Apollo Federation Changelog
Understand changes between Apollo Federation versions
This article describes notable changes and additions introduced in each minor version release of Apollo Federation. Most of these changes involve additions or modifications to federation-specific directives.
For a comprehensive changelog for Apollo Federation and its associated libraries, see GitHub.
To use a feature introduced in a particular federation version, make sure your subgraph schema's
@linkdirective targets that version (or higher):GraphQLextend schema @link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.3", import: ["@key", "@shareable", "@interfaceObject"])The example above must target at least Federation v2.3, because the
@interfaceObjectdirective was introduced in that version.noteBefore you increment a subgraph's federation version, update your router and build pipeline. For details, see Updating your graph safely.If you maintain a subgraph-compatible library, consult this article to stay current with recently added directives. All of these directive definitions are also listed in the subgraph specification.
v2.12
| First release | Available in GraphOS? | Minimum router version |
|---|---|---|
| November 2025 | Yes | 2.8.0 |
Federation v2.12 is a prerequisite for the Connector specification version 0.3. Learn more.
Directive changes
@cacheTag
Introduced. This directive allows you to set cache tags that can be associated with cached entries using response caching. Learn more about how to invalidate specific data in your schema using @cacheTag.
directive @cacheTag(format: String!) repeatable on FIELD_DEFINITION | OBJECTv2.11
| First release | Available in GraphOS? | Minimum router version |
|---|---|---|
| June 2025 | Yes | 2.3.0 |
Federation v2.11 is a prerequisite for the Connector specification version 0.2. Learn more.
v2.10
| First release | Available in GraphOS? | Minimum router version |
|---|---|---|
| February 2025 | Yes | 2.0.0 |
Federation v2.10 is a prerequisite for the Connector specification that introduces the @connect and @source directives.
Learn more.
v2.9
| First release | Available in GraphOS? | Minimum router version |
|---|---|---|
| August 2024 | Yes | 1.53.0 |
Directive changes
@cost
Introduced. Learn more.
directive @cost(weight: Int!) on
| ARGUMENT_DEFINITION
| ENUM
| FIELD_DEFINITION
| INPUT_FIELD_DEFINITION
| OBJECT
| SCALAR;@listSize
Introduced. Learn more.
directive @listSize(
assumedSize: Int
slicingArguments: [String!]
sizedFields: [String!]
requireOneSlicingArgument: Boolean = true
)
on FIELD_DEFINITION;v2.8
| First release | Available in GraphOS? | Minimum router version |
|---|---|---|
| May 2024 | Yes | 1.48.0 |
Directive changes
@context
Introduced. Learn more.
directive @context(name: String!) on OBJECT | INTERFACE | UNION;@fromContext
Introduced. Learn more.
scalar ContextFieldValue;
directive @fromContext(field: ContextFieldValue) on ARGUMENT_DEFINITION;v2.7
| First release | Available in GraphOS? | Minimum router version |
|---|---|---|
| February 2024 | Yes | 1.39.0 |
Directive changes
Progressive @override
Added progressive @override. Learn more.
directive @override(from: String!, label: String) on FIELD_DEFINITIONv2.6
| First release | Available in GraphOS? | Minimum router version |
|---|---|---|
| November 2023 | Yes | 1.35.0 |
Directive changes
@policy
Introduced. Learn more.
directive @policy(policies: [[federation__Policy!]!]!) on
| FIELD_DEFINITION
| OBJECT
| INTERFACE
| SCALAR
| ENUMSubgraph changes
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Policy |
|
v2.5
| First release | Available in GraphOS? | Minimum router version |
|---|---|---|
| July 2023 | Yes | 1.29.1 |
Directive changes
@authenticated
Introduced. Learn more.
directive @authenticated on
FIELD_DEFINITION
| OBJECT
| INTERFACE
| SCALAR
| ENUM@requiresScopes
Introduced. Learn more.
