TaaS GraphQL in Docker

Running TaaS GraphQL in Docker

Requirements

• Docker

• Tezos Node with enabled RPC endpoint supporting read-only calls

Ready-to-use docker image is available from Docker Hub here:

https://hub.docker.com/r/tezoslive/taas-graphql

Example of the docker run command

• exposing port 3000

• setting the Tezos:NodeUrl environment variable to https://api.tezos.org.ua

Do not forget to change the Tezos:NodeUrl based on your configuration!

docker run --rm -it -p 3000:3000 \
--env TEZOS_NODE="https://api.tezos.org.ua" \
tezoslive/taas-graphql

Optional Configuration

By providing the following ENV variables you can override default configuration.

docker run --rm -it -p 3000:3000 \
--env PORT="3000" \
--env TEZOS_NODE="https://api.tezos.org.ua" \
--env MAX_BLOCKS="5" \
--env GRAPHQL_ENABLE_PLAYGROUND="true" \
--env GRAPHQL_ENABLE_INTROSPECTION="true" \
--env ENABLE_API_KEY="true" \
--env API_KEY="random!@#123String" \
tezoslive/taas-graphql

• PORT configuration for the port on which NodeJS server listens. Default is 3000.

• TEZOS_NODE configuration for the Tezos Node RPC API endpoint. Default is https://api.tezos.org.ua

• MAX_BLOCKS configuration for the maximum number of blocks that can be fetched using blocks GraphQL query. Default is 5.

• GRAPHQL_ENABLE_PLAYGROUND configuration for the GraphQL playground. Default is true. It is recommend as best practice to disable this in production environment by Apollo.

• GRAPHQL_ENABLE_INTROSPECTION configuration for the GraphQL introspection. Default is true. It is recommend as best practice to disable this in production environment by Apollo.

• ENABLE_API_KEY if enabled API Key is required with each request. API key needs to be provided in the X-TaaS-Key header. Default is false.

• API_KEY configures the API key value. There is no default value.

Testing your GraphQL API endpoint

If you have used default port number (3000) and exposed the port using docker run command mentioned above, you should be able to access the following URL in the browser (with enabled GRAPHQL_ENABLE_PLAYGROUND).

http://127.0.0.1:3000/graphql127.0.0.1

Your localhost running Docker

GraphQL Schema

You can take a look at the schema in the GraphQL playground or on the link below.

https://github.com/agile-ventures/TaaS-GraphQL/blob/master/src/schema/schema.graphql

Performance & Caching

If you need a caching layer between your GraphQL Docker container and your Tezos Node, you can use TezProxy.

GitHub - tezexInfo/TezProxyGitHub

Security & Deployment

For a simple use case you can enable single API key directly on the TaaS GraphQL cointainer with

• ENABLE_API_KEY

• API_KEY

If you need more complex solution, like JWT token authentication, rate limiting (throttling) or load balancing please take a look at the following resources.

• https://www.haproxy.com/blog/using-haproxy-as-an-api-gateway-part-1/

• https://docs.nginx.com/nginx/admin-guide/security-controls/configuring-jwt-authentication/

• https://docs.aws.amazon.com/apigateway/latest/developerguide/apigateway-control-access-to-api.html

• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/api-management/api-management-key-concepts

One possible scenario if you opt out to have TaaS deployed on VMs or dedicated servers could be to have HAProxy load balancer configure with JWT authentication running in from of the TaaS docker containers.

There are multiple options in case you will opt out to host your TaaS GraphQL stack in the cloud running in the serverless mode (AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloudflare Workers, etc.) and the best solution will depend on your specific cloud provider.