Add GraphQL Edge Caching to Strapi Cloud

Grafbase is the easiest way to extend and cache existing APIs with custom code that lives next to the user at the edge.

If you're using the Headless Content Management System (CMS) Strapi you might be looking for caching options to improve performance and experience for users by reducing API calls to the origin.

Grafbase makes it very easy to connect Strapi's GraphQL API to the Grafbase Edge Gateway and enable GraphQL Edge Caching. If you need to extend the Strapi API queries or add new fields to types, you can do that using your custom resolver code.

1. Speed — Get even faster responses and lessen server load with Grafbase Edge Caching.
2. Flexibility — Combine data from multiple APIs effortlessly using Grafbase Edge Gateway.
3. Savings — Stay within your API limits and save money.
4. Insights — Monitor your data in real-time with Grafbase Analytics.

In this guide, we will focus on improving the performance of the GraphQL API by implementing Grafbase's GraphQL Edge Caching on top of the Strapi Cloud API.

Begin by executing the following command inside a new or existing project's directory:

npx grafbase init --template graphql-strapi

Next, open the file grafbase.config.ts and make any adjustments.

By default, Grafbase will:

• Add Strapi as a data source
• Cache all queries for 60 seconds
• Enable public access to the Grafbase Edge Gateway
• Forward Authorization header to Strapi

import { config, connector, graph } from '@grafbase/sdk'

const g = graph.Standalone()

const strapi = connector.GraphQL('Strapi', {
  url: g.env('STRAPI_API_URL'),
  headers: headers => {
    headers.set('Authorization', { forward: 'Authorization' })
  },
})

// Disabling namespace may cause conflicts with other connectors
g.datasource(strapi, { namespace: false })

export default config({
  graph: g,
  cache: {
    rules: [
      {
        types: ['Query'],
        maxAge: 60,
      },
    ],
  },
  auth: {
    rules: rules => {
      rules.public()
    },
  },
})

Now update .env with your STRAPI_API_URL value.

If you'd prefer not to pass the Authorization header with requests from the client, you can also set the values to use an environment variable stored by Grafbase:

const strapi = connector.GraphQL('Strapi', {
  url: g.env('STRAPI_API_URL'),
  headers: headers => {
    headers.set('Authorization', g.env('STRAPI_API_KEY'))
  },
})

If you don't use header forwarding, make sure to add your STRAPI_API_URL value to the file .env:

STRAPI_API_URL=
# Only if you set the Authorization header with a static value
# STRAPI_API_KEY=

Finally, run the Grafbase development server by using the command below:

npx grafbase dev

You now have a GraphQL API running locally that acts as a proxy to Strapi! 🎉

You can execute any GraphQL query you normally would with Strapi using the new endpoint (locally): http://127.0.0.1:4000/graphql.

You can and should use the Grafbase CLI when building locally (or in a branch) to proxy your Strapi Cloud instance but you will need to deploy to Grafbase to take advantage of GraphQL Edge Caching.

Follow these steps to deploy to production:

• Signup for a Grafbase account
• Create a new project
• Connect and deploy your application where the grafbase was added
• Make sure to add your STRAPI_API_URL when deploying, unless you made it optional
• Update your host (Netlify, Vercel, Fly, etc.) with the new GraphQL API endpoint that Grafbase supplied for your new project.

That's it!

Grafbase is programmed to autonomously deploy a fresh gateway each time it identifies a change to grafbase.config.ts. Consequently, if you need to adjust any cache settings, including parameters like maxAge, staleWhileRevalidate, and mutationInvalidation, you're free to do so.

Grafbase will handle the rest of the process seamlessly. We'll explore extending the Strapi API with custom fields in another post.