Lesson 22: Handling errors when connecting to services

We can encounter different types of errors when fetching data from an external API.

For instance, consider the following query:

{
  externalData: _sendJSONObjectItemHTTPRequest(
    input: {
      url: "https://newapi.getpop.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/8888/"
    }
  )
    
  postTitle: _objectProperty(
    object: $__externalData,
    by: { path: "title.rendered"}
  )
}

If the Internet connection went down, then field _sendJSONObjectItemHTTPRequest will trigger an error:

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "cURL error 6: Could not resolve host: newapi.getpop.org (see https://curl.haxx.se/libcurl/c/libcurl-errors.html) for https://newapi.getpop.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/8888/",
      "locations": [
        {
          "line": 2,
          "column": 17
        }
      ],
      "extensions": {
        "path": [
          "externalData: _sendJSONObjectItemHTTPRequest(input: {url: \"https://newapi.getpop.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/8888/\"}) @export(as: \"externalData\")",
          "query { ... }"
        ],
        "type": "QueryRoot",
        "field": "externalData: _sendJSONObjectItemHTTPRequest(input: {url: \"https://newapi.getpop.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/8888/\"}) @export(as: \"externalData\")",
        "id": "root",
        "code": "PoP/ComponentModel@e1"
      }
    },
    {
      "message": "Argument 'object' in field '_objectProperty' of type 'QueryRoot' cannot be null",
      "locations": [
        {
          "line": 10,
          "column": 13
        }
      ],
      "extensions": {
        "path": [
          "$__externalData",
          "(object: $__externalData)",
          "postTitle: _objectProperty(object: $__externalData, by: {path: \"title.rendered\"})",
          "query { ... }"
        ],
        "type": "QueryRoot",
        "field": "postTitle: _objectProperty(object: $__externalData, by: {path: \"title.rendered\"})",
        "id": "root",
        "code": "gql@5.4.2.1[b]",
        "specifiedBy": "https://spec.graphql.org/draft/#sec-Required-Arguments"
      }
    }
  ],
  "data": {
    "externalData": null,
    "postTitle": null
  }
}

If we manage to connect, but the requested resource does not exist, we will get a 404:

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "Client error: `GET https://newapi.getpop.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/8888/` resulted in a `404 Not Found` response:\n{\"code\":\"rest_post_invalid_id\",\"message\":\"Invalid post ID.\",\"data\":{\"status\":404}}\n",
      "locations": [
        {
          "line": 2,
          "column": 17
        }
      ],
      "extensions": {
        "path": [
          "externalData: _sendJSONObjectItemHTTPRequest(input: {url: \"https://newapi.getpop.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/8888/\"}) @export(as: \"externalData\")",
          "query { ... }"
        ],
        "type": "QueryRoot",
        "field": "externalData: _sendJSONObjectItemHTTPRequest(input: {url: \"https://newapi.getpop.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/8888/\"}) @export(as: \"externalData\")",
        "id": "root",
        "code": "PoP/ComponentModel@e1"
      }
    },
    {
      "message": "Argument 'object' in field '_objectProperty' of type 'QueryRoot' cannot be null",
      "locations": [
        {
          "line": 10,
          "column": 13
        }
      ],
      "extensions": {
        "path": [
          "$__externalData",
          "(object: $__externalData)",
          "postTitle: _objectProperty(object: $__externalData, by: {path: \"title.rendered\"})",
          "query { ... }"
        ],
        "type": "QueryRoot",
        "field": "postTitle: _objectProperty(object: $__externalData, by: {path: \"title.rendered\"})",
        "id": "root",
        "code": "gql@5.4.2.1[b]",
        "specifiedBy": "https://spec.graphql.org/draft/#sec-Required-Arguments"
      }
    }
  ],
  "data": {
    "externalData": null,
    "postTitle": null
  }
}

In both cases, there was an additional error in the response:

{
  "message": "Argument 'object' in field '_objectProperty' of type 'QueryRoot' cannot be null" 
}

This error happens because, after the first error, the dynamic variable $__externalData will have value null, triggering the second error. This is not ideal; we'd rather be aware that some error happened and, then, skip executing the rest of the GraphQL query.

