Enums

Enum types are sets of discrete values. An enum field must return one of the possible values of the enum. In the GraphQL Schema Definition Language (SDL), enums are described like this:

enum MediaCategory {
  AUDIO
  IMAGE
  TEXT
  VIDEO
}

So, a MediaCategory value is one of: AUDIO, IMAGE, TEXT, or VIDEO. This is similar to ActiveRecord enums.

In a GraphQL query, enums are written as identifiers (not strings), for example:

search(term: "puppies", mediaType: IMAGE) { ... }

(Notice that IMAGE doesn’t have quotes.)

But, when GraphQL responses or variables are transported using JSON, enum values are expressed as strings, for example:

# in a graphql controller:
params["variables"]
# { "mediaType" => "IMAGE" }

Defining Enum Types

In your application, enums extend GraphQL::Schema::Enum and define values with the value(...) method:

# First, a base class
# app/graphql/types/base_enum
class Types::BaseEnum < GraphQL::Schema::Enum
end

# app/graphql/types/media_category.rb
class Types::MediaCategory < Types::BaseEnum
  value "AUDIO", "An audio file, such as music or spoken word"
  value "IMAGE", "A still image, such as a photo or graphic"
  value "TEXT", "Written words"
  value "VIDEO", "Motion picture, may have audio"
end

Each value may have:

• A description (as the second argument or description: keyword)
• A deprecation reason (as deprecation_reason:), marking this value as deprecated
• A corresponding Ruby value (as value:), see below

By default, Ruby strings correspond to GraphQL enum values. But, you can provide value: options to specify a different mapping. For example, if you use symbols instead of strings, you can say:

value "AUDIO", value: :audio

Then, GraphQL inputs of AUDIO will be converted to :audio and Ruby values of :audio will be converted to "AUDIO" in GraphQL responses.

Enum classes are never instantiated and their methods are never called.