How to use the GraphQL Expert agent skill (graphql-expert)

What the graphql-expert skill makes the agent do

The skill, named graphql-expert, is a single file called SKILL.md. It describes how to act as a GraphQL backend architect: designing schemas around business concepts, using input types for mutations, and treating the schema as a contract that changes additively.

When you ask for help with a GraphQL API, the agent follows the skill's guidance on schema design, resolvers, real-time subscriptions and performance. The skill names specific patterns, including DataLoader to avoid the N+1 query problem, subscriptions over WebSocket using the graphql-ws protocol, cursor-based pagination following the Relay connection specification, structured error responses with an extensions field, and query complexity and depth limits.

• Schema design: domain-focused types, clear nullability, deprecation before removal
• Performance: DataLoader batching, query complexity and depth limits, persisted queries
• Pagination: Relay-style edges, nodes and pageInfo with hasNextPage and endCursor
• Errors: codes, paths and extensions so clients can handle failures programmatically
• Real-time: WebSocket subscriptions with init, ack, keep-alive and terminate handling

Install the graphql-expert skill

Download the graphql-expert ZIP from the download link on this page. Then choose one of the two installation routes below.

For Claude Code, unzip the archive into a skills folder. Use ~/.claude/skills/ to make the skill available across your projects, or a project's .claude/skills/ folder to limit it to one project. Keep the graphql-expert folder containing SKILL.md intact.

To use the skill in the Claude apps instead, upload the ZIP under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal install: ~/.claude/skills/ (all projects)
• Project install: .claude/skills/ inside the project (that project only)
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP

How to trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need a special command. Describe a GraphQL task in plain language that involves a GraphQL API you are building or reviewing. The skill is meant to apply when you ask for help with schema design, resolvers, subscriptions, pagination, error handling or performance.

Mention the concern directly. Naming the problem, such as slow nested queries or a list that needs paging, helps the agent apply the matching guidance. Include your stack and whether a team or several client apps will use the API, because the skill's advice on schema contracts depends on who consumes it.

• "Design a GraphQL schema for orders, customers and invoices consumed by a web and mobile app."
• "My resolvers for posts and comments run one database query per item. How do I batch them?"
• "Add cursor-based pagination to my products query using the Relay connection format."
• "Review my mutation that creates users and suggest structured error responses."
• "Add a WebSocket subscription for new chat messages with proper connection handling."

Examples of what the skill changes in the output

Without the skill, an agent may write a working resolver that queries the database once per parent item. With the skill, the agent is guided to put DataLoader around data access so calls are batched and cached within one request.

Similarly, a list field may be returned as a plain array. With the skill, the agent is guided toward a Relay connection with edges, nodes and pageInfo, and toward opaque global IDs rather than raw database IDs. The skill also pushes for explicit input validation in resolvers, since the schema alone does not enforce business rules such as maximum lengths.

What the skill needs and its safety notes

The skill lists no requirements. It does not run scripts and does not use the network. It consists only of SKILL.md, which contains guidance text.

Because it is text only, it cannot connect to your GraphQL server, query a database or read your project files. It changes the advice and code the agent writes. Any code the agent produces still needs your review and testing before it reaches production.

• Requires: nothing listed
• Runs scripts: no
• Uses network: no
• Files included: SKILL.md only
• Licence: Apache-2.0

Tips for getting better results

Give the agent real context: your schema or a representative type, the data sources behind the resolvers, and the clients that call the API. The guidance is general, so specifics let the agent apply it accurately.

Ask for the trade-off, not only the code. The skill itself warns that schema federation, persisted queries and batch mutations have costs, so asking why a pattern fits helps you decide.

Verify the output against your own server. Run your test suite and check generated queries for depth and complexity before relying on them.

• State your data sources and the number of client apps
• Ask the agent to explain trade-offs for federation or persisted queries
• Test resolvers and complexity limits in your own environment