In this tutorial lesson we will explore how to achieve this.

Handling errors when connecting to a REST API

This GraphQL query splits the logic into two operations, where:

The first operation exports dynamic variable $requestProducedErrors, indicating if the value of field _sendJSONObjectItemHTTPRequest is null (in which case, some error occurred)
The second operation is @skipped when $requestProducedErrors is true

This way, the second operation, which contains the logic to execute, is skipped when there was an error fetching the data in the first operation:

query ConnectToRESTEndpoint($postId: ID!) {
  endpoint: _sprintf(
    string: "https://newapi.getpop.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/%s/?_fields=id,type,title,date"
    values: [$postId]
  ) @remove
  
  externalData: _sendJSONObjectItemHTTPRequest(
    input: {
      url: $__endpoint
    }
  ) @export(as: "externalData")
 
  requestProducedErrors: _isNull(value: $__externalData)
    @export(as: "requestProducedErrors")
    @remove
}
 
query ExecuteOperation
  @depends(on: "ConnectToRESTEndpoint")
  @skip(if: $requestProducedErrors)
{
  # Do something...
  postTitle: _objectProperty(
    object: $externalData,
    by: { path: "title.rendered"}
  )
}

When passing $postId: 1, the query is successful, and the response is:

{
  "data": {
    "externalData": {
      "id": 1,
      "date": "2019-08-02T07:53:57",
      "type": "post",
      "title": {
        "rendered": "Hello world!"
      }
    },
    "postTitle": "Hello world!"
  }
}

Passing $postId: 8888 concerning a non-existent resource, we get this response (notice that there's no postTitle in the response, and no second error message):

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "Client error: `GET https://newapi.getpop.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/8888/?_fields=id,type,title,date` resulted in a `404 Not Found` response:\n{\"code\":\"rest_post_invalid_id\",\"message\":\"Invalid post ID.\",\"data\":{\"status\":404}}\n",
      "locations": [
        {
          "line": 6,
          "column": 17
        }
      ],
      "extensions": {
        "path": [
          "externalData: _sendJSONObjectItemHTTPRequest(input: {url: $__endpoint}) @export(as: \"externalData\")",
          "query ConnectToRESTEndpoint($postId: ID!) { ... }"
        ],
        "type": "QueryRoot",
        "field": "externalData: _sendJSONObjectItemHTTPRequest(input: {url: $__endpoint}) @export(as: \"externalData\")",
        "id": "root",
        "code": "PoP/ComponentModel@e1"
      }
    }
  ],
  "data": {
    "externalData": null
  }
}

If the Internet connection is down, we get this response:

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "cURL error 6: Could not resolve host: newapi.getpop.org (see https://curl.haxx.se/libcurl/c/libcurl-errors.html) for https://newapi.getpop.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/8888/?_fields=id,type,title,date",
      "locations": [
        {
          "line": 17,
          "column": 17
        }
      ],
      "extensions": {
        "path": [
          "externalData: _sendHTTPRequest(input: {url: $__endpoint, method: GET}) { ... }",
          "query ConnectToAPI($postId: ID!) @depends(on: \"ExportDefaultDynamicVariables\") { ... }"
        ],
        "type": "QueryRoot",
        "field": "externalData: _sendHTTPRequest(input: {url: $__endpoint, method: GET}) { ... }",
        "id": "root",
        "code": "PoP/ComponentModel@e1"
      }
    }
  ],
  "data": {
    "externalData": null
  }
}

Displaying the errors messages from the REST API response

The previous query uses field _sendJSONObjectItemHTTPRequest, which expects the status code to be 200 (or any other successful code).

