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Apollo Universal Starter Kit is a SEO friendly boilerplate for Universal Mobile and Web app development built on top of Apollo, GraphQL, React 16, React Native, Expo, Redux, Express with SQL storage support, for styling Twitter Bootstrap, NativeBase and Ant Design integration. Hot Code Reload of back end & front end using Webpack and Hot Module Replacement to reflect your changes instantly and help you stay productive.
If deploying for the first time, run this command:
git remote add deploy [email protected]:CHF-R_Comm.git
Your .git/config file should have this section now:
[remote "deploy"]
url = [email protected]:CHF-R_Comm.git
fetch = +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/deploy/*
To push code to production, run git push deploy development
This pushes code to a bare repository on chf.modsquad.io, checks out the development branch, recompiles the code, and restarts the daemon.
Checkout our Mobile App Demo
Branch | Description |
---|---|
stable | The latest stable version of the kit |
single | Single-package Apollo v2 version of the kit |
apollo1 | Apollo v1 version of the kit |
cli-crud | generate CRUD implementations from the command line |
- Clone the latest stable starter kit locally.
git clone -b stable https://github.com/sysgears/apollo-universal-starter-kit.git
cd apollo-universal-starter-kit
- Install dependencies (make sure you have yarn >=
1.0.0
).
yarn
- Seed sample database data.
yarn seed
- Run starter kit in development mode.
For running Android or iOS you need to set in
packages/mobile/.spinrc.js
config.builders.ios.enabled
and/orconfig.builders.android.enabled
fieldtrue
. See Getting Started with React Native section.
yarn watch
- You browser will open the web application automatically with web app in a new tab.
- Change any app code and see the changes applied immediately!
- Open app in multiple tabs, try to increase counter or add a new post/comment in one tab and then switch to another tab. You will see that counter value and post/comment are updated there as well, because the application is live updated via subscriptions.
This starter kit adds full React Native integration, with Webpack as a packager and Expo. No native code compilation tools are needed in order to develop native mobile applications with this kit. You are able to run both web and mobile versions of your app at the same time connected to the same backend.
For running Android or iOS you need to set in packages/mobile/.spinrc.js
config.builders.ios.enabled
and/or config.builders.android.enabled
field true
.
Make sure to enable eslint
and tslint
integration in your Editor or IDE this will save you from many little and big traps when working with the code.
You need to install Expo app on your Android or iOS device and then you can scan the QR shown in the terminal, to start the app on your device.
Download and install Android Studio and configure virtual phone via Tools -> Android -> AVD Manager
. Choose Lollipop
x86_64 API for your Phone, it is the lowest x86_64 API (because it is x86_64 emulator will work really fast). Make sure
that you add ~/Android/Sdk/platform-tools
folder that has adb
added into PATH
environment variable, so that Expo
inside this kit used adb
instance from Android SDK
.
Then launch your virtual phone and launch starter kit after that via yarn watch
. After starting, Expo app should start
on it's own.
You can also use Genymotion. After downloading and installing you might need to install VirtualBox unless you already have it. Create a new emulator and start it. After starting the server Expo app should start on it's own. To bring up the developer menu press ⌘+M.
You need to install Xcode. Then install Command Line Tools by running xcode-select --install
. Next, open up Xcode,
go to preferences and click the Components tab, install a simulator from the list. After the installation if you run the
server, simulator should start on it's own and open the app in Expo. To bring up the developer menu press ⌘+D.
Note: If iOS simulator fail to start expo client or the app: Try to reset the simulator in Hardware -> Erase all content and settings
and restart the application.
- Gitter channel - questions, answers, general discussions
- GitHub issues - submit issues, send feature requests
- Wiki - community driven effort to document all the usage scenarios of the starter kit, editable by anyone
- FAQ - frequently asked questions wiki page
SysGears team provides advanced support for commercial partners. A commercial partner will have a premium access to our team whether this is to help you with your code based on this starter kit or related technologies used in the kit. Contact us using Skype or via email: [email protected]
This starter kit is designed so you can use it for just web, mobile or projects using both together. In case you do not
want to use mobile, just set both builders.ios.enabled
or builders.android.enabled
settings in .spinrc.js
to false
.
To cover differences between platforms you can use platform-specific files.
MyComponent.web.jsx
MyComponent.android.jsx
MyComponent.ios.jsx
In case you only want to use it for web
and do not intend to later add mobile
version, you can omit .web.jsx
extension and just use MyComponent.jsx
. Same applies if you just wish to use it for mobile
.
