Getting started

The focus of this course has been using the Neo4j GraphQL Library via the Toolbox to develop, test, and query your GraphQL API.

However, it’s useful to understand how to install and get started with the Neo4j GraphQL Library.

The Neo4j GraphQL Library is a Node.js JavaScript library that can be used with JavaScript GraphQL implementations.

Use npm to install The Neo4j GraphQL Library as shown here:

$ npm install @neo4j/graphql graphql neo4j-driver @apollo/server

This program uses the Neo4j GraphQL Library to generate a GraphQL schema and start a local GraphQL API.

import { ApolloServer } from '@apollo/server';
import { startStandaloneServer } from '@apollo/server/standalone';
import { Neo4jGraphQL } from "@neo4j/graphql";
import neo4j from "neo4j-driver";

const typeDefs = `#graphql
    type Movie @node {
        title: String
        actors: [Actor!]! @relationship(type: "ACTED_IN", direction: IN)
    }

    type Actor @node {
        name: String
        movies: [Movie!]! @relationship(type: "ACTED_IN", direction: OUT)
    }
`;

const driver = neo4j.driver(
    "bolt://localhost:7687",
    neo4j.auth.basic("neo4j", "letmein")
);

const neoSchema = new Neo4jGraphQL({ typeDefs, driver });

const server = new ApolloServer({
    schema: await neoSchema.getSchema(),
});

const { url } = await startStandaloneServer(server, {
    context: async ({ req }) => ({ req }),
    listen: { port: 4000 },
});

console.log(`🚀 Server ready at ${url}`);

Review the program and identify where:

To run the program, you would need to update the connection details. Here are the connection details for your Neo4j Sandbox:

To start a local GraphQL API run:

node index.mjs

The program will also serve the GraphQL Playground IDE at https://localhost:4000. You can use it to query the API and explore documentation using GraphQL’s introspection feature.

The Neo4j GraphQL Library Getting Started guide is a great place to continue your learning of using GraphQL and Neo4j.