Debugging GraphQL with Altair

GraphQL offers clients the ability to selectively request data, enhancing API evolution over time, with Altair serving as a powerful GraphQL API client for exploring and debugging APIs, akin to Postman for REST. Altair provides an intuitive interface and an inbuilt debugger to facilitate the debugging process, allowing developers to manipulate inputs and inspect data to understand request-response dynamics, particularly useful for addressing common errors such as 401 Unauthorized, 403 Forbidden, 404 Not Found, and 400 Bad Request. The tool leverages the Chromium developer tools to offer features like a console for logging statements and a network tab for inspecting calls, although it focuses on client-side debugging since server-side GraphQL logic runs on the server and requires other tools like VSCode for debugging. The article emphasizes the importance of using Altair for debugging GraphQL APIs and suggests using LogRocket for monitoring GraphQL requests in production to ensure successful network interactions by capturing logs, errors, and requests, thereby enhancing understanding of user experiences and identifying the root causes of issues.