PHP GraphQL Integration

TL;DR: Run the snippet below in under 60 seconds. Replace <API_KEY> with your API secret. You'll get JSON back with your data.

Run this now (60 seconds)

No Composer or SDK required. Copy, paste, run:

<?php
$endpoint = "https://api.apito.io/secured/graphql";
$query = '{"query":"{ todos { id title status } }"}';
$ch = curl_init($endpoint);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, 1);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $query);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, [
    'Content-Type: application/json',
    'Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>'
]);
$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
echo $response;

Expected output: JSON with a todos array. Example:

{
  "data": {
    "todos": [
      { "id": "1", "title": "My first task", "status": "INPROGRESS" }
    ]
  }
}

:::info Schema note: If your project uses a different model (e.g. movies instead of todos), change the query to match. See your API Explorer for available types. :::

---

Prerequisites

Before you start:

• PHP 8+ — Check with php -v
• Composer — For the SDK example below: composer --version
• Apito API key — Get your API secret
• Basic GraphQL — 1-min primer (optional)

---

Quick Start with Composer SDK

Install the PHP GraphQL client:

composer require gmostafa/php-graphql-client

Create a client and run a query:

<?php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use GraphQL\Client;
use GraphQL\Query;

$client = new Client(
    'https://api.apito.io/secured/graphql',
    ['Authorization' => 'Bearer <API_KEY>']
);

$gql = (new Query('todos'))
    ->setSelectionSet(['id', 'title', 'status']);

$results = $client->runQuery($gql);
$data = $results->getData();

print_r($data->todos);

Expected output: Array of todo objects.

---

Full Setup

Client construction

The client needs your GraphQL endpoint and auth header:

$client = new Client(
    'https://api.apito.io/secured/graphql',
    ['Authorization' => 'Bearer <API_KEY>']
);

:::tip Replace <API_KEY> with your API secret from Settings > API Secrets in the Apito console. See Getting API Secrets. :::

Custom HTTP options

You can pass Guzzle request options as a third argument:

$client = new Client(
    'https://api.apito.io/secured/graphql',
    [],
    [
        'connect_timeout' => 5,
        'timeout' => 5,
        'headers' => [
            'Authorization' => 'Bearer <API_KEY>',
            'User-Agent' => 'my-app/1.0',
        ],
    ]
);

Custom HTTP client (PSR-18)

Use your own HTTP client:

$client = new Client(
    'https://api.apito.io/secured/graphql',
    [],
    [],
    $myHttpClient
);

---

Running Queries

Raw string queries

$gql = <<<QUERY
query {
    todos {
        id
        title
        status
    }
}
QUERY;

$results = $client->runRawQuery($gql);
$data = $results->getData();

Result format

Object structure (default):

$results = $client->runQuery($gql);
$results->getData()->todos[0]->title;

Array structure:

$results = $client->runQuery($gql, true);
$results->getData()['todos'][0]['title'];

Variables

use GraphQL\Variable;

$gql = (new Query('todos'))
    ->setVariables([
        new Variable('status', 'String', false, 'INPROGRESS'),
        new Variable('limit', 'Int', false, 10)
    ])
    ->setArguments(['status' => '$status', 'first' => '$limit'])
    ->setSelectionSet(['id', 'title', 'status']);

$vars = ['status' => 'DONE', 'limit' => 5];
$results = $client->runQuery($gql, true, $vars);

---

Mutations

use GraphQL\Mutation;
use GraphQL\RawObject;

$mutation = (new Mutation('createTodo'))
    ->setArguments([
        'todoObject' => new RawObject('{title: "New task", status: "TODO"}')
    ])
    ->setSelectionSet(['id', 'title', 'status']);

$results = $client->runQuery($mutation);

Mutations with variables

$mutation = (new Mutation('createTodo'))
    ->setVariables([new Variable('todo', 'TodoInputObject', true)])
    ->setArguments(['todoObject' => '$todo']);

$vars = ['todo' => ['title' => 'My task', 'status' => 'TODO']];
$client->runQuery($mutation, true, $vars);

---

Query styles (advanced)

The package supports three ways to build queries:

For OQM and QueryBuilder details, see the official GitHub repo.

---

Troubleshooting

---

FAQ

Do I need Composer?
No. The 60-second example uses plain PHP + cURL. Use Composer only if you want the SDK.

Which auth format?
Use Bearer <API_KEY>. Get the key from Apito Console > Settings > API Secrets.

Can I use a different query?
Yes. Replace todos with your model name (e.g. movies, users). Check the API Explorer for your schema.

---

Next steps

• Try the live API Explorer — Run queries in the browser
• Sample project — See example/php-graphql-apito-integration in this repo; run with php -S localhost:8000
• Official php-graphql-client — Full docs and advanced usage