Debugging GraphQL APIs with Insomnia

GraphQL is a versatile query language for APIs that allows developers to request specific data, facilitating easier API evolution and dev tool integration. While official GraphQL clients like Playground and GraphiQL are available, Insomnia emerges as a robust alternative, supporting RESTful, GraphQL, and gRPC APIs with an intuitive GUI and plugin ecosystem. This article explores debugging GraphQL APIs using Insomnia, requiring familiarity with APIs and the latest versions of Insomnia and Node.js. Debugging is crucial for identifying and fixing errors, and Insomnia aids this process by highlighting errors with red squiggles and providing detailed debugging information. The article demonstrates how to debug various API errors, such as 400 Bad Request, 401 Unauthorized, 403 Forbidden, and 404 Not Found, using a Node.js GraphQL application. For production environments, tools like LogRocket can monitor GraphQL requests, offering features like session replay and error aggregation to ensure reliable performance.