im·a·cto

$ cat writing/when-the-client-owns-the-shape.md

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take $ 06.27.26 · 08:50

When the client owns the shape

GraphQL isn't an API style. It's a question about who owns the shape of the response. When one graph feeds many surfaces, iOS, Android, web, each asking for exactly the fields it needs, that ownership belongs with the client and the complexity pays for itself. At GigSmart, two apps and a web client hit one graph, and it was worth every bit of the schema. Point it at a single client talking to a single backend and you've bought resolvers and a caching headache to solve a problem you don't have. REST was fine. Earn it.

architecture
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