Sangria
Sangria is a free, self-hosted Scala implementation of GraphQL for developers building GraphQL servers and endpoints.
What Sangria is
Sangria is a free, self-hosted Scala implementation of GraphQL for developers building GraphQL servers and endpoints. It provides Scala abstractions for defining schemas, types, fields, and resolvers, while macros can derive GraphQL object types from Scala classes and let developers customize the generated definitions. Sangria parses GraphQL queries and includes a macro that can report syntax errors during compilation. Its Executor runs queries against a schema and can receive a user context for shared data or authorization information. Query and schema validation, complexity checks, and schema comparisons support analysis before or during execution. Middleware can assist with performance measurement, metrics collection, and security enforcement at field or query level. Example integrations cover Akka HTTP and Play Framework. JSON support includes Circe, spray-json, Play JSON, Argonaut, json4s, MessagePack, and Amazon Ion. Sangria describes itself as spec compliant and compatible with Apollo, Relay, GraphiQL, and other GraphQL tools. The sangria-relay library supports React Relay.
Good
- Free plan with self-hosted deployment
- Scala schema abstractions and code generation
- Compile-time query syntax error reporting
- Query analysis and schema comparison tools
- Multiple JSON and GraphQL integrations
Watch out
- No explicit security primitives are provided
- Application must handle transport and storage choices
- Self-hosted deployment requires operating the service
Who it suits
It suits Scala developers building GraphQL servers or endpoints inside their own applications. It is also relevant to teams choosing their own transport, data format, and storage layers.
Verdict
Sangria provides a broad GraphQL layer for Scala applications, covering schema construction, parsing, execution, validation, and middleware. Its integrations and self-hosted model fit teams that want control over surrounding infrastructure.
The facts
Each one read from Sangria's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Audience
- The getting-started guide describes Sangria as a layer inside a Scala application for building a GraphQL server while leaving transport, data format, and storage choices to the application.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Authentication
- The documentation says Sangria does not provide explicit security primitives and demonstrates implementing authentication and authorization through application context, resolvers, middleware, and field tags.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Client compatibility
- The project describes Sangria as spec compliant and compatible with Apollo, Relay, GraphiQL, and other GraphQL tools and libraries.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Code generation
- Macros can derive GraphQL object type definitions from Scala classes and customize generated types.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Contributions
- Users are invited to report bugs through the issue tracker and contribute code or documentation through pull requests.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Execution
- Its Executor runs queries against a schema and can use a user context object for shared data or authorization information.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Framework examples
- The project provides example server integrations using Akka HTTP and Play Framework.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The project says Sangria is spec compliant and works with Apollo, Relay, GraphiQL, and other GraphQL tools and libraries.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- The documentation presents Sangria as a library for Scala developers building GraphQL servers and endpoints.checked 8 Oct 2026
- JSON libraries
- Sangria supports multiple JSON libraries, including Circe, spray-json, and Play JSON.checked 8 Oct 2026
- JSON support
- The documentation lists marshalling integrations for spray-json, Play JSON, Circe, Argonaut, json4s, MessagePack, and Amazon Ion.checked 8 Oct 2026
- License
- The Sangria repository states that the project is licensed under Apache License 2.0.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Middleware
- Sangria middleware can support performance measurement, metrics collection, and security enforcement at field and query level.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Product
- Sangria is a Scala implementation of GraphQL.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Sangria is a Scala implementation of GraphQL.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Query analysis
- It supports query and schema validation, query complexity checks, and schema comparisons.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Query execution
- Its Executor runs GraphQL queries against a schema and user context.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Query parsing
- Sangria parses GraphQL queries and offers a macro that reports syntax errors at compile time.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Relay support
- The sangria-relay library is offered for using Sangria with the React Relay framework.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Schema definition
- It provides Scala abstractions for defining GraphQL schemas, types, fields, and resolvers.checked 8 Oct 2026
- Support
- The community page directs users to Stack Overflow for help and Gitter for general discussion.checked 8 Oct 2