Faker Server

Effortless GraphQL and REST API Mocking with Faker.js and Handlebars templates

GraphQL Mock Server

Elevate your development experience with an innovative mock server, seamlessly powered by filesystem integration, dynamic Handlebars templating, and realistic data generation with Faker.js

Faker-Sever GraphQL vs Other Mock Servers

• No code changes. Just point your code to the mock server
• File system based mocks. Easily create, edit and version mocks alongside your code
• Dynamic and complex mocks. Use handlebars to create dynamic and complex mocks
• Realistic data. Easily generate sample data using fakerjs
• Zero configuration. Just run faker-server graphql -s schema.graphql

Quick Start

Using Local Schema

Quickly start the server with a simple hello world example.

# Create a simple graphql schema
echo type Query { hello: String } > schema.graphql

# Create a simple handlebars template
echo "Hello, {{faker 'person.firstName'}}" > hello.hbs

npm exec @raysca/faker-server graphql

The graphql server will be running on http://localhost:8080/api/graphql with a playground to test it out.

Using Remote Schema

You can also use a remote schema by specifying the url to a graphql api. For example: Using the Shopify reference GraphQL api.

npm exec @raysca/faker-server graphql -s  https://mock.shop/api

The graphql server will be running on http://localhost:8080/api

Create a simple shop.hbs mock file

{
    "id": "{{fake "string.alphanumeric" 10}}",
    "name": "The coffee shop",
    "description": "The best coffee in the world",
    "primaryDomain": {
        "host": "coffee.com",
        "sslEnabled": true,
        "url": "https://coffee.com"
    }
}

and query the mock server

query {
  shop {
    id
    name
    description
    primaryDomain {
      host
      sslEnabled
      url
    }
  }
}

Faker-Server GraphQL Options

Option	Description	Default
-s, --schema	Path to the graphql schema file.	current directory
-m, --mocks	Path to the mocks directory containing .hbs or .json files.	current directory
-p, --port	Port to run the server on.	8080
-e, --endpoint	The graphql endpoint will be accessible from	/api/graphql
-w, --watch	Reload server if schema/mocks changes	false

Usage: faker-server graphql --help

How it works

There is a one-to-one mapping between graphql operations and mock files. This makes mocking intuitive and easy to understand. No complex configuration or code changes are required.

The server will look for a mock file in the mocks directory that matches the requested graphql operation. For example, if the graphql operation is getPerson then the server will look for a file called getPerson.hbs or getPerson.json in the mocks directory.

Examples

Here is an example graphql schema:

type Query {
  getPerson: Person
  people: [Person]
}

type Person {
  name: String
  phone: String
}

Here is an example mocks/getPerson.hbs file:

{
    "name": "{{faker 'person.firstName'}} {{faker 'person.lastName'}}",
    "phone": "{{faker 'phone.phoneNumber'}}"
}

Here is an example mocks/people.hbs file:

[
{{#repeat 2}}
    {
        "name": "{{faker 'person.firstName'}} {{faker 'person.lastName'}}",
        "phone": "{{faker 'phone.phoneNumber'}}"
    }
{{/repeat}}
]

Advance Templates and Helpers

Whilst Fake GraphQL supports simple JSON file based mocks, the power of the server shines when combined with handlebars templates and helpers.

The Fake GraphQL server has a number of built-in helpers to make it easy to generate random data and more complex mocks. Here are the built-in helpers:

faker

faker is used to generate random sample data in templates . It takes the fakerjs method as a parameter for example:

{
  "firstName": "{{faker 'person.firstName'}}",
  "lastName": "{{faker 'person.lastName'}}",
  "phone": "{{faker 'phone.number'}}",
  "email": "{{faker 'internet.email'}}",
  "weight": "{{faker 'number.float' min=100 max=200}}kg"
}

All the faker methods are supported. See the fakerjs

random

The random helper is used to select a random value from a list of values. For example:

{{random 'a' 'b' 'c'}}

repeat

The repeat helper is used to repeat a comma-separated block of code a number of times. This is good for generating arrays of values For example:

[
{{#repeat 2}}
    {
        "applicable": true,
        "code": "CODE-{{faker "string.alphanumeric" 5}}"
    }
{{/repeat}}
]

Also see the examples directory for more examples.

REST Mock Server

The faker-server rest command can be used to create a REST mock server. It