Federation

Introduction to Federation

# What is graphql federation

Federation is a way to bring together multiple GraphQL schemas into a single schema. This allows for a more modular and scalable approach when building GraphQL services. In the context of IdentityHub, federation can help unify various services and provide a seamless experience for users.

A crucial component of federation is the Gateway. The gateway serves as an intermediary that composes the individual GraphQL schemas from different services into a unified schema. It handles incoming client requests, distributes them to the appropriate services, and then aggregates the results into a single response. With the gateway in place, clients can query the federated schema as if it were a single, unified GraphQL schema, without needing to be aware of the underlying services.

By leveraging federation and the gateway, IdentityHub can efficiently integrate multiple services, reduce redundancy, and offer a cohesive API surface to its users.

From version v9.5.0 on, the IdentityHub serves a federated schema out of the box. That means it can be used as a service for a graphql gateway. If you run a single instance of the IdentityHub there is no difference in usage or functionality.