directive @requiresScopes(scopes: [[federation__Scope!]!]!) on
FIELD_DEFINITION
| OBJECT
| INTERFACE
| SCALAR
| ENUMSubgraph changes
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Scope |
|
v2.4
| First release | Available in GraphOS? | Minimum router version |
|---|---|---|
| March 2023 | Yes | 1.13.1 |
Subgraph changes
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Subscriptions |
|
v2.3
| First release | Available in GraphOS? | Minimum router version |
|---|---|---|
| February 2023 | Yes | 1.10.2 |
Directive changes
@interfaceObject
Introduced. Learn more.
directive @interfaceObject on OBJECT@key
Can now be applied to interface definitions to support entity interfaces.
(Previous versions of composition threw an error if @key was applied to an interface definition.)
v2.2
| First release | Available in GraphOS? | Minimum router version |
|---|---|---|
| November 2022 | No | 1.6.0 |
Directive changes
@shareable
Added repeatable to the directive definition.
directive @shareable repeatable on OBJECT | FIELD_DEFINITIONAdditionally, composition now throws an error if @shareable is applied to fields of an interface definition.
v2.1
| First release | Available in GraphOS? | Minimum router version |
|---|---|---|
| August 2022 | Yes | 1.0.0 |
Directive changes
@composeDirective
Introduced. Learn more.
directive @composeDirective(name: String!) repeatable on SCHEMA@requires
The fields argument can now include fields that themselves take arguments. Learn more.
(Functionality added in v2.1.2)
type Product @key(fields: "id") {
id: ID!
weight(units: String): Int! @external
shippingEstimate: Int! @requires(fields: "weight(units: \"KILOGRAMS\")")
}v2.0
| First release | Available in GraphOS? | Minimum router version |
|---|---|---|
| April 2022 | Yes | 1.0.0 |
Directive changes
Subgraph schemas "opt in" to Federation 2 features by applying the @link directive to the schema type, like so:
extend schema
@link(url: "https://specs.apollo.dev/federation/v2.0",
import: ["@key", "@shareable"])The import list of this definition must include each federation-specific directive that the subgraph schema uses. In the example above, the schema uses @key and @shareable.
For details on these directives as defined in Federation 2, see Federation-specific GraphQL directives.
@key
Added optional resolvable argument.
directive @key(
fields: FieldSet!,
resolvable: Boolean = true
) repeatable on OBJECT | INTERFACE@shareable
Introduced.
directive @shareable on OBJECT | FIELD_DEFINITION@inaccessible
Introduced.
directive @inaccessible on
| FIELD_DEFINITION
| OBJECT
| INTERFACE
| UNION
| ARGUMENT_DEFINITION
| SCALAR
| ENUM
| ENUM_VALUE
| INPUT_OBJECT
| INPUT_FIELD_DEFINITION@override
Introduced.
directive @override(from: String!) on FIELD_DEFINITION@link
Introduced.
directive @link(
url: String,
as: String,
for: link__Purpose,
import: [link__Import]
) repeatable on SCHEMA@extends, @external, @provides, @requires, @tag
No changes.
Subgraph changes
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Entities |
|
| Value types |
|
Query and Mutation |
|
v1.1
Directive changes
@tag
Introduced.
directive @tag(name: String!) repeatable on
| FIELD_DEFINITION
| INTERFACE
| OBJECT
| UNIONv1.0
Directive changes
For details on these directives as defined in Federation 1, see the Federation 1 subgraph spec.
@key
Introduced.
directive @key(fields: _FieldSet!) repeatable on OBJECT | INTERFACE@external
Introduced.
directive @external on FIELD_DEFINITION@requires
Introduced.
directive @requires(fields: _FieldSet!) on FIELD_DEFINITION@provides
Introduced.
directive @provides(fields: _FieldSet!) on FIELD_DEFINITION@extends
Introduced.
directive @extends on OBJECT | INTERFACESubgraph changes
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
| Entities |
|
| Value types |
|
Query and Mutation |
|