However, it is possible for the REST API to return a 404 for a missing resource, and provide a descriptive error message in the JSON response.

We can capture this feedback from the webserver by replacing _sendJSONObjectItemHTTPRequest with _sendHTTPRequest, and display it in the errors entry in the GraphQL response.

For instance, when fetching data from a non-existent resource from the WP REST API, it returns a data.status entry in the response and associated data.

This GraphQL query captures this data, and explicitly adds an error entry with the response's error code and message, by using field _fail (provided by the Response Error Trigger extension):

query ExportDefaultDynamicVariables
  @configureWarningsOnExportingDuplicateVariable(enabled: false)
{
  defaultEndpointHasErrors: _echo(value: true)
    @export(as: "endpointHasErrors")
    @remove
}
 
query ConnectToAPI($postId: ID!)
  @depends(on: "ExportDefaultDynamicVariables")
{
  endpoint: _sprintf(
    string: "https://newapi.getpop.org/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/%s/?_fields=id,type,title,date"
    values: [$postId]
  ) @remove
  
  externalData: _sendHTTPRequest(
    input: {
      url: $__endpoint,
      method: GET
    }
  ) {    
    contentType
    statusCode
    body @remove
    bodyJSONObject: _strDecodeJSONObject(string: $__body)
      @export(as: "externalData")
  }
 
  isNullExternalData: _isNull(value: $__externalData)
    @export(as: "isNullExternalData")
    @remove
}
 
query ValidateAPIResponse
  @depends(on: "ConnectToAPI")
  @skip(if: $isNullExternalData)
{
  endpointHasErrors: _propertyIsSetInJSONObject(
    object: $externalData
    by: {
      path: "data.status"
    }
  )
    @export(as: "endpointHasErrors")
    @remove
}
 
query FailIfExternalAPIHasErrors($postId: ID!)
  @depends(on: "ValidateAPIResponse")
  @include(if: $endpointHasErrors)
  @skip(if: $isNullExternalData)
{
  code: _objectProperty(
    object: $externalData,
    by: {
      key: "code"
    }
  ) @remove
  message: _objectProperty(
    object: $externalData,
    by: {
      key: "message"
    }
  ) @remove
  errorMessage: _sprintf(
    string: "[%s] %s",
    values: [$__code, $__message]
  ) @remove
  data: _objectProperty(
    object: $externalData,
    by: {
      key: "data"
    }
  ) @remove
  _fail(
    message: $__errorMessage
    data: {
      postId: $postId,
      endpointData: $__data
    }
  ) @remove
}
 
query ExecuteSomeOperation
  @depends(on: "FailIfExternalAPIHasErrors")
  @skip(if: $endpointHasErrors)
{
  # Do something...
  postTitle: _objectProperty(
    object: $externalData,
    by: { path: "title.rendered"}
  )
}

The Response Error Trigger extension provides two ways to add a custom entry under errors:

Via field _fail
Via directive @fail

While field _fail adds the error always, directive @fail only whenever the condition under argument condition is met. Its default value is IS_NULL, meaning that it will be triggered when the field it is applied to has value null:

query GetPost($id: ID!) {
  post(by:{id: $id})
    @fail(
      message: "There is no post with the provided ID"
      data: {
        id: $id
      }
    )
  {
    id
    title
  }
}

When executing the query with variable $postId: 1 the request is successful, and we obtain:

{
  "data": {
    "externalData": {
      "contentType": "application/json; charset=UTF-8",
      "statusCode": 200,
      "bodyJSONObject": {
        "id": 1,
        "date": "2019-08-02T07:53:57",
        "type": "post",
        "title": {
          "rendered": "Hello world!"
        }
      }
    },
    "postTitle": "Hello world!"
  }
}

When executing the query with variable $postId: 8888 the resource is missing, and we obtain:

