Intro

• AWS managed service that uses GraphQL
• Need to upload a GraphQL schema to AppSync
• Integrated with CloudWatch for logging
• Integrated with X-Ray for Tracing

Use cases

• Building GraphQL APIs

  

  • GraphQL responses may include data from one or more sources (NoSQL DB, SQL DB, other APIs)
  • Optional caching functionality to reduce load on the data source
  • Resolvers have direct integration with DynamoDB, Aurora and OpenSearch.
  • Lambda function can be used to get data from any source.
  • Resolvers can fetch data from other HTTP APIs as well.

• Retrieve data in real-time with WebSocket or MQTT on WebSocket

• Offline data synchronization in mobile devices

Security

• To get HTTPS on AppSync with a custom domain, use CloudFront in front of AppSync
• 4 ways to authorize applications to interact with AppSync GraphQL API:
  • API_KEY - generate an API key and give it to the customer
  • AWS_IAM - authorize IAM users or roles / cross-account access
  • AMAZON_COGNITO_USER_POOLS - AWS managed IDP for external users
  • OPENID_CONNECT - 3rd party OIDC compatible IDP for external users