Configuring utilities for the APPSYNC_JS runtime - AWS AppSync GraphQL
Configuring the eslint plugin

Configuring utilities for the APPSYNC_JS runtime

AWS AppSync provides two libraries that aid in the development of resolvers with the APPSYNC_JS runtime:

  • @aws-appsync/eslint-plugin - Catches and fixes problems quickly during development.

  • @aws-appsync/utils - Provides type validation and autocompletion in code editors.

Configuring the eslint plugin

ESLint is a tool that statically analyzes your code to quickly find problems. You can run ESLint as part of your continuous integration pipeline. @aws-appsync/eslint-plugin is an ESLint plugin that catches invalid syntax in your code when leveraging the APPSYNC_JS runtime. The plugin allows you to quickly get feedback about your code during development without having to push your changes to the cloud.

@aws-appsync/eslint-plugin provides two rule sets that you can use during development.

"plugin:@aws-appsync/base" configures a base set of rules that you can leverage in your project:

Rule Description
no-async Async processes and promises are not supported.
no-await Async processes and promises are not supported.
no-classes Classes are not supported.
no-for for is not supported (except for for-in and for-of, which are supported)
no-continue continue is not supported.
no-generators Generators are not supported.
no-yield yield is not supported.
no-labels Labels are not supported.
no-this this keyword is not supported.
no-try Try/catch structure is not supported.
no-while While loops are not supported.
no-disallowed-unary-operators ++, --, and ~ unary operators are not allowed.
no-disallowed-binary-operators The instanceof operator is not allowed.
no-promise Async processes and promises are not supported.

"plugin:@aws-appsync/recommended" provides some additional rules but also requires you to add TypeScript configurations to your project.

Rule Description
no-recursion Recursive function calls are not allowed.
no-disallowed-methods Some methods are not allowed. See the reference for a full set of supported built-in functions.
no-function-passing Passing functions as function arguments to functions is not allowed.
no-function-reassign Functions cannot be reassigned.
no-function-return Functions cannot be the return value of functions.

To add the plugin to your project, follow the installation and usage steps at Getting Started with ESLint. Then, install the plugin in your project using your project package manager (e.g., npm, yarn, or pnpm):

$ npm install @aws-appsync/eslint-plugin

In your .eslintrc.{js,yml,json} file, add "plugin:@aws-appsync/base" or "plugin:@aws-appsync/recommended" to the extends property. The snippet below is a basic sample .eslintrc configuration for JavaScript: 

{
  "extends": ["plugin:@aws-appsync/base"]
}

To use the "plugin:@aws-appsync/recommended" rule set, install the required dependency:

$ npm install -D @typescript-eslint/parser

Then, create an .eslintrc.js file:

{
  "parser": "@typescript-eslint/parser",
  "parserOptions": {
    "ecmaVersion": 2018,
    "project": "./tsconfig.json"
  },
  "extends": ["plugin:@aws-appsync/recommended"]
}