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "[rest_post_invalid_id] Invalid post ID.",
      "locations": [
        {
          "line": 76,
          "column": 3
        }
      ],
      "extensions": {
        "path": [
          "_fail(message: $__errorMessage, data: {postId: $postId, endpointData: $__data}) @remove",
          "query FailIfExternalAPIHasErrors($postId: ID!) @depends(on: \"ValidateAPIResponse\") @include(if: $endpointHasErrors) @skip(if: $isNullExternalData) { ... }"
        ],
        "type": "QueryRoot",
        "field": "_fail(message: $__errorMessage, data: {postId: $postId, endpointData: $__data}) @remove",
        "id": "root",
        "failureData": {
          "postId": 8888,
          "endpointData": {
            "status": 404
          }
        },
        "code": "PoPSchema/FailFieldAndDirective@e1"
      }
    }
  ],
  "data": {
    "externalData": {
      "contentType": "application/json; charset=UTF-8",
      "statusCode": 404,
      "bodyJSONObject": {
        "code": "rest_post_invalid_id",
        "message": "Invalid post ID.",
        "data": {
          "status": 404
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Handling errors when connecting to a GraphQL API

When querying a missing resource in a GraphQL API, the response will have status code 200 and null value for that resource (making it different to REST, which instead returns a 404).

The GraphQL below validates that no errors happened when executing _sendGraphQLHTTPRequest by checking that:

The response is not null (eg: the Internet connection did not go down)
The response does not contain the errors entry
The response contains a non-null value under entry data.post (i.e. the queried resource exists)

query InitializeDynamicVariables
  @configureWarningsOnExportingDuplicateVariable(enabled: false)
{
  defaultResponseHasErrors: _echo(value: false)
    @export(as: "responseHasErrors")
    @remove
  defaultPostIsMissing: _echo(value: false)
    @export(as: "postIsMissing")
    @remove
}
 
query ConnectToGraphQLAPI($postId: ID!)
  @depends(on: "InitializeDynamicVariables")
{
  externalData: _sendGraphQLHTTPRequest(
    input: {
      endpoint: "https://newapi.getpop.org/api/graphql/",
      query: """
        query GetPostData($postId: ID!) {
          post(by: { id : $postId }) {
            date
            title
          }
        }
      """,
      variables: [
        {
          name: "postId",
          value: $postId
        }
      ]
    }
  ) @export(as: "externalData")
 
  requestProducedErrors: _isNull(value: $__externalData)
    @export(as: "requestProducedErrors")
    @remove
}
 
query ValidateResponse
  @depends(on: "ConnectToGraphQLAPI")
  @skip(if: $requestProducedErrors)
{
  responseHasErrors: _propertyIsSetInJSONObject(
    object: $externalData
    by: {
      key: "errors"
    }
  )
    @export(as: "responseHasErrors")
    @remove
 
  postExists: _propertyIsSetInJSONObject(
    object: $externalData
    by: {
      path: "data.post"
    }
  )
    @remove
    
  postIsMissing: _not(value: $__postExists)
    @export(as: "postIsMissing")
    @remove
}
 
query FailIfResponseHasErrors
  @depends(on: "ValidateResponse")
  @skip(if: $requestProducedErrors)
  @skip(if: $postIsMissing)
  @include(if: $responseHasErrors)
{
  errors: _objectProperty(
    object: $externalData,
    by: {
      key: "errors"
    }
  ) @remove
 
  _fail(
    message: "Executing the GraphQL query produced error(s)"
    data: {
      errors: $__errors
    }
  ) @remove
}
 
query ExecuteOperation
  @depends(on: "FailIfResponseHasErrors")
  @skip(if: $requestProducedErrors)
  @skip(if: $responseHasErrors)
  @skip(if: $postIsMissing)
{
  # Do something...
  postTitle: _objectProperty(
    object: $externalData,
    by: { path: "data.post.title" }
  )
}

When passing $postId: 1, the query is successful, and the response is:

