API Reference: Landing page plugins

This API reference documents built-in plugins that add a landing page to Apollo Server's base URL, enabling visitors to interact with the server from their browser.

This includes plugins for:

The default landing page for non-production environments (ApolloServerPluginLandingPageLocalDefault)
The default landing page for production (ApolloServerPluginLandingPageProductionDefault)
Using GraphQL Playground as a landing page (ApolloServerPluginLandingPageGraphQLPlayground)
Disabling the landing page entirely

These plugins work by implementing the renderLandingPage plugin event, which serves an HTML page whenever a browser includes an accept: text/html header. Aside from these, you can also create a custom plugin that renders a custom landing page.

Default behavior

If you don't manually install any plugin that implements renderLandingPage, Apollo Server does the following by default:

In non-production environments (NODE_ENV is not production), Apollo Server installs ApolloServerPluginLandingPageLocalDefault.
In production environments (NODE_ENV is production), Apollo Server installs ApolloServerPluginLandingPageProductionDefault.

In either case, Apollo Server provides no configuration options to the plugin. You only need to install one of these plugins manually if you want to override its default configuration.

Configuring default landing pages

To configure these default plugins while still using same NODE_ENV-based logic, import them from the apollo-server-core package and pass them to the ApolloServer constructor in the plugins array:

JavaScript

1import { ApolloServer } from "apollo-server";
2import {
3  ApolloServerPluginLandingPageLocalDefault,
4  ApolloServerPluginLandingPageProductionDefault
5} from "apollo-server-core";
6
7const server = new ApolloServer({
8  typeDefs,
9  resolvers,
10  csrfPrevention: true,
11  cache: "bounded",
12  plugins: [
13    // Install a landing page plugin based on NODE_ENV
14    process.env.NODE_ENV === "production"
15      ? ApolloServerPluginLandingPageProductionDefault({
16          graphRef: "my-graph-id@my-graph-variant",
17          footer: false,
18        })
19      : ApolloServerPluginLandingPageLocalDefault({ footer: false }),
20  ],
21});

Available configuration options are listed in each plugin's reference below.

Default non-production landing page

The ApolloServerPluginLandingPageLocalDefault plugin shows a landing page welcoming you to Apollo Server:

This landing page is designed for use in local development, where NODE_ENV is not set to production. It provides a copyable command-line snippet showing how to run operations via curl, and it also links to Apollo Sandbox (a hosted GraphQL IDE that runs entirely inside your browser and doesn't require an account). You can choose to embed the Apollo Sandbox on your endpoint if you pass embed: true.

Options

Name / Type	Description

`version`

string

By default, this plugin uses the latest version of the landing page published to Apollo's CDN. If you'd like to pin the current version, you can specify it here.

The current latest version is available at this link.

`footer`

boolean

By default, the landing page displays a footer that links to the documentation telling you how to configure it. To remove this footer, pass footer: false.

`document`

string

A GraphQL document (eg, query or mutation) to populate in the Studio Sandbox Explorer's editor on load.

If you omit this, the Explorer initially loads an example query based on your schema.

`variables`

Record<string, any>

An object containing initial variable values to populate in the Explorer on load.

If provided, these variables should apply to the initial query you provide in document.

`headers`

Record<string, string>

An object containing initial HTTP header values to populate in the Explorer on load.

`includeCookies`

boolean

If true, the embedded Apollo Studio Explorer includes cookies in its GraphQL requests to your server.

The default value is false, unless the user changes the setting in the Explorer UI.

If you omit this, the Explorer defaults includeCookies to false or the current user setting.

`embed`

boolean

If true, the Apollo Server landing page renders an embedded version of Apollo Sandbox at its GraphQL endpoint URL. This enables visitors to query the endpoint directly and use additional Sandbox features if signed in with their Apollo account.

The default value is false, in which case the landing page instead displays a link to open the non-embedded version of Sandbox.

Default production landing page

The ApolloServerPluginLandingPageProductionDefault shows a minimalist landing page:

This landing page is designed for use in production. It provides a copyable command-line snippet showing how to run operations with your server. By default, the only visible reference to Apollo is a footer explaining how to customize the page. You can also configure it to add a link to query your graph with the Apollo Explorer. You can choose to embed the Apollo Explorer on your endpoint if you pass the embed option.

Options

Name / Type	Description

`version`

string

By default, this plugin uses the latest version of the landing page published to Apollo's CDN. If you'd like to pin the current version, you can specify it here.

The current latest version is available at this link.

`footer`

boolean

By default, the landing page displays a footer that links to the documentation telling you how to configure it. To remove this footer, pass footer: false.

`graphRef`

string

If provided, the landing page includes a link (with opt-in auto-redirect) to the Apollo Studio page for the graph with the corresponding graph ref. An example graph ref is my-graph@my-variant.

To enable this link, you need to provide graphRef here even if you already provide it elsewhere for usage reporting and other purposes. This is because if your server is publicly accessible, you might not want to display the graph ref publicly.

`document`

string

A GraphQL document (eg, query or mutation) to populate in the Studio Explorer's editor on load.

If you omit this, the Explorer initially loads an example query based on your schema.

`variables`

Record<string, any>

An object containing initial variable values to populate in the Explorer on load.

If provided, these variables should apply to the initial query you provide in document.

`headers`

Record<string, string>

An object containing initial HTTP header values to populate in the Explorer on load.

`embed`

boolean | ApolloServerPluginEmbedded LandingPageProductionConfigOptions

If true or you provide an options object, the Apollo Server landing page renders an embedded version of the Apollo Studio Explorer at its GraphQL endpoint URL. This enables visitors to query the endpoint directly and use additional Explorer features if signed in with their Apollo account.

To embed the Explorer, you must also provide Apollo Server with the graph ref of the Studio graph to use, usually via the APOLLO_GRAPH_REF environment variable.

The default value is false, in which case the landing page displays a basic curl command.

You can configure the Explorer embedded on your Apollo Server endpoint with display and functional options. For supported options, see embed options.

`includeCookies`

boolean

A boolean used to set whether Studio Explorer should include cookies in its GraphQL requests to your server.

If you omit this, the Explorer defaults includeCookies to false or the current user setting.

`embed` options

These are the fields you can include in the embed option you pass to the ApolloServerPluginLandingPageProductionDefault:

Name / Type	Description

`displayOptions`

Object

An object containing additional display options related to the visual state of the embedded Explorer on page load.

For supported subfields, see displayOptions options.

`persistExplorerState`

boolean

If true, the embedded Explorer uses localStorage to persist its state (including operations, tabs, variables, and headers) between user sessions. This state is automatically populated in the Explorer on page load.

If false, the embedded Explorer loads with an example query based on your schema (unless you provide document).

The default value is false.

`embed.displayOptions` options

These are the fields you can include in the displayOptions option you pass to the embedded Explorer plugin:

Name / Type	Description

`docsPanelState`

"open" | "closed"

If open, the Explorer's Documentation panel (the left column) is initially expanded. If closed, the panel is initially collapsed.

The default value is open.

`showHeadersAndEnvVars`

true | false

If true, the embedded Explorer includes the panels for setting request headers and environment variables. If false, those panels are not present.

The default value is true.

`theme`

"dark" | "light"

If dark, the Explorer's dark theme is used. If light, the light theme is used.

The default value is dark.

GraphQL Playground landing page

The ApolloServerPluginLandingPageGraphQLPlayground plugin serves the GraphQL Playground IDE as a landing page.

Note: The GraphQL Playground project is retired in favor of GraphiQL. This functionality is provided to help developers migrating from Apollo Server 2.

The GraphQL Playground plugin is not installed by default. To install it, import it from apollo-server-core and provide it to the ApolloServer constructor:

JavaScript

1import { ApolloServer } from "apollo-server";
2import {
3  ApolloServerPluginLandingPageGraphQLPlayground
4} from "apollo-server-core";
5
6const server = new ApolloServer({
7  typeDefs,
8  resolvers,
9  csrfPrevention: true,
10  cache: "bounded",
11  plugins: [
12    ApolloServerPluginLandingPageGraphQLPlayground(),
13  ],
14});

This plugin takes the same arguments as the renderPlaygroundPage function from the graphql-playground-html package (or specifically, the @apollographql/graphql-playground-html fork).

The table below mentions a few of the more common options and is not exhaustive.

Options

Name / Type	Description

`version`

string

By default, this plugin loads a specific npm version of @apollographql/graphql-playground-react from a CDN. The version is hard-coded in apollo-server-core and is typically incremented when new versions of the Playground fork are released (this is rare because the project is retired).

You can specify a different version here.

`endpoint`

string

By default, GraphQL Playground connects to a GraphQL server hosted at the same URL as Playground itself. To specify a different GraphQL endpoint, use this option.

`settings`

Object

If specified, allows you to override the default values of GraphQL Playground's settings. Documentation of supported settings is available in GraphQL Playground's README.

Disabling the landing page

The ApolloServerPluginLandingPageDisabled plugin serves no landing page from Apollo Server's base URL. Install it to disable the default landing page in some or all environments:

JavaScript

1import { ApolloServer } from "apollo-server";
2import {
3  ApolloServerPluginLandingPageDisabled
4} from "apollo-server-core";
5
6const server = new ApolloServer({
7  typeDefs,
8  resolvers,
9  csrfPrevention: true,
10  cache: "bounded",
11  plugins: [
12    ApolloServerPluginLandingPageDisabled(),
13  ],
14});

This plugin takes no arguments.