Currently counter
example is implemented to support web and mobile version. If you want to try running
CounterView.jsx
as universal
component, just delete or rename CounterView.web.jsx
and you can see how the same
component can be used for both web and mobile.
The starter kit supports both modules written in ES6 JavaScript and TypeScript. You can have a mix - some modules or even parts of modules written in ES6 and some in TypeScript.
When writting TypeScript modules you can face some pitfalls. The general discussion about TypeScript pitfalls will be handled here. The recipes from discussion will be mirrored into this section of documentation.
Known pitfalls:
- TypeScript has limited support for the code using custom extensions. All the code targeted for web platform should have extension
somefile.ts
, because of that, notsomefile.web.ts
, so that the TS compiler can find it. And if the same file has different implementation for mobile platforms, it should have extensionsomefile.native.ts
. In JavaScript code when you importsomefile
you never include per-platform extension, i.e. you never importsomefile.native
, because extension is determined at compile time automatically for you. With TypeScript the situation is different,somefile
andsomefile.naitve.ts
might export different interfaces and in this case you will have to importsomefile.native
. locales/index.js
must be kept in JavaScript for now, if you rename it to have.ts
extension you will run into incompatibilities between@alienfast/i18next-loader
and TypeScript compiler. This can be fixed by making changes to@alienfast/i18next-loader
.- When using stateless JSX component written in JavaScript from within TypeScript code you can get error
TS2322
- missing key, despite the fact that key in question is declared optional. The known workaround for now is to convert this component to stateful JSX component. tslint
complains that the module is missing, though it is present inpeerDependencies
.tslint
checksdependencies
and eitherpeerDependencies
ordevDependencies
, not both, hence we face this problem. We have configuredtslint
to look intodependencies
,devDependencies
andoptionalDependencies
, this is the best that can be reached at the moment. Hence you can work around this issue by switching from usingpeerDependencies
inpackage.json
tooptionalDependencies
, this way botheslint
andtslint
find all needed modules.
Currently we do not yet support persisted queries. This can be used in this starter kit currently only for web, but it is planed in the future.
Get latest Docker and Docker Compose: https://www.docker.com/ https://docs.docker.com/compose/
To run starter kit in development mode with hot code reload execute:
docker-compose up
, then open URL http://localhost:3000
in web browser or open URL exp://localhost:19001
in Expo Client Explore
section (tap magnifier, enter URL, then tap it below). In case if you want to open the app on the phone use LAN IP of
your development machine instead of localhost
in Expo Client (QR code scanning will not work, because QR code will
have address of Docker container).
To run starter kit in production mode execute:
docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up
, then open URL http://localhost:3000
in web browser.
This starter kit supplies boilerplate code for multiple platforms:
- Node.js backend
- Web frontend
- Android frontend
- iOS frontend
If you don't need some of these platforms you can turn off building their code in .spinrc.js
as well as edit other build properties described below:
Option | Description |
---|---|
buildDir | output directory for build files |
dllBuildDir | output directory for Webpack DLL files used to speed up incremental builds |
webpackDevPort | the local port used for Webpack Dev Server process to host web frontend files |
__API_URL__ | URL to GraphQL backend endpoint |
__WEBSITE_URL__ | URL to website |
ssr | Use server side rendering in backend |
webpackDll | Utilize Webpack DLLs to speed up incremental builds |
frontendRefreshOnBackendChange | Trigger web frontend refresh when backend code changes |
reactHotLoader | Utilize React Hot Loader v3 |
persistGraphQL | Generate and use persistent GraphQL queries |
There are also application config options available in config/app.js
to aid with debugging GraphQL and SQL:
Option | Description |
---|---|
debugSQL | Print executed by backend SQL commands |
apolloLogging | Log all Apollo GraphQL operations |
This starter kit encourages modular design of application features. Each feature should be designed as a decoupled module, deleting feature should ideally not break the remaining application. Basic feature module scaffolding is provided with the following command:
yarn cli addmodule <moduleName>
This will create all the necessary files to start developing on a new feature module. It creates client
and server
module. If you would like to only add one or the other, add a second parameter like:
yarn cli addmodule <moduleName> [client|server]
If you wish to remove an existing module, do so with:
yarn cli deletemodule <moduleName>
Again you can specify client
or server
as a second parameter, if you only wish to delete one or the other.