{
  "data": {
    "externalData": {
      "data": {
        "post": {
          "date": "2019-08-02T07:53:57+00:00",
          "title": "Hello world!"
        }
      }
    },
    "postTitle": "Hello world!"
  }
}

Passing $postId: 8888 concerning a non-existent resource, we get this response (notice that there's no postTitle in the response, and also no error message):

{
  "data": {
    "externalData": {
      "data": {
        "post": null
      }
    }
  }
}

If the Internet connection is down, we get this response:

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "cURL error 6: Could not resolve host: newapi.getpop.org (see https://curl.haxx.se/libcurl/c/libcurl-errors.html) for https://newapi.getpop.org/api/graphql/",
      "locations": [
        {
          "line": 15,
          "column": 17
        }
      ],
      "extensions": {
        "path": [
          "externalData: _sendGraphQLHTTPRequest(input: {endpoint: \"https://newapi.getpop.org/api/graphql/\", query: \"\n        query GetPostData($postId: ID!) {\n          post(by: { id : $postId }) {\n            date\n            title\n          }\n        }\n      \", variables: [{name: \"postId\", value: $postId}]}) @export(as: \"externalData\")",
          "query ConnectToGraphQLAPI($postId: ID!) @depends(on: \"InitializeDynamicVariables\") { ... }"
        ],
        "type": "QueryRoot",
        "field": "externalData: _sendGraphQLHTTPRequest(input: {endpoint: \"https://newapi.getpop.org/api/graphql/\", query: \"\n        query GetPostData($postId: ID!) {\n          post(by: { id : $postId }) {\n            date\n            title\n          }\n        }\n      \", variables: [{name: \"postId\", value: $postId}]}) @export(as: \"externalData\")",
        "id": "root",
        "code": "PoP/ComponentModel@e1"
      }
    }
  ],
  "data": {
    "externalData": null
  }
}

Producing an error if the requested resource does not exist

If the GraphQL query above, if the queried post does not exist, it just returns null and there's no error entry under errors.

If we want to force adding an error in that situation, we can append the following operation, which uses field _fail to trigger an error:

query FailIfPostNotExists($postId: ID!)
  @skip(if: $requestProducedErrors)
  @include(if: $postIsMissing)
  @depends(on: "ValidateResponse")
{
  errorMessage: _sprintf(
    string: "There is no post with ID '%s'",
    values: [$postId]
  ) @remove
  _fail(
    message: $__errorMessage
    data: {
      id: $postId
    }
  ) @remove
}
 
query ExecuteOperation
  @depends(on: [
    "FailIfResponseHasErrors",
    "FailIfPostNotExists"
  ])
  # ...
{
  # ...
}

Now, when passing $postId: 8888 concerning a non-existent resource, we get this response:

{
  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "There is no post with ID '8888'",
      "locations": [
        {
          "line": 96,
          "column": 3
        }
      ],
      "extensions": {
        "path": [
          "_fail(message: $__errorMessage, data: {id: $postId}) @remove",
          "query FailIfPostNotExists($postId: ID!) @skip(if: $requestProducedErrors) @include(if: $postIsMissing) @depends(on: \"ValidateResponse\") { ... }"
        ],
        "type": "QueryRoot",
        "field": "_fail(message: $__errorMessage, data: {id: $postId}) @remove",
        "id": "root",
        "failureData": {
          "id": 8888
        },
        "code": "PoPSchema/FailFieldAndDirective@e1"
      }
    }
  ],
  "data": {
    "externalData": {
      "data": {
        "post": null
      }
    }
  }
}

​Handling errors when connecting to a REST API

​Displaying the errors messages from the REST API response

​Handling errors when connecting to a GraphQL API

​Producing an error if the requested resource does not exist

Handling errors when connecting to a REST API

Displaying the errors messages from the REST API response

Handling errors when connecting to a GraphQL API

Producing an error if the requested resource does not exist