graphql

GraphQL Integration

This package provides dynamic GraphQL schema generation for operator catalog data, integrated into the catalogd storage server.

⚠️ Alpha Feature: This is an experimental feature controlled by the GraphQLCatalogQueries feature gate. See user documentation at docs/draft/howto/catalog-queries-graphql-endpoint.md.

Usage

The GraphQL endpoint is now available as part of the catalogd storage server at:

/catalogs/{catalog}/api/v1/graphql

Where {catalog} is replaced by the actual catalog name at runtime.

Example Usage

Making a GraphQL Request

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/catalogs/my-catalog/api/v1/graphql \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "query": "{ summary { totalSchemas schemas { name totalObjects totalFields } } }"
  }'

Sample Queries

Get catalog summary:

{
  summary {
    totalSchemas
    schemas {
      name
      totalObjects
      totalFields
    }
  }
}

Get bundles with pagination:

{
  olmbundles(limit: 5, offset: 0) {
    name
    package
    version
  }
}

Get packages:

{
  olmpackages(limit: 10) {
    name
    description
  }
}

Get channels:

{
  olmchannels(limit: 10) {
    name
    package
    entries
  }
}

Features

• Dynamic Schema Generation: Automatically discovers schema structure from catalog metadata
• Nested Object Support: Handles complex nested structures like bundle properties and related images
• Pagination: Built-in limit/offset pagination for all queries
• Field Name Sanitization: Converts JSON field names to valid GraphQL identifiers
• Catalog-Specific: Each catalog gets its own dynamically generated schema
• Query Performance: Pre-parsed objects cached during schema build eliminate JSON unmarshaling overhead

Integration

The GraphQL functionality is integrated across multiple packages:

• internal/catalogd/server/handlers.go: CatalogHandlers.handleV1GraphQL() handles POST requests to the GraphQL endpoint
• internal/catalogd/storage/localdir.go: LocalDirV1.GetCatalogFS() creates filesystem interface for catalog data
• internal/catalogd/service/graphql_service.go: GraphQLService.GetSchema() and buildSchemaFromFS() build dynamic GraphQL schemas for specific catalogs

Technical Details

• Uses declcfg.WalkMetasFS to discover schema structure from catalog metadata
• Generates GraphQL object types dynamically from discovered fields
• Handles nested objects (arrays of objects) by creating dynamic nested types
• Pre-parses all catalog objects during schema build and caches them for fast query execution
• Supports all standard GraphQL features including introspection

Field Naming Conventions

Schema to GraphQL Field Name Mapping

IMPORTANT: GraphQL field names are automatically generated from schema names using the following convention:

1. Remove dots and special characters - olm.bundle becomes olmbundle
2. Convert to lowercase - OLM.Bundle becomes olmbundle
3. Append 's' for pluralization - olmbundle becomes olmbundles

Examples:

• olm.bundle → olmbundles
• olm.package → olmpackages
• olm.channel → olmchannels
• helm.chart → helmcharts
• custom.operator → customoperators

Limitations and Considerations

⚠️ Pluralization Limitations: The current implementation blindly appends 's' to create plural field names. This approach has known limitations:

1. English grammar rules not applied: Words ending in 's', 'x', 'z', 'ch', 'sh' should use 'es', but currently just get 's' appended
2. Irregular plurals not supported: Schema names like person, child, index will become persons, childs, indexs instead of proper English plurals
3. Non-English schema names: Schemas using non-English words will not follow appropriate pluralization rules for their language
4. Already-plural names: If a schema name is already plural, it will still get 's' appended

Recommendations for schema naming:

• Use schema names that work well with simple 's' pluralization (e.g., bundle, package, chart)
• Avoid schema names that are already plural or have irregular plural forms
• Document the expected GraphQL field names in your catalog documentation
• Use GraphQL introspection to discover actual field names: { __schema { queryType { fields { name } } } }

Field Name Sanitization

All field names within objects are sanitized to be valid GraphQL identifiers:

• Special characters (dots, hyphens, etc.) are replaced with underscores
• CamelCase conversion: package-name → packageName, default_channel → defaultChannel
• Names starting with numbers get field_ prefix: 123invalid → field_123invalid
• Empty or invalid names default to value

See remapFieldName() function for complete logic.