Apollo GraphQL MCP server for AI agents

Apollo MCP Server is a Model Context Protocol server that exposes GraphQL operations as MCP tools. It provides a standard way for AI models to access and orchestrate your APIs running with Apollo, creating a bridge between your GraphQL services and AI models.

Installation Options

Using Pre-built Binaries or Container

The easiest way to get started with Apollo MCP Server is to follow the installation guide at apollographql.com/docs/apollo-mcp-server/run.

Building from Source

If you have Rust installed, you can build the server from source:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-mcp-server.git
cd apollo-mcp-server

# Build the server
cargo build

# The binary will be available in the target/debug directory

Configuration Requirements

To use Apollo MCP Server, you need to configure the following essential components:

A GraphQL API: The MCP server needs a GraphQL API to sit in front of
GraphQL Operation Definitions: Define which GraphQL operations should be exposed as MCP tools
Configuration File: A file that describes how the MCP server should run
MCP Client Connection: Connect to an MCP client like an LLM or MCP inspector

Basic Setup

Creating a Configuration File

Create a configuration file (e.g., mcp-config.yaml) with your settings:

server:
  port: 8080
  host: 127.0.0.1

graph:
  endpoint: https://your-graphql-api-endpoint.com/graphql

operations:
  - name: getProductDetails
    description: "Retrieve details for a specific product by ID"
    query: |
      query GetProduct($id: ID!) {
        product(id: $id) {
          id
          name
          price
          description
        }
      }

Running the Server

Start the MCP server with your configuration file:

apollo-mcp-server --config mcp-config.yaml

Usage Examples

Connecting to an MCP Client

Once your server is running, you can connect it to an MCP client like the MCP Inspector:

Start the MCP Inspector by following instructions at modelcontextprotocol.io/legacy/tools/inspector
Connect to your running MCP server at http://localhost:8080 (or whatever host/port you configured)

Testing GraphQL Operations

You can test your GraphQL operations through the MCP protocol:

{
  "action": "useTools",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "toolName": "getProductDetails",
      "parameters": {
        "id": "prod-123"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Advanced Configuration

Configuration File Reference

For a complete list of configuration options, refer to the config file reference at apollographql.com/docs/apollo-mcp-server/config-file.

Multiple GraphQL Operations

You can expose multiple GraphQL operations as MCP tools:

operations:
  - name: getProductDetails
    description: "Retrieve details for a specific product by ID"
    query: |
      query GetProduct($id: ID!) {
        product(id: $id) {
          id
          name
          price
        }
      }
  
  - name: createOrder
    description: "Create a new order with specified products"
    query: |
      mutation CreateOrder($products: [OrderItemInput!]!) {
        createOrder(items: $products) {
          orderId
          total
        }
      }

Learn More

For complete documentation and tutorials, visit apollographql.com/docs/apollo-mcp-server/.

To follow a step-by-step quickstart guide, see apollographql.com/docs/apollo-mcp-server/quickstart.

How to install this MCP server

For Claude Code

To add this MCP server to Claude Code, run this command in your terminal:

claude mcp add-json "apollo-mcp-server" '{"command":"npx","args":["-y","apollo-mcp-server"]}'

See the official Claude Code MCP documentation for more details.

For Cursor

There are two ways to add an MCP server to Cursor. The most common way is to add the server globally in the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file so that it is available in all of your projects.

If you only need the server in a single project, you can add it to the project instead by creating or adding it to the .cursor/mcp.json file.

Adding an MCP server to Cursor globally

To add a global MCP server go to Cursor Settings > Tools & Integrations and click "New MCP Server".

When you click that button the ~/.cursor/mcp.json file will be opened and you can add your server like this:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apollo-mcp-server": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "apollo-mcp-server"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Adding an MCP server to a project

To add an MCP server to a project you can create a new .cursor/mcp.json file or add it to the existing one. This will look exactly the same as the global MCP server example above.

How to use the MCP server

Once the server is installed, you might need to head back to Settings > MCP and click the refresh button.

The Cursor agent will then be able to see the available tools the added MCP server has available and will call them when it needs to.

You can also explicitly ask the agent to use the tool by mentioning the tool name and describing what the function does.

For Claude Desktop

To add this MCP server to Claude Desktop:

1. Find your configuration file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add this to your configuration file:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apollo-mcp-server": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "-y",
                "apollo-mcp-server"
            ]
        }
    }
}

3. Restart Claude Desktop for the changes to take effect