⚠️ Important note

The example project and Studio organization for this workshop is now unavailable so you will not be able to follow along. This workshop companion is still available for reference purposes.

This workshop companion was designed to be used alongside an instructor for GraphQL Summit 2025. For more information about the Apollo Operator, check out the Apollo Operator documentation.

Overview

Operating a federated graph involves coordinating many moving parts, from subgraph deployments to schema updates, and supergraph composition. While there's some upfront investment in configuring your cluster and resources, the payoff is a streamlined, automated workflow that scales with your team.

In this workshop, you'll learn a new, Kubernetes-native approach to managing your graph infrastructure: one that replaces manual steps with declarative workflows, integrates with CI/CD, and brings graph operations in line with how the rest of your infrastructure is managed.

What you'll do

• Configure declarative Kubernetes-native resources to define and deploy your supergraph
• Trigger schema changes and monitor how updates propagate through composition and deployment
• Upgrade your router with a single config change—no manual rollout needed
• Leave with a working repo and cluster setup you can expand for your team

Who this workshop is for

• Platform engineers looking to provide reusable graph infrastructure with Kubernetes
• Subgraph developers who want to streamline their deployment experience and spend less time on graph ops

Pre-requisites

• A working knowledge of Kubernetes concepts (pods, clusters, deployments, manifests)
• A local Kubernetes cluster set up (using minikube or kind) or access to your own real cluster
• Familiarity with CI/CD (we'll reference Argo CD)

Pre-requisites

You will need:

• A personal GitHub account
• Install Docker or an equivalent tool to run containers
• Install kind to run local Kubernetes clusters using Docker container "nodes"