GraphQL as an API Gateway for E-commerce at scale with Tooling

As many companies started using GraphQL in production with different requirements, it is now important that one should know what are the best practices for production environment. Different domain has different use-cases and according to the importance of it, the implementation may vary. We at Tokopedia, #1 Indonesian e-commerce have implemented GraphQL as an API Gateway. The main part is the scale of the Tokopedia in production. Due to the very high scale, we need to tackle a lot of problems and implement various features. This talk is mainly focussing on all of such things like Tooling needed, Observability, features like SingleFlight, Cache, Circuit Breakers, Rate limiters, Error Handling, Security Features, multi-DC/multi-cloud enability. This talk is an overview discussion of all of the above things and how to implement these on a big scale for the E-commerce domain.

Transcript

1. GraphQL as an API-Gateway with Tooling
2. Overview • What is GraphQL • Why GraphQL • About Tokopedia • GraphQL @ Tokopedia • GraphQL journey inside Tokopedia • Tooling and Automation
3. What is GraphQL? • Specification/Blueprint • Query language for your API • A Schema and Type system to define your data • Lets client specify exactly what it needs # A sample query query user{ user { id name } } # A sample response { "data": { "id": 3816220 "name": "Tokopedia" } }
4. Why GraphQL? • Way better than REST for round-trip network calls • Saves you from API versioning hell • Get exactly what you ask
5. About Tokopedia • A technology company founded in 2009 • Mission: Democratize commerce through technology • Vision: Build a Super Ecosystem where anyone can start and discover anything
6. 2009 2014 2015 2017 Raised $1.1B funding led by Alibaba Moved into Tokopedia Tower (52-story building) Became first portfolio company for Softbank and Sequoia in Indonesia Raised $100M funding Pioneered instant delivery with ride-hailing companies Launched iOs app Tokopedia started C2C marketplace business Operated in small SOHO 2018 Best Indonesian App by Google Play User’s Choice 2018 Secured US$ 1.1 billion funding by Softbank Vision Fund & Alibaba Our 10th anniversary! Acquired Bridestory and Parentstory Driving more than 1% of Indonesia’s economy 2019 Our 10 years journey
7. 4,700+ Nakama 90M+ Active users monthly 97%+ Districts reached 7.2M+ Merchants 86.5% First-time entrepreneurs
8. Focus on Consumer Growth Mindset Make It Happen, Make It Better Our DNA
9. Yogesh Desai • Senior Software Engineer @ Tokopedia • Assistant Professor @ PICT • Official Contributor of LibreOffice • Volunteer in SETI@Home in/yogeshbdesai/ @yogeshbdesai
10. GraphQL @ Tokopedia • An API Gateway • Back-End for Frontend • Multi-cloud Web Mobile Payment Logistics Feeds Orders Accounts APPs
11. GraphQL journey inside Tokopedia • Adopted in late 2017 • Apollo with Node JS for few services • Moved to GoLang for scale • First Ramadan Ekstra 2018
15. GraphQL journey inside Tokopedia • HUGE excitement! • Way more traffic than expected! • GraphQL saved the Day! • Disabled Personalizations, Enabled caching, alternate responses at GraphQL • We learned a lot!
16. GraphQL journey inside Tokopedia • GQL Errors • Caching • Circuit Breakers, Rate Limiters • SingleFlight • Envoy as sidecar • Logging, alerts, Dashboards • Security Features • GQL Tools: Tooling and Automation at GraphQL layer
17. GraphQL journey inside Tokopedia • SingleFlight ◦ A duplicate function call suppression mechanism ◦ Module: golang.org/x/sync ◦ Reference Medium Blog by Kale Blankenship • Benefits ◦ No duplicate requests so no extra efforts at backend microservices ◦ Improve overall performance ◦ Save cost across all the back-end microservices
19. Tooling and Automation • GQL Tools ◦ Custom made, Complete End to End automation suit ◦ ResolverGen ◦ ModuleGen ◦ Node to GoLang migrator ◦ Curl to GraphQL schema Gen ◦ Integration test suit • Load tests
22. Huge Success! • Very smooth Event! • Broke all the previous records • All set for Future
23. “We are lucky to live in the internet era, where even the underdog can challenge the status quo and somehow eventually win” William Tanuwijaya
24. We are Hiring! At all levels in Jakarta & India tokopedia.com/about in/yogeshbdesai/ @yogeshbdesai