GraphQL Playground

Overview

GQLForge includes a built-in GraphQL Playground that launches automatically when you start the server. It provides an interactive environment for writing queries, exploring your schema, and inspecting responses.

Accessing the Playground

After starting the server with gqlforge start, open your browser and navigate to the server address:

http://localhost:8000

The Playground loads at the root URL by default. The port depends on your @server configuration.

Features

Query Editor

Write and execute GraphQL queries, mutations, and subscriptions directly in the browser. The editor includes syntax highlighting and auto-completion based on your schema.

{
  posts {
    id
    title
    user {
      name
      email
    }
  }
}

Schema Explorer

Browse the full schema documentation generated from your configuration. View all types, fields, arguments, and their descriptions without leaving the Playground.

Request Headers

Add custom HTTP headers to your requests using the headers panel at the bottom of the editor. This is useful for testing authenticated endpoints:

{
  "Authorization": "Bearer your-token-here"
}

Query Variables

Pass variables to your queries through the variables panel:

{
  "userId": 1
}

With a corresponding query:

query GetUser($userId: Int!) {
  user(id: $userId) {
    name
    email
  }
}

Configuration

The Playground is enabled by default in the @server directive. You can disable it for production deployments if needed by adjusting the server configuration.

Usage in Development

The Playground is particularly useful during development for:

• Verifying that resolvers return the expected data
• Testing field arguments and input types
• Inspecting the composed schema after merging multiple config files
• Debugging query execution by examining response payloads