This way you can easily delete existing examples, like counter
, post
or user
. Do keep in mind that you need at
least one module linked on the server side. So deleting both, before creating any new ones first, will result in
TypeError: Cannot read property 'schema' of undefined
on the server side.
Run the following command to see the CLI help:
yarn cli
-
Full LOGIN funcionality in user example with JWT tokens stored in
localStorage
andcookies
-
Stripe Payment Processor integration as a starting point for apps that use user subscriptions. Check subscription module documentation for details.
-
GraphQL API
GraphQL is used as very flexible and much faster API in terms of bandwidth and round-trips, compared to REST. GraphQL requests are batched together automatically by Apollo
-
GraphQL subscriptions example
Full CRUD functionality with Counter updating and Subscriptions in Posts and Comments example, with ReduxForm
-
GraphQL Cursor Pagination Example of Relay-style cursor pagination
-
Dataloader for loading comments in post example
-
Declarative/dynamic
head
section, using React Helmet -
Google Analytics integration using React GA
-
Webpack for back end
This starter kit is different from most of the starter kits out there, because it uses Webpack not only for front end, but for back-end code as well. This enables powerful Webpack features for back-end code, such as conditional compilation, embedding non-js files and CSS stylesheets into the code, hot code reload, etc.
-
Webpack and Expo for mobile front-end
For the best code sharing support between back-end, web front-end and mobile front-end the Webpack is used to build React Native JavaScript bundles with the help of using Haul project parts. Resulting React Native JavaScript bundles use Expo, so no native code compilation tools are needed in order to develop native mobile applications with this kit.
-
Hot Code Reload for back end and front end
Hot Code Reload for back end is done using Webpack. When Webpack prepares hot patches on the filesystem, SIGUSR2 signal is sent to Node.js app and embedded Webpack Hot Module Runtime reacts to this signal and applies patches to running modules from filesystem. Hot code reload for front end is using Webpack Dev Server and Hot Module Replacement to apply patches to front-end code. Hot patches for React components are applied on the front end and back end at the same time, so React should not complain about differences in client and server code.
-
Webpack DLL vendor bundle generation and updating out of the box
For all the non-development dependencies of project
package.json
the Webpack vendor DLL bundle is generated and updated automatically, so that Webpack didn't process vendor libraries on each change to the project, but only when they are actually changed. This boosts speed of cold project start in development mode and speed of hot code reload even if the number of dependencies is huge. -
Server Side Rendering with Apollo Redux Store sync
On the initial web page request back end fully renders UI and hands off Apollo Redux Store state to front end. Frontend then starts off from there and updates itself on user interactions.
If you don't need Server Side Rendering, set
ssr
key value tofalse
inpackages/client/.spinrc.js
andpackages/server/.spinrc.js
-
Optimistic UI updates
This example application uses Apollo optimistic UI updates, that result in immediate UI update on user interaction and then, after data arrives from the server, UI state is finalized.
-
SQL and arbitrary data sources support
Knex code to access SQLite is included as an example of using arbitrary data source with Apollo and GraphQL. NoSQL storage or any other data source can be used the same way.
Debug SQL Prints out execuded queries, with respective times in development mode and can be set in
config/app.js
bydebugSQL
fieldtrue
-
Powerful stylesheets with Hot Reloading
Twitter Bootstrap in form of SASS stylesheets is used for styling demo application. Application has stylesheet in
styles.scss
for global styling which is Hot Reloaded on change. React components styling is done by Styled Components.If you would like to use a different styling than Twitter Bootstrap, UI components are structured in a way to make it easy to use something else. We already prepared Ant Design integation. To switch the UI all you need to do is rename the import in
packages/client/src/modules/common/components/web/index.jsx
.NativeBase for mobile styling, with an option to use Ant Design Mobile. To switch, just change the export in
packages/client/src/modules/common/components/native/index.jsx
. -
Babel for ES2017 transpiling
-
ESLint to enforce proper code style
-
React Hot Loader v3 for the sake of completeness this project also supports
React Hot Loader v3
, but it is turned off. By default this starter kit uses pureWebpack HMR
for all hot reloading purposes and we think it covers all practical needs during development and usingReact Hot Loader v3
in addition toWebpack HMR
makes hot reloading less predictable and buggy. To turnReact Hot Loader v3
on: setreactHotLoader
field of.spinrc.js
totrue
. -
PersistGraphQL Webpack Plugin is a tool to gather static GraphQL queries for GraphQL projects and inject them into build. It will make front end and back end aware of static queries used in the project and will only allow these queries for better security and less bandwidth.
