Tag: State Management

Using Apollo Client with Next.js 13: Simplifying Data Fetching and State Management

Introduction

In this tutorial, we will explore how to integrate Apollo Client with Next.js 13 to simplify data fetching and state management in your Next.js applications. Apollo Client is a powerful GraphQL client that makes it easy to query, mutate, and subscribe to data from your GraphQL API. Next.js, on the other hand, is a popular React framework that provides server-side rendering, automatic code splitting, and simplified routing.

By combining Apollo Client and Next.js, you can take advantage of the benefits of GraphQL for data fetching and state management while leveraging the capabilities of Next.js for server-side rendering and performance optimization.

Prerequisites

Before we get started, make sure you have the following installed on your machine:

  • Node.js (version 12 or higher)
  • NPM (Node Package Manager)

Installation

To begin, create a new Next.js project by running the following command in your terminal:

npx create-next-app@13 my-app

Once the project is created, navigate to the project directory by running:

cd my-app

Next, install the required dependencies by running the following command:

npm install @apollo/client@rc @apollo/experimental-nextjs-app-support

This will install Apollo Client and the experimental Next.js app support library.

Server Components

If you want to use Apollo Client inside server components, follow these steps:

Step 1: Setup Apollo Client

Create a new file lib/client.js in your project’s directory and add the following content:

import { ApolloClient, HttpLink, InMemoryCache } from "@apollo/client";
import { NextSSRInMemoryCache, NextSSRApolloClient } from "@apollo/experimental-nextjs-app-support/ssr";
import { registerApolloClient } from "@apollo/experimental-nextjs-app-support/rsc";

export const { getClient } = registerApolloClient(() => {
  return new NextSSRApolloClient({
    cache: new NextSSRInMemoryCache(),
    link: new HttpLink({
      uri: "https://api.example.com/graphql",
    }),
  });
});

In this file, we create an instance of Apollo Client and configure it with an HTTP link to our GraphQL API.

Step 2: Use Apollo Client in Server Components

To use Apollo Client inside server components, first import the getClient function in your component:

import { getClient } from "../lib/client";

Then, use the getClient function to safely get an instance of the Apollo Client scoped to the current request:

const client = getClient();

You can now use this client object to query, mutate, or subscribe to data from your GraphQL API.

Client Components (with server-side rendering)

If you prefer to use Apollo Client with client-side rendering, follow these steps:

Step 1: Setup Apollo Client

Create a new file lib/apollo-wrapper.js in your project’s directory and add the following content:

"use client";
import { ApolloClient, ApolloLink, HttpLink } from "@apollo/client";
import { ApolloNextAppProvider, NextSSRInMemoryCache, SSRMultipartLink } from "@apollo/experimental-nextjs-app-support/ssr";

function makeClient() {
  const httpLink = new HttpLink({
    uri: "https://api.example.com/graphql",
  });

  return new NextSSRApolloClient({
    cache: new NextSSRInMemoryCache(),
    link: typeof window === "undefined" ? 
      ApolloLink.from([
        new SSRMultipartLink({ stripDefer: true }),
        httpLink,
      ]) : httpLink,
  });
}

export function ApolloWrapper({ children }) {
  return (
    <ApolloNextAppProvider makeClient={makeClient}>
      {children}
    </ApolloNextAppProvider>
  );
}

In this file, we define a wrapper component ApolloWrapper that provides the Apollo Client to its child components. The makeClient function creates an instance of Apollo Client and configures it with an HTTP link to our GraphQL API.

Step 2: Use Apollo Client in Client Components

To use Apollo Client inside client components, first import the ApolloWrapper component in your component:

import { ApolloWrapper } from "../lib/apollo-wrapper";

Then, wrap your component with the ApolloWrapper component to provide the Apollo Client:

<ApolloWrapper>
  {/* Your component code here */}
</ApolloWrapper>

You can now use Apollo Client to query, mutate, or subscribe to data from your GraphQL API inside your component.

Fetching Data

To fetch data using Apollo Client, you can use the useSuspenseQuery hook provided by the @apollo/experimental-nextjs-app-support/ssr library. Here’s an example:

"use client";
import { useSuspenseQuery } from "@apollo/experimental-nextjs-app-support/ssr";

const query = gql`
  query {
    users {
      id
      name
    }
  }
`;

export default function UsersPage() {
  const { data, loading, error } = useSuspenseQuery(query);

  if (loading) {
    return <div>Loading...</div>;
  }

  if (error) {
    return <div>Error: {error.message}</div>;
  }

  return (
    <ul>
      {data.users.map((user) => (
        <li key={user.id}>{user.name}</li>
      ))}
    </ul>
  );
}

In this example, we define a GraphQL query using the gql tag from @apollo/client. We then use the useSuspenseQuery hook to fetch the data from our GraphQL API. The useSuspenseQuery hook returns the data, loading, and error states, which we can use to handle the different fetch states in our component.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we explored how to integrate Apollo Client with Next.js 13 to simplify data fetching and state management in your Next.js applications. We learned how to set up Apollo Client in server components and client components, and how to fetch data using the useSuspenseQuery hook.

By utilizing the power of Apollo Client and Next.js together, you can take advantage of the benefits of GraphQL for data fetching and state management, while leveraging the capabilities of Next.js for server-side rendering and performance optimization.

Give it a try in your Next.js projects and experience the joy of simplified data fetching and state management with Apollo Client and Next.js!

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Tags: Apollo Client, Next.js, GraphQL, Data Fetching, State Management

[Reference Link](!https://www.apollographql.com/blog/announcement/frontend/using-apollo-client-with-next-js-13-releasing-an-official-library-to-support-the-app-router/)