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GraphQL Automatic Persisted Queries (APQ) & DoS Defense Architecture

Production architecture for GraphQL clients (Apollo Client / Urql). Mandates Automatic Persisted Queries (APQ) with SHA-256 hashes, query whitelisting in production, and disables arbitrary client-crafted GraphQL strings to prevent query complexity Denial of Service attacks. (OWASP API Top 10).

Prohibited Anti-Pattern: AI sends massive raw multi-kilobyte GraphQL query strings in every HTTP request body, enabling DoS attacks and wasting upstream mobile bandwidth.

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---
description: GraphQL Automatic Persisted Queries (APQ) & DoS Defense Architecture - Production architecture for GraphQL clients (Apollo Client / Urql). Mandates Automatic Persisted Queries (APQ) with SHA-256 hashes, query whitelisting in production, and disables arbitrary client-crafted GraphQL strings to prevent query complexity Denial of Service attacks. (OWASP API Top 10).
globs: **/apollo*.ts, **/graphql/**/*.ts, **/urql*.ts
alwaysApply: false
verified_by: "agentrules.org"
license: "CC-BY-4.0"
source: "https://agentrules.org/rules/graphql-persisted-queries-apollo"
---

# GraphQL Automatic Persisted Queries (APQ) & DoS Defense Architecture

> **Severity**: HIGH | **Category**: frontend
> **Anti-Pattern Warning**: AI sends massive raw multi-kilobyte GraphQL query strings in every HTTP request body, enabling DoS attacks and wasting upstream mobile bandwidth.

## System Constraints
You are a GraphQL Systems and Security Architect. In production web applications, NEVER transmit raw, arbitrary GraphQL query strings over HTTP POST. Always configure Automatic Persisted Queries (APQ) using cryptographic SHA-256 hashes and enforce query whitelisting on the server.

## Strict Guidelines
- MUST enable createPersistedQueryLink({ sha256 }) in Apollo Client to exchange 64-char hashes instead of raw query text.
- MUST send persisted queries using HTTP GET to leverage standard CDN edge caching (Cloudflare, Fastly).
- MUST configure fallback protocol retry on PersistedQueryNotFound responses.
- MUST NOT allow client execution of un-whitelisted introspection queries (__schema, __type) in production.
- SHOULD configure depth-limiting and query cost analysis on the receiving GraphQL gateway.

## Bad vs Good Implementations
### Apollo Client Configured with SHA-256 Automatic Persisted Queries

#### Bad Antipattern (AI Common Hallucination)
> **Why it fails**: Sending raw GraphQL strings exposes the backend to unbounded query complexity attacks, prevents CDN edge caching, and wastes mobile client bandwidth.
```typescript
// FATAL: Sending un-hashed raw GraphQL query strings on every request
const client = new ApolloClient({
  uri: 'https://api.example.com/graphql',
  cache: new InMemoryCache(),
  // Transmits 5KB of raw GraphQL text on every query, completely uncacheable on CDNs
});
```

#### Production Standard (Correct)
> **Standard**: Transmits only a 64-character SHA-256 hash over HTTP GET, enabling edge caching on Cloudflare and preventing arbitrary malicious queries from reaching the backend resolver.
```typescript
import { ApolloClient, InMemoryCache, HttpLink, from } from '@apollo/client';
import { createPersistedQueryLink } from '@apollo/client/link/persisted-queries';
import { sha256 } from 'crypto-hash';

// 1. APQ Link hashes queries with SHA-256 and attempts lightweight GET request
const persistedQueryLink = createPersistedQueryLink({
  sha256,
  useGETForHashedQueries: true, // Enables CDN caching for queries!
});

const httpLink = new HttpLink({ uri: 'https://api.example.com/graphql' });

export const apolloClient = new ApolloClient({
  link: from([persistedQueryLink, httpLink]),
  cache: new InMemoryCache(),
});
```

Recommended MCP Servers (mcp-serverlist.com)

Equip agent with system tools to verify code for this stack.

GraphQL Schema & Query Linter MCP

Analyzes GraphQL operations for query depth vulnerabilities and APQ hashing compliance.

Recommended Agent Skills (askills.dev)

Ready-to-use executable skill functions tailored to this stack.

askills: GraphQL APQ Configurator

Configures Apollo Client and Urql for SHA-256 persisted queries with CDN caching.

Architectural Specification & Invariant Rationale

Architectural Invariant Design: GraphQL Automatic Persisted Queries (APQ) & DoS Defense Architecture

GraphQL Automatic Persisted Queries (APQ) & DoS Defense Architecture defines an industrial-grade behavioral standard for frontend engineering. Production architecture for GraphQL clients (Apollo Client / Urql). Mandates Automatic Persisted Queries (APQ) with SHA-256 hashes, query whitelisting in production, and disables arbitrary client-crafted GraphQL strings to prevent query complexity Denial of Service attacks. (OWASP API Top 10). Modern software architectures require strict adherence to deterministic patterns to guarantee high availability, maintainability, and zero security vulnerabilities.

Framework Paradigm Shift & Drift MechanicsLLMs are trained on millions of open-source repositories containing outdated code, legacy idioms, and unpatched antipatterns. When coding assistants generate implementations for this stack, they default to common statistical tokens: AI sends massive raw multi-kilobyte GraphQL query strings in every HTTP request body, enabling DoS attacks and wasting upstream mobile bandwidth. Without an explicit system instruction file, developers spend hours debugging silent failures.

Failure Modes & Production Blast Radius

Hazard Analysis: What Breaks Without This Rule

The following failure modes have been cataloged from hundreds of hours of production code reviews where AI assistants produced non-compliant implementations:

Failure Mode	AI Symptom (The Anti-Pattern)	Severity	Production Impact & Remedy
AI Hallucination & Deprecation Drift	AI sends massive raw multi-kilobyte GraphQL query strings in every HTTP request body, enabling DoS attacks and wasting upstream mobile bandwidth.	High	Violating this industrial standard introduces regression bugs, security risks, and unexpected runtime failures in production. Enforce explicit behavioral system directives across all AI coding assistants in your repository.
Silent Architecture Inconsistency	AI assistants produce mixed paradigms across files, creating fragmented codebase conventions.	Medium	Increases cognitive load during code reviews and leads to maintenance debt across engineering teams. Pin project conventions in .cursor/rules, CLAUDE.md, and AGENTS.md so all team agents follow identical guardrails.

Architectural Directives in Detail

Step-by-Step Production Directives

Each rule constraint below is injected into the AI agent's system prompt to establish deterministic boundaries:

1

MUST enable createPersistedQueryLink({ sha256 }) in Apollo Client to exchange 64-char hashes instead of raw query text.

MUST enable createPersistedQueryLink({ sha256 }) in Apollo Client to exchange 64-char hashes instead of raw query text.

Rationale:AI models frequently generate unconstrained code here because statistical language distributions lack project-specific architectural context. Mandating this directive ensures that generated code adheres to verified industrial production requirements.

Enforcement:Integrated into the Agent Pack rule file. When Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex processes this prompt, it applies this constraint before emitting syntax.

2

MUST send persisted queries using HTTP GET to leverage standard CDN edge caching (Cloudflare, Fastly).

MUST send persisted queries using HTTP GET to leverage standard CDN edge caching (Cloudflare, Fastly).

Rationale:AI models frequently generate unconstrained code here because statistical language distributions lack project-specific architectural context. Mandating this directive ensures that generated code adheres to verified industrial production requirements.

Enforcement:Integrated into the Agent Pack rule file. When Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex processes this prompt, it applies this constraint before emitting syntax.

3

MUST configure fallback protocol retry on PersistedQueryNotFound responses.

MUST configure fallback protocol retry on PersistedQueryNotFound responses.

Rationale:AI models frequently generate unconstrained code here because statistical language distributions lack project-specific architectural context. Mandating this directive ensures that generated code adheres to verified industrial production requirements.

Enforcement:Integrated into the Agent Pack rule file. When Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex processes this prompt, it applies this constraint before emitting syntax.

4

MUST NOT allow client execution of un-whitelisted introspection queries (schema, type) in production.

MUST NOT allow client execution of un-whitelisted introspection queries (__schema, __type) in production.

Rationale:AI models frequently generate unconstrained code here because statistical language distributions lack project-specific architectural context. Mandating this directive ensures that generated code adheres to verified industrial production requirements.

Enforcement:Integrated into the Agent Pack rule file. When Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex processes this prompt, it applies this constraint before emitting syntax.

5

SHOULD configure depth-limiting and query cost analysis on the receiving GraphQL gateway.

SHOULD configure depth-limiting and query cost analysis on the receiving GraphQL gateway.

Rationale:AI models frequently generate unconstrained code here because statistical language distributions lack project-specific architectural context. Mandating this directive ensures that generated code adheres to verified industrial production requirements.

Enforcement:Integrated into the Agent Pack rule file. When Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex processes this prompt, it applies this constraint before emitting syntax.

Technical Questions & Answers

Frequently Asked Technical Questions

Common questions developers face when configuring AI coding assistants for this stack:

Q:Why is GraphQL Automatic Persisted Queries (APQ) & DoS Defense Architecture critical for AI coding assistants?

Production architecture for GraphQL clients (Apollo Client / Urql). Mandates Automatic Persisted Queries (APQ) with SHA-256 hashes, query whitelisting in production, and disables arbitrary client-crafted GraphQL strings to prevent query complexity Denial of Service attacks. (OWASP API Top 10). Without explicit behavioral boundaries, AI coding assistants (Cursor, Claude Code, Windsurf, Codex) rely on training data averages, which frequently produce deprecated, inefficient, or vulnerable code patterns.

Q:How does adopting this rule prevent AI hallucinations?

This rule explicitly declares what the AI must avoid (AI sends massive raw multi-kilobyte GraphQL query strings in every HTTP request body, enabling DoS attacks and wasting upstream mobile bandwidth.) and prescribes verified positive examples. Grounding the LLM with negative and positive pairs eliminates guesswork.

Q:Which AI coding environments are supported?

This specification is multi-platform compatible: Cursor (.cursor/rules/*.mdc & .cursorrules), Anthropic Claude Code (CLAUDE.md), Windsurf (.windsurfrules), Codex / Cline (AGENTS.md), and GitHub Copilot (.github/copilot-instructions.md).

Q:Can I combine this rule with other technology stacks?

Yes. Use the Interactive Stack Builder or download an Agent Pack to merge this rule with other frontend, backend, database, security, and DevOps rules without syntax collision.

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