-
TypeScript support. This kit supports both ES6 and TypeScript out of the box.
-
Internationalization with i18next
The project structure presented in this boilerplate is fractal, where functionality is grouped primarily by feature rather than file type. This structure is only meant to serve as a guide, it is by no means prescriptive. That said, it aims to represent generally accepted guidelines and patterns for building scalable applications.
.
├── packages # Yarn packages with application source code
│ ├── client # Front-end Yarn package
│ | └── src
│ │ ├── app # Common front-end application code
│ │ ├── modules # Front-end feature-modules, each module has:
│ │ │ # (components, containers, GraphQL queries, redux reducers)
│ │ ├── styles # Application-wide styles
│ │ ├── testHelpers # Test helper for front-end integration tests
│ │ └── index.tsx # Entry point to web front-end with hot code reload
│ ├── common # Yarn package with Common code, redux store and logging
│ ├── mobile # Mobile front-end Yarn package
│ | └── src
│ │ └── index.ts # Entry point to mobile front-end with live code reload
│ └── server # Back-end Yarn package
│ | └── src
│ │ ├── api # GraphQL API implementation
│ │ ├── database # Database migrations and seeds
│ │ │ └── migrations # Database migration scripts using Knex
│ │ │ └── seeds # Database seed scripts using Knex
│ │ ├── middleware # Graphiql, GraphQL express and SSR rendering
│ │ ├── modules # Back-end server feature-modules, each module has:
│ │ │ # (schema definition, resolvers, sql queries)
│ │ ├── sql # Knex connector
│ │ ├── testHelpers # Test helper for back-end integration tests
│ │ ├── server.js # GraphQL api server set up
│ │ └── index.ts # Entry point to back-end with hot code reload
└── tools # All build and cli related files
While developing, you will probably rely mostly on yarn watch
; however, there are additional scripts at your disposal:
yarn <script> |
Description |
---|---|
watch |
Run your app in development mode and watch your changes. Hot code reload will be enabled in development. |
start |
Run your app in production mode. |
build |
Compiles the application to the build folder. |
tests |
Runs unit tests with Mocha. |
tests:watch |
Runs unit tests with Mocha and watches for changes automatically to re-run tests. |
test |
Runs unit tests with Mocha and check for lint errors |
lint |
Check for lint errors and runs for all .js and .jsx files. |
seed |
Seed sample database using SQLite. Use --prod flag to run in "production" mode. |
migrate |
Migrate the sample database |
rollback |
Rollback the sample database to previous state. |
cli |
CLI tool, currently used for modules scaffolding only. |
- Clone the latest stable starter kit locally.
git clone -b stable https://github.com/sysgears/apollo-universal-starter-kit.git
cd apollo-universal-starter-kit
- Install dependencies.
yarn
- Seed production database data.
NODE_ENV=production yarn seed
- Compile project.
yarn build
- Run project in production mode.
yarn start
- Compile project for production via
yarn build
- Run
yarn exp publish
to publish, the URL like:https://exp.host/@vlasenko/apollo-universal-starter-kit
where your users can access mobile app from Expo Client will be printed in terminal.
- Compile project for production via
yarn build
- Run
yarn exp ba
to launch building signed.apk
oryarn exp bi
for signed.iap
. - Run
yarn exp bs
to get status and links for signed standalone mobile applications when build finishes. For more details refer to Expo Build standalone apps documentation, but useyarn exp ..
instead ofexp ...
command.
Deploying to Heroku
- Add your app to Heroku
- Allow Heroku to install build time dependencies from the devDependencies in
package.json
:Settings -> Config Variables -> Add
, KEY:YARN_PRODUCTION
, VALUE:false
. - Add
EXP_USERNAME
andEXP_PASSWORD
config variables there as well. They will be used to publish mobile Expo Client applications - Deploy your app on Heroku
You can see latest version of this app deployed to Heroku here: https://apollo-universal-starter-kit.herokuapp.com
Thanks goes to all the wonderful people who already contributed to Apollo Universal Starter Kit!
Thank you to all our backers! 🙏 [Become a backer]
Support this project by becoming a sponsor. Your logo will show up here with a link to your website. [Become a sponsor]
Copyright © 2016, 2017 SysGears INC. This source code is licensed under the MIT license.