Using GraphQL in your Gatsby sites

Published March 27, 2024 | By Matt

Gatsby is a fantastic tool for building blazing-fast static websites. GraphQL simplifies how you manage data in your Gatsby projects, letting you fetch exactly what you need. Let’s dive in and get you started!

What is GraphQL?

The Problem It Solves: Traditional ways of fetching data can lead to getting too much or too little data. GraphQL lets you ask for only the specific fields you need.
Queries Define Your Data: With GraphQL, you write queries that match the shape of the data you want to receive.

Why GraphQL + Gatsby are a Perfect Pair

Built for Performance: Gatsby uses GraphQL to optimize data fetching, making your websites super fast.
Flexible Data Sourcing: Gatsby has plugins to pull data into GraphQL from a variety of sources (CMSs, markdown, databases, and more).

Setting Up GraphQL in Your Gatsby Project

Installation:
Bash
npm install gatsby-source-graphql

Configuration (gatsby-config.js) Provide a minimal example, assuming a basic GraphQL endpoint:
JavaScript
// gatsby-config.js
module.exports = {
plugins: [
{
resolve: `gatsby-source-graphql`,
options: {
typeName: `MySource`, // Replace with your source name
fieldName: `myData`, // Replace with how you’ll refer to this data
url: `https://my-graphql-endpoint.com`,
},
},
],
};

Using GraphQL Data in Your Components

The useStaticQuery Hook: Gatsby provides this hook to query GraphQL data.
Example Component:
JavaScript
import React from ‘react’;
import { useStaticQuery, graphql } from ‘gatsby’;
const BlogPost = () => {
const data = useStaticQuery(graphql`
query {
myData {
title
content
}
}
`);
return (
<div>
<h1>{data.myData.title}</h1>
<p>{data.myData.content}</p>
</div>
);
};
export default BlogPost;

Conclusion

This is just the beginning of your GraphQL and Gatsby journey! Experiment with it in your projects to see how it improves your development experience.