# A First Look at PostGraphile with Railway > PostGraphile builds a GraphQL API from a PostgreSQL schema that automatically detects information such as tables, columns, indexes, and relationships - **Collection:** Blog post - **Published:** 2021-07-17 - **Author:** Anthony Campolo - **Canonical URL:** https://ajcwebdev.com/first-look-postgraphile-with-railway/ - **Markdown URL:** https://ajcwebdev.com/first-look-postgraphile-with-railway/index.md - **JSON URL:** https://ajcwebdev.com/first-look-postgraphile-with-railway/index.json --- > ___All of this project's code can be found in the [First Look monorepo](https://github.com/ajcwebdev/a-first-look/tree/main/backend/postgraphile-railway/) on my GitHub.___ ## Introduction PostGraphile builds a GraphQL API from a PostgreSQL schema that automatically detects tables, columns, indexes, relationships, views, types, functions, and comments. It combines PostgreSQL's [role-based grant system](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/user-manag.html) and [row-level security policies](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/ddl-rowsecurity.html) with Graphile Engine's [GraphQL look-ahead](https://build.graphile.org/graphile-build/4/look-ahead/) and [plugin expansion](https://build.graphile.org/graphile-build/4/plugins/) technologies. ## Provision a PostgreSQL database with Railway There are two ways to setup a PostgreSQL database with Railway, through the dashboard or through the CLI. ### Railway Dashboard Click [dev.new](https://railway.com/new) and choose "Provision PostgreSQL" After the database is setup click "PostgreSQL" on the left and then choose "Connect". Copy and paste the PostgreSQL client command. ### Railway CLI First you need to install the [Railway CLI](https://docs.railway.com/cli). ### Check Railway CLI version ```bash wrap=false railway version ``` ``` railway version 0.2.40 ``` ### Login with railway login If you do not have a Railway account you will be prompted to create one. ```bash wrap=false railway login ``` ### Initialize project with railway init Run the following command, select “Empty Project,” and give your project a name. ```bash wrap=false railway init ``` ### Provision PostgreSQL with railway add Run the following command and select PostgreSQL to add a plugin to your Railway project. ```bash wrap=false railway add ``` ### Connect to database ```bash wrap=false railway connect postgresql ``` ``` psql (13.3, server 13.2) SSL connection (protocol: TLSv1.3, cipher: TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384, bits: 256, compression: off) Type "help" for help. railway=# ``` ### Seed database Run the following SQL commands to create a test table with seed data. ```sql CREATE TABLE Post (title text, body text); INSERT INTO Post VALUES ('This is a blog post', 'Wooooooo'); INSERT INTO Post VALUES ('Another blog post', 'Even better than the other!'); ``` ![01 - railway-seed-data](https://ajc.pics/2021/07/17/01-railway-seed-data.webp) ### List tables in database ```bash wrap=false \d ``` ``` List of relations Schema | Name | Type | Owner --------+------+-------+---------- public | post | table | postgres (1 row) ``` ### Describe table ```bash wrap=false \d post ``` ``` Table "public.post" Column | Type | Collation | Nullable | Default --------+------+-----------+----------+--------- title | text | | | body | text | | | ``` ### Quit psql ```bash wrap=false \q ``` ### Copy database connection string to clipboard ```bash wrap=false echo `railway variables get DATABASE_URL` | pbcopy ``` ## Introspect Database with PostGraphile It is easy to install PostGraphile with [npm](https://docs.npmjs.com/getting-started/installing-node/), although the PostGraphile documentation does not recommend installing PostGraphile globally if you want to use plugins. ```bash wrap=false npm install -g postgraphile ``` If you do not globally install you will need to add `npx` the beginning of all `postgraphile` commands in this tutorial. ### Introspect Railway Database ```bash wrap=false railway run postgraphile --watch --enhance-graphiql --dynamic-json --port 5001 ``` Open `localhost:5001/graphiql` and send the following query. ![02 - postgraphile-graphiql](https://ajc.pics/2021/07/17/02-postgraphile-graphiql.webp) ### Test the endpoint ```bash wrap=false curl \ --request POST \ --url "http://localhost:5001/graphql" \ --header "Content-Type: application/json" \ --data '{"query":"{ query { allPosts { totalCount nodes { body title } } } }"}' ``` ```json wrap=false { "data":{ "query":{ "allPosts":{ "totalCount":2, "nodes":[ { "body":"Wooooooo", "title":"This is a blog post" }, { "body":"Even better than the other!", "title":"Another blog post" } ] } } } } ``` ### Connect to endpoint with ngrok [ngrok](https://ngrok.com/) provides an instant, secure URL to your localhost server through any NAT or firewall where you can introspect all HTTP traffic running over your tunnels. ```bash wrap=false ./ngrok http 5001 ``` ``` Session Status online Account Anthony Campolo (Plan: Free) Version 2.3.40 Region United States (us) Web Interface http://127.0.0.1:4040 Forwarding http://363ef1ef5cf3.ngrok.io -> http://localhost:5001 Forwarding https://363ef1ef5cf3.ngrok.io -> http://localhost:5001 Connections ttl opn rt1 rt5 p50 p90 2 0 0.00 0.00 5.11 5.21 ``` Send the same query with your API tool of choice. ![03 - all-posts-query](https://ajc.pics/2021/07/17/03-all-posts-query.webp) ## Discover Related Content - [Deploying Railway Applications with StepZen](https://ajcwebdev.com/videos/greg-schier-deploying-railway-applications/) (Video) - [Querying MongoDB with Prisma and Railway](https://ajcwebdev.com/query-mongodb-with-prisma-and-railway/) - [A First Look at GraphQL Helix](https://ajcwebdev.com/first-look-gql-helix/) - [Deploy a GraphQL Server with Docker and Fly](https://ajcwebdev.com/deploy-gql-docker-container-with-fly/) - [PodRocket on GraphQL 101 with Anthony Campolo](https://ajcwebdev.com/podcasts/podrocket-graphql-101/) (Podcast)