Grafbase

Grafbase – The High‑Performance GraphQL Federation Platform

Grafbase tackles the complexity of unifying disparate data services into a single, fast, and secure GraphQL endpoint. In modern architectures where microservices, legacy databases, third‑party APIs, and event streams coexist, developers often face a fragmented API surface that hampers agility and performance. Grafbase solves this by acting as a federation gateway: it aggregates multiple subgraphs, REST endpoints, gRPC services, and databases into one coherent schema while preserving the original data sources. This eliminates the need for custom stitching code, reduces latency, and simplifies versioning.

At its core, Grafbase is built in Rust, giving it a 40 % performance advantage over many JavaScript‑based gateways. The engine delivers low latency and modest memory usage, which is critical for mission‑critical applications that must scale under heavy load. The gateway also supports Apollo Federation v2 natively, including the upcoming Composite Schemas spec, ensuring seamless integration with existing GraphQL tooling. Extensibility is achieved through WebAssembly modules that let teams inject custom authentication, authorization, request transformations, or even new data protocols without touching the gateway core.

Grafbase’s MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration is a standout feature. By exposing the federated GraphQL API as an MCP server, AI assistants can query and manipulate data across all integrated sources in a single request. This opens up powerful use cases such as real‑time data retrieval for conversational agents, automated reporting, or dynamic content generation that requires consistent state across multiple services. Developers can configure MCP support with minimal changes, making the platform AI‑native from day one.

Security and governance are baked into every layer. The Grafbase Dashboard provides fine‑grained schema checks, authorization rules, and rate limiting controls. SOC 2 Type II compliance and support for air‑gapped deployments give enterprises confidence in production environments. The platform’s branch‑aware development environment and schema proposal workflow enable safe experimentation without risking breaking changes in production.

Overall, Grafbase empowers teams to ship faster by reducing API surface complexity, delivering high performance, and enabling AI‑centric workflows. Whether you’re building a SaaS platform that needs to expose hundreds of services, or an internal data hub that must remain compliant and secure, Grafbase offers a robust, extensible gateway that scales with your needs.