Working with Enums

1. Defining Enum Types

enum Role {
  ADMIN
  EDITOR
  VIEWER
}

Rule	Detail
Values	SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE, no quotes
Cannot start	With `true`, `false`, `null`
Stable	Renaming is a breaking change

"""User permission tier."""
enum Role {
  "Full access"
  ADMIN
  "Write content"
  EDITOR
  "Read-only"
  VIEWER
}

const resolvers = {
  Role: { ADMIN: "admin", EDITOR: "edit", VIEWER: "ro" }
};

Pattern	Use
SDL ↔ DB	Map GraphQL values to DB strings/ints
SDL ↔ TS enum	Codegen produces matching TS enum

enum Role {
  ADMIN
  EDITOR
  VIEWER
  GUEST @deprecated(reason: "Use VIEWER instead")
}

Rule	Detail
Still queryable	Existing clients keep working
Hidden in tools	GraphiQL etc. hide deprecated by default

type Query {
  orders(status: OrderStatus = PENDING): [Order!]!
}

enum OrderStatus {
  PENDING
  PAID
  SHIPPED
  DELIVERED
  CANCELLED
  REFUNDED
}

enum Role { OWNER ADMIN MEMBER GUEST }
enum Permission { READ WRITE DELETE ADMIN }

type User {
  role: Role!
  permissions: [Permission!]!
}

Layer	Behavior
Validation phase	Invalid literal → query rejected before execution
Variables	Coerced from string; unknown value → error
Resolvers	Receive mapped internal value