REST to GraphQL Migrator

Incrementally migrate REST APIs to GraphQL without breaking existing clients.

Core Workflow

1. Analyze REST endpoints: Document existing API
2. Design GraphQL schema: Map REST to types
3. Create REST data source: Wrap existing endpoints
4. Implement resolvers: Connect to REST
5. Migrate incrementally: One endpoint at a time
6. Deprecate REST: Gradual sunset

Migration Strategies

Strategy Comparison

Strategy	Best For	Complexity
Wrapper	Quick start, no backend changes	Low
Gradual	Large APIs, production systems	Medium
Rewrite	Greenfield opportunity	High

REST Data Source Wrapper

Apollo RESTDataSource

// datasources/users.datasource.ts
import { RESTDataSource } from '@apollo/datasource-rest';

export class UsersAPI extends RESTDataSource {
  override baseURL = process.env.REST_API_URL;

  // Add auth header
  override willSendRequest(_path: string, request: AugmentedRequest) {
    request.headers['Authorization'] = this.context.token;
  }

  // GET /api/users
  async getUsers(params?: { page?: number; limit?: number }) {
    const query = new URLSearchParams();
    if (params?.page) query.set('page', String(params.page));
    if (params?.limit) query.set('limit', String(params.limit));

    return this.get<User[]>(`/api/users?${query}`);
  }

  // GET /api/users/:id
  async getUser(id: string) {
    return this.get<User>(`/api/users/${id}`);
  }

  // POST /api/users
  async createUser(input: CreateUserInput) {
    return this.post<User>('/api/users', { body: input });
  }

  // PATCH /api/users/:id
  async updateUser(id: string, input: UpdateUserInput) {
    return this.patch<User>(`/api/users/${id}`, { body: input });
  }

  // DELETE /api/users/:id
  async deleteUser(id: string) {
    await this.delete(`/api/users/${id}`);
    return true;
  }

  // GET /api/users/:id/posts
  async getUserPosts(userId: string) {
    return this.get<Post[]>(`/api/users/${userId}/posts`);
  }
}

Map REST to GraphQL Types

// REST Response
interface RESTUser {
  id: number;
  user_name: string;
  email_address: string;
  created_at: string;
  profile_image_url: string | null;
}

// GraphQL Type (camelCase, proper types)
interface User {
  id: string;
  username: string;
  email: string;
  createdAt: Date;
  avatar: string | null;
}

// Transformer
function transformUser(restUser: RESTUser): User {
  return {
    id: String(restUser.id),
    username: restUser.user_name,
    email: restUser.email_address,
    createdAt: new Date(restUser.created_at),
    avatar: restUser.profile_image_url,
  };
}

Data Source with Caching

// datasources/products.datasource.ts
export class ProductsAPI extends RESTDataSource {
  override baseURL = process.env.REST_API_URL;

  // Cache for 1 hour
  private cacheOptions = { ttl: 3600 };

  async getProduct(id: string) {
    const data = await this.get<RESTProduct>(`/api/products/${id}`, {
      cacheOptions: this.cacheOptions,
    });
    return transformProduct(data);
  }

  async getProducts(filters: ProductFilters) {
    const params = new URLSearchParams();
    Object.entries(filters).forEach(([key, value]) => {
      if (value !== undefined) params.set(key, String(value));
    });

    const data = await this.get<RESTProduct[]>(`/api/products?${params}`);
    return data.map(transformProduct);
  }

  // Bust cache on mutation
  async updateProduct(id: string, input: UpdateProductInput) {
    const data = await this.patch<RESTProduct>(`/api/products/${id}`, {
      body: transformToREST(input),
    });

    // Invalidate cache
    this.delete(`/api/products/${id}`);

    return transformProduct(data);
  }
}

GraphQL Schema Design

Schema from REST Endpoints

# Map REST endpoints to GraphQL

# REST: GET /api/users
# REST: GET /api/users/:id
# REST: POST /api/users
# REST: PATCH /api/users/:id
# REST: DELETE /api/users/:id

type User {
  id: ID!
  username: String!
  email: String!
  avatar: String
  createdAt: DateTime!
  # Nested resource: GET /api/users/:id/posts
  posts: [Post!]!
  # Nested resource: GET /api/users/:id/comments
  comments: [Comment!]!
}

type Query {
  # GET /api/users
  users(page: Int, limit: Int): [User!]!
  # GET /api/users/:id
  user(id: ID!): User
}

type Mutation {
  # POST /api/users
  createUser(input: CreateUserInput!): User!
  # PATCH /api/users/:id
  updateUser(id: ID!, input: UpdateUserInput!): User!
  # DELETE /api/users/:id
  deleteUser(id: ID!): Boolean!
}

input CreateUserInput {
  username: String!
  email: String!
  password: String!
}

input UpdateUserInput {
  username: String
  email: String
  avatar: String
}

Resolvers with REST Backend

// resolvers/user.resolvers.ts
import { Resolvers } from '../generated/types';

export const userResolvers: Resolvers = {
  Query: {
    users: async (_, { page, limit }, { dataSources }) => {
      const users = await dataSources.usersAPI.getUsers({ page, limit });
      return users.map(transformUser);
    },

    user: async (_, { id }, { dataSources }) => {
      try {
        const user = await dataSources.usersAPI.getUser(id);
        return transformUser(user);
      } catch (error) {
        if (error.extensions?.response?.status === 404) {
          return null;
        }
        throw error;
      }
    },
  },

  Mutation: {
    createUser: async (_, { input }, { dataSources }) => {
      const user = await dataSources.usersAPI.createUser(
        transformInputToREST(input)
      );
      return transformUser(user);
    },

    updateUser: async (_, { id, input }, { dataSources }) => {
      const user = await dataSources.usersAPI.updateUser(
        id,
        transformInputToREST(input)
      );
      return transformUser(user);
    },

    deleteUser: async (_, { id }, { dataSources }) => {
      return dataSources.usersAPI.deleteUser(id);
    },
  },

  User: {
    // Resolve nested resources
    posts: async (parent, _, { dataSources }) => {
      const posts = await dataSources.usersAPI.getUserPosts(parent.id);
      return posts.map(transformPost);
    },

    comments: async (parent, _, { dataSources }) => {
      const comments = await dataSources.usersAPI.getUserComments(parent.id);
      return comments.map(transformComment);
    },
  },
};

DataLoader for N+1 Prevention

// loaders/user.loader.ts
import DataLoader from 'dataloader';
import { UsersAPI } from '../datasources/users.datasource';

export function createUserLoader(usersAPI: UsersAPI) {
  return new DataLoader<string, User>(async (ids) => {
    // Batch REST calls or use batch endpoint if available
    // Option 1: Parallel individual calls
    const users = await Promise.all(
      ids.map((id) => usersAPI.getUser(id).catch(() => null))
    );
    return ids.map((id) => users.find((u) => u?.id === id) || null);

    // Option 2: Use batch endpoint if available
    // const users = await usersAPI.getUsersByIds([...ids]);
    // return ids.map(id => users.find(u => u.id === id) || null);
  });
}

// Usage in resolver
User: {
  author: async (parent, _, { loaders }) => {
    return loaders.users.load(parent.authorId);
  },
}

Incremental Migration

Phase 1: Wrapper Layer

// Start with GraphQL wrapping REST
// All data still flows through REST API

const server = new ApolloServer({
  typeDefs,
  resolvers,
  dataSources: () => ({
    usersAPI: new UsersAPI(),
    postsAPI: new PostsAPI(),
    commentsAPI: new CommentsAPI(),
  }),
});

Phase 2: Direct Database Access

// Migrate critical paths to direct DB
// Keep REST as fallback

const userResolvers: Resolvers = {
  Query: {
    user: async (_, { id }, { dataSources, db }) => {
      // Try direct DB first
      const user = await db.user.findUnique({ where: { id } });
      if (user) return user;

      // Fallback to REST
      return dataSources.usersAPI.getUser(id);
    },
  },
};

Phase 3: Full Migration

// All data from database
// REST endpoints deprecated

const userResolvers: Resolvers = {
  Query: {
    user: async (_, { id }, { db }) => {
      return db.user.findUnique({
        where: { id },
      });
    },

    users: async (_, { page = 1, limit = 20 }, { db }) => {
      return db.user.findMany({
        skip: (page - 1) * limit,
        take: limit,
      });
    },
  },

  User: {
    posts: async (parent, _, { loaders }) => {
      return loaders.postsByAuthor.load(parent.id);
    },
  },
};

Error Handling

// Map REST errors to GraphQL errors
import { GraphQLError } from 'graphql';

function handleRESTError(error: any): never {
  const status = error.extensions?.response?.status;
  const body = error.extensions?.response?.body;

  switch (status) {
    case 400:
      throw new GraphQLError(body?.message || 'Bad request', {
        extensions: { code: 'BAD_USER_INPUT' },
      });

    case 401:
      throw new GraphQLError('Not authenticated', {
        extensions: { code: 'UNAUTHENTICATED' },
      });

    case 403:
      throw new GraphQLError('Not authorized', {
        extensions: { code: 'FORBIDDEN' },
      });

    case 404:
      throw new GraphQLError('Resource not found', {
        extensions: { code: 'NOT_FOUND' },
      });

    case 409:
      throw new GraphQLError(body?.message || 'Conflict', {
        extensions: { code: 'CONFLICT' },
      });

    default:
      throw new GraphQLError('Internal server error', {
        extensions: { code: 'INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR' },
      });
  }
}

// Usage in resolver
async getUser(id: string) {
  try {
    return await this.dataSources.usersAPI.getUser(id);
  } catch (error) {
    handleRESTError(error);
  }
}

Schema Stitching

Combine Multiple REST Services

// Stitch multiple REST backends
import { stitchSchemas } from '@graphql-tools/stitch';

const usersSchema = makeExecutableSchema({
  typeDefs: usersTypeDefs,
  resolvers: usersResolvers,
});

const productsSchema = makeExecutableSchema({
  typeDefs: productsTypeDefs,
  resolvers: productsResolvers,
});

const ordersSchema = makeExecutableSchema({
  typeDefs: ordersTypeDefs,
  resolvers: ordersResolvers,
});

const gatewaySchema = stitchSchemas({
  subschemas: [
    { schema: usersSchema },
    { schema: productsSchema },
    { schema: ordersSchema },
  ],
  typeMergingOptions: {
    // Configure type merging
  },
});

Deprecation Strategy

type Query {
  # Old endpoint - deprecated
  getUser(id: ID!): User @deprecated(reason: "Use user(id:) instead")

  # New endpoint
  user(id: ID!): User
}

type User {
  # Deprecated field with migration path
  userName: String @deprecated(reason: "Use username instead")
  username: String!
}

Best Practices

1. Start with wrapper: Don't rewrite, wrap
2. Migrate incrementally: One endpoint at a time
3. Use DataLoader: Prevent N+1 queries
4. Transform data shapes: Improve API design
5. Add caching: Reduce REST API calls
6. Handle errors properly: Map REST errors to GraphQL
7. Deprecate gradually: Give clients time to migrate
8. Monitor both: Track REST and GraphQL usage

Output Checklist

Every REST to GraphQL migration should include:

• REST endpoints documented
• GraphQL schema designed
• RESTDataSource implementations
• Data transformers (REST ↔ GraphQL)
• DataLoader for batching
• Error handling and mapping
• Caching strategy
• Incremental migration plan
• Deprecation annotations
• Client migration guide