: Date.now })
  created!: Date;

  @Prop({ default: Date.now })
  updated!: Date;
}
export const TodoItemEntitySchema = SchemaFactory.createForClass(TodoItemEntity)

import { ObjectId } from '@ptc-org/nestjs-query-graphql'
import { Base } from '@typegoose/typegoose/lib/defaultClasses'
import { Prop, modelOptions, Ref } from '@typegoose/typegoose'
import { Types } from 'mongoose'
import { SubTaskEntity } from '../sub-task/sub-task.entity'
import { TagEntity } from '../tag/tag.entity'

@modelOptions({
  schemaOptions: {
    timestamps: { createdAt: 'created', updatedAt: 'updated' },
    collection: 'todo-items',
    toObject: { virtuals: true },
  },
})
export class TodoItemEntity implements Base {

  @ObjectId()
  _id!: Types.ObjectId
  id!: string

  @Prop({ required: true })
  title!: string;

  @Prop()
  description?: string;

  @Prop({ required: true })
  completed!: boolean;

  @Prop({ default: Date.now })
  created!: Date;

  @Prop({ default: Date.now })
  updated!: Date;
}

Create the DTO

The DTO (Data Transfer Object) is used by the resolver to represent incoming requests and outgoing responses. The DTO is where you can:

Define fields that should be rendered by graphql.
Define fields that should be filterable using the @FilterableField decorator.
Define validation that will be used by mutations.

In this example the DTO and entity are two different classes to clearly demonstrate what is required for graphql vs the persistence layer. However, you can combine the two into a single class. From the root of your project run:

npx nest g cl todo-item.dto todo-item --flat

Now lets fill out the DTO. Add the following to src/todo-item/todo-item.dto.ts. todo-item/todo-item.dto.ts

import { FilterableField, IDField } from '@ptc-org/nestjs-query-graphql'
import { ObjectType, GraphQLISODateTime, Field, ID } from '@nestjs/graphql'

@ObjectType('TodoItem')
export class TodoItemDTO {

  @IDField(() => ID)
  id!: number

  @FilterableField()
  title!: string

  @FilterableField()
  completed!: boolean

  @Field(() => GraphQLISODateTime)
  created!: Date

  @Field(() => GraphQLISODateTime)
  updated!: Date
}

Notice the use of @FilterableField this will let @ptc-org/nestjs-query-graphql know to allow filtering on the corresponding field. If you just use @Field then you will not be able to filter on the corresponding field.

Create the create DTO class.

From the previously created DTO, @ptc-org/nestjs-query-graphql will automatically create a CreateTodoItem graphql type:

input CreateTodoItem {
  id: ID!
  title: String!
  completed: Boolean!
  created: DateTime!
  updated: DateTime!
}

But in our case, the fields id, created and updated are actually not required when creating a TodoItem: they will be autogenerated. We only need to provide title and completed. To create a DTO that does not require these fields, we can create a custom create DTO:

npx nest g cl todo-item.create.dto todo-item --flat

todo-item/todo-item.create.dto.ts

import { Field, InputType } from '@nestjs/graphql'
import { IsBoolean, IsString } from 'class-validator'

@InputType('CreateTodoItem')
export class TodoItemCreateDTO {

  @IsString()
  @Field()
  title!: string

  @IsBoolean()
  @Field()
  completed!: boolean
}

Wire everything up.

Update the todo-item.module to set up the NestjsQueryGraphQLModule and the entities to provide a QueryService. The NestjsQueryGraphQLModule will automatically create a Resolver that will expose the following queries and mutations: Queries

todoItems - find multiple TodoItems.
todoItem - find one TodoItem.

Mutations

createManyTodoItems - create multiple TodoItems.
createOneTodoItems - create one TodoItem.
updateManyTodoItems - update multiple TodoItems.
updateOneTodoItems - update one TodoItem.
deleteManyTodoItems - delete multiple TodoItemss.
deleteOneTodoItems - delete one TodoItem.

TypeOrm
Sequelize
Mongoose
Typegoose

import { NestjsQueryGraphQLModule } from '@ptc-org/nestjs-query-graphql';
import { NestjsQueryTypeOrmModule } from '@ptc-org/nestjs-query-typeorm';
import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { TodoItemCreateDTO } from './todo-item.create.dto';
import { TodoItemDTO } from './todo-item.dto';
import { TodoItemEntity } from './todo-item.entity';

@Module({
  imports: [
    NestjsQueryGraphQLModule.forFeature({
      // import the NestjsQueryTypeOrmModule to register the entity with typeorm
      // and provide a QueryService
      imports: [NestjsQueryTypeOrmModule.forFeature([TodoItemEntity])],
      // describe the resolvers you want to expose
      resolvers: [
        {
          EntityClass: TodoItemEntity,
          DTOClass: TodoItemDTO,
          CreateDTOClass: TodoItemCreateDTO,
        },
      ],
    }),
  ],
})
export class TodoItemModule {}

import { NestjsQueryGraphQLModule } from '@ptc-org/nestjs-query-graphql';
import { NestjsQuerySequelizeModule } from '@ptc-org/nestjs-query-sequelize';
import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { TodoItemDTO } from './todo-item.dto';
import { TodoItemEntity } from './todo-item.entity';

@Module({
  imports: [
    NestjsQueryGraphQLModule.forFeature({
      // import the NestjsQuerySequelizeModule to register the entity with sequelize
      // and provide a QueryService
      imports: [NestjsQuerySequelizeModule.forFeature([TodoItemEntity])],
      // describe the resolvers you want to expose
      resolvers: [{ DTOClass: TodoItemDTO, EntityClass: TodoItemEntity }],
    }),
  ],
})
export class TodoItemModule {}

import { NestjsQueryGraphQLModule } from '@ptc-org/nestjs-query-graphql';
import { NestjsQueryMongooseModule } from '@ptc-org/nestjs-query-mongoose';
import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { TodoItemDTO } from './todo-item.dto';
import { TodoItemEntity, TodoItemEntitySchema } from './todo-item.entity';

@Module({
  imports: [
    NestjsQueryGraphQLModule.forFeature({
      // import the NestjsQueryMongooseModule to register the entity with mongoose
      // and provide a QueryService
      imports: [
        NestjsQueryMongooseModule.forFeature([
          { document: TodoItemEntity, name: TodoItemEntity.name, schema: TodoItemEntitySchema },
        ]),
      ],
      // describe the resolvers you want to expose
      resolvers: [{ DTOClass: TodoItemDTO, EntityClass: TodoItemEntity }],
    }),
  ],
})
export class TodoItemModule {}

import { NestjsQueryGraphQLModule } from '@ptc-org/nestjs-query-graphql';
import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { NestjsQueryTypegooseModule } from '@ptc-org/nestjs-query-typegoose';
import { TodoItemDTO } from './dto/todo-item.dto';
import { TodoItemEntity } from './todo-item.entity';

const guards = [AuthGuard];

@Module({
  providers: [TodoItemResolver],
  imports: [
    NestjsQueryGraphQLModule.forFeature({
      imports: [NestjsQueryTypegooseModule.forFeature([TodoItemEntity])],
      resolvers: [{ DTOClass: TodoItemDTO, EntityClass: TodoItemEntity }],
    }),
  ],
})
export class TodoItemModule {}

Next update app.module to set up your db connection and the graphql nest modules.

TypeOrm
Sequelize
Mongoose
Typegoose
Example

import { ApolloDriver, ApolloDriverConfig } from '@nestjs/apollo';
import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { GraphQLModule } from '@nestjs/graphql';
import { TypeOrmModule } from '@nestjs/typeorm';
import { AppController } from './app.controller';
import { AppService } from './app.service';
import { TodoItemModule } from './todo-item/todo-item.module';

@Module({
  imports: [
    TypeOrmModule.forRoot({
      type: 'postgres',
      database: 'gettingstarted',
      username: 'gettingstarted',
      password: 'gettingstarted',
      autoLoadEntities: true,
      synchronize: true,
      logging: true,
    }),
    GraphQLModule.forRoot<ApolloDriverConfig>({
      driver: ApolloDriver,
      // set to true to automatically generate schema
      autoSchemaFile: true,
    }),
    TodoItemModule,
  ],
  controllers: [AppController],
  providers: [AppService],
})
export class AppModule {}

import { ApolloDriver, ApolloDriverConfig } from '@nestjs/apollo';
import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { GraphQLModule } from '@nestjs/graphql';
import { SequelizeModule } from '@nestjs/sequelize';
import { AppController } from './app.controller';
import { AppService } from './app.service';
import { TodoItemModule } from './todo-item/todo-item.module';

@Module({
  imports: [
    TodoItemModule,
    SequelizeModule.forRoot({
      dialect: 'postgres',
      database: 'gettingstarted',
      username: 'gettingstarted',
      autoLoadModels: true,
      synchronize: true,
      logging: true,
    }),
    GraphQLModule.forRoot<ApolloDriverConfig>({
      driver: ApolloDriver,
      // set to true to automatically generate schema
      autoSchemaFile: true,
    }),
  ],
  controllers: [AppController],
  providers: [AppService],
})
export class AppModule {}

import { ApolloDriver, ApolloDriverConfig } from '@nestjs/apollo';
import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { GraphQLModule } from '@nestjs/graphql';
import { MongooseModule } from '@nestjs/mongoose';
import { AppController } from './app.controller';
import { AppService } from './app.service';
import { TodoItemModule } from './todo-item/todo-item.module';

@Module({
  imports: [
    MongooseModule.forRoot('mongodb://localhost/nest', options),
    GraphQLModule.forRoot<ApolloDriverConfig>({
      driver: ApolloDriver,
      // set to true to automatically generate schema
      autoSchemaFile: true,
    }),
    TodoItemModule,
  ],
  controllers: [AppController],
  providers: [AppService],
})
export class AppModule {}

import { ApolloDriver, ApolloDriverConfig } from '@nestjs/apollo';
import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { GraphQLModule } from '@nestjs/graphql';
import { TypegooseModule } from '@m8a/nestjs-typegoose';
import { TodoItemModule } from './todo-item/todo-item.module';

@Module({
  imports: [
    TypegooseModule.forRoot('mongodb://localhost/nest', options),
    GraphQLModule.forRoot<ApolloDriverConfig>({
      driver: ApolloDriver,
      // set to true to automatically generate schema
      autoSchemaFile: true,
    }),
    TodoItemModule,
  ],
})
export class AppModule {}

NOTE For the sake of brevity, the options object in the Mongoose and Typegoose examples aren’t defined. If you’d like to see full examples of all of the persistence services, please refer to the ./examples directory in the source code.

Create a compose.yml file in the root of the project

services:
  postgres:
    image: 'postgres:17'
    environment:
      - 'POSTGRES_USER=gettingstarted'
      - 'POSTGRES_DB=gettingstarted'
      - 'POSTGRES_PASSWORD=gettingstarted'
    expose:
      - '5432'
    ports:
      - '5432:5432'
  # only needed if using mongoose
  mongo:
    image: 'mongo:4.4'
    restart: always
    ports:
      - '27017:27017'
  mongo-express:
    image: 'mongo-express:latest'
    restart: always
    ports:
      - 8081:8081

Running the Example

Start the backing services

docker compose up -d

Start the app

npm start

Visit http://localhost:3000/graphql where you should see the playground

Exploring The GraphQL Endpoint

Create a TodoItem

GraphQL
Response

mutation {
  createOneTodoItem(
    input: { todoItem: { title: "Create One Todo Item", completed: false } }
  ) {
    id
    title
    completed
    created
    updated
  }
}

{
  "data": {
    "createOneTodoItem": {
      "id": "1",
      "title": "Create One Todo Item",
      "completed": false,
      "created": "2020-01-01T00:43:16.000Z",
      "updated": "2020-01-01T00:43:16.000Z"
    }
  }
}

Create Multiple TodoItems

GraphQL
Response

mutation {
  createManyTodoItems(
    input: {
      todoItems: [
        { title: "Create Many Todo Items - 1", completed: false }
        { title: "Create Many Todo Items - 2", completed: true }
      ]
    }
  ) {
    id
    title
    completed
    created
    updated
  }
}

{
  "data": {
    "createManyTodoItems": [
      {
        "id": "2",
        "title": "Create Many Todo Items - 1",
        "completed": false,
        "created": "2020-01-01T00:49:01.000Z",
        "updated": "2020-01-01T00:49:01.000Z"
      },
      {
        "id": "3",
        "title": "Create Many Todo Items - 2",
        "completed": true,
        "created": "2020-01-01T00:49:01.000Z",
        "updated": "2020-01-01T00:49:01.000Z"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Query For Multiple TodoItems

Query for all todo items

GraphQL
Response

{
  todoItems {
    pageInfo {
      hasNextPage
      hasPreviousPage
      startCursor
      endCursor
    }
    edges {
      node {
        id
        title
        completed
        created
        updated
      }
      cursor
    }
  }
}

{
  "data": {
    "todoItems": {
      "pageInfo": {
        "hasNextPage": false,
        "hasPreviousPage": false,
        "startCursor": "YXJyYXljb25uZWN0aW9uOjA=",
        "endCursor": "YXJyYXljb25uZWN0aW9uOjI="
      },
      "edges": [
        {
          "node": {
            "id": "1",
            "title": "Create One Todo Item",
            "completed": false,
            "created": "2020-01-01T00:43:16.000Z",
            "updated": "2020-01-01T00:43:16.000Z"
          },
          "cursor": "YXJyYXljb25uZWN0aW9uOjA="
        },
        {
          "node": {
            "id": "2",
            "title": "Create Many Todo Items - 1",
            "completed": false,
            "created": "2020-01-01T00:49:01.000Z",
            "updated": "2020-01-01T00:49:01.000Z"
          },
          "cursor": "YXJyYXljb25uZWN0aW9uOjE="
        },
        {
          "node": {
            "id": "3",
            "title": "Create Many Todo Items - 2",
            "completed": true,
            "created": "2020-01-01T00:49:01.000Z",
            "updated": "2020-01-01T00:49:01.000Z"
          },
          "cursor": "YXJyYXljb25uZWN0aW9uOjI="
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Query for completed todo items

GraphQL
Response

{
  todoItems(filter: { completed: { is: true } }) {
    pageInfo {
      hasNextPage
      hasPreviousPage
      startCursor
      endCursor
    }
    edges {
      node {
        id
        title
        completed
        created
        updated
      }
      cursor
    }
  }
}

{
  "data": {
    "todoItems": {
      "pageInfo": {
        "hasNextPage": false,
        "hasPreviousPage": false,
        "startCursor": "YXJyYXljb25uZWN0aW9uOjA=",
        "endCursor": "YXJyYXljb25uZWN0aW9uOjA="
      },
      "edges": [
        {
          "node": {
            "id": "3",
            "title": "Create Many Todo Items - 2",
            "completed": true,
            "created": "2020-01-01T00:49:01.000Z",
            "updated": "2020-01-01T00:49:01.000Z"
          },
          "cursor": "YXJyYXljb25uZWN0aW9uOjA="
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Query For One TodoItem

Query by id

GraphQL
Response

{
  todoItem(id: 1) {
    id
    title
    completed
    created
    updated
  }
}

{
  "data": {
    "todoItem": {
      "id": "1",
      "title": "Create One Todo Item",
      "completed": false,
      "created": "2020-01-13T06:19:17.543Z",
      "updated": "2020-01-13T06:19:17.543Z"
    }
  }
}

Update a TodoItem

Lets update the completed TodoItem we created earlier to not be completed.

GraphQL
Response

mutation {
  updateOneTodoItem(input: { id: 3, update: { completed: false } }) {
    id
    title
    completed
    created
    updated
  }
}

{
  "data": {
    "updateOneTodoItem": {
      "id": "3",
      "title": "Create Many Todo Items - 2",
      "completed": false,
      "created": "2020-01-13T09:19:46.727Z",
      "updated": "2020-01-13T09:23:37.658Z"
    }
  }
}

Update Multiple TodoItems

Lets update the completed TodoItem we created earlier to not be completed.

GraphQL
Response

mutation {
  updateManyTodoItems(
    input: { filter: { id: { in: [1, 2] } }, update: { completed: true } }
  ) {
    updatedCount
  }
}

{
  "data": {
    "updateManyTodoItems": {
      "updatedCount": 2
    }
  }
}

You can check this by running the completed query from above.

Delete One TodoItem

Lets update delete the first TodoItem.

GraphQL
Response

mutation {
  deleteOneTodoItem(input: { id: 1 }) {
    id
    title
    completed
    created
    updated
  }
}

{
  "data": {
    "deleteOneTodoItem": {
      "id": null,
      "title": "Create One Todo Item",
      "completed": true,
      "created": "2020-01-13T09:44:41.176Z",
      "updated": "2020-01-13T09:44:54.822Z"
    }
  }
}

Delete Many TodoItems

Lets update delete the create many todo items TodoItem using a filter.

GraphQL
Response

mutation {
  deleteManyTodoItems(
    input: { filter: { title: { like: "Create Many Todo Items%" } } }
  ) {
    deletedCount
  }
}

{
  "data": {
    "deleteManyTodoItems": {
      "deletedCount": 2
    }
  }
}

Edit this page

Introduction

Concepts

Persistence

Utilities

Project

Migration Guides

Set up a new nest app

Install Dependencies

Generate the Module

Create the Entity

Create the DTO

Create the create DTO class.

Wire everything up.

Running the Example

Exploring The GraphQL Endpoint

Create a TodoItem

Create Multiple TodoItems

Query For Multiple TodoItems

Query for all todo items

Query for completed todo items

Query For One TodoItem

Query by id

Update a TodoItem

Update Multiple TodoItems

Delete One TodoItem

Delete Many TodoItems

​Set up a new nest app​

​Install Dependencies​

​Generate the Module​

​Create the Entity​

​Create the DTO​

​Create the create DTO class.​

​Wire everything up.​

​Running the Example​

​Exploring The GraphQL Endpoint​

​Create a TodoItem​

​Create Multiple TodoItems​

​Query For Multiple TodoItems​

​Query for all todo items​

​Query for completed todo items​

​Query For One TodoItem​

​Query by id​

​Update a TodoItem​

​Update Multiple TodoItems​

​Delete One TodoItem​

​Delete Many TodoItems​

Set up a new nest app

Install Dependencies

Generate the Module

Create the Entity

Create the DTO

Create the create DTO class.

Wire everything up.

Running the Example

Exploring The GraphQL Endpoint

Create a TodoItem

Create Multiple TodoItems

Query For Multiple TodoItems

Query for all todo items

Query for completed todo items

Query For One TodoItem

Query by id

Update a TodoItem

Update Multiple TodoItems

Delete One TodoItem

Delete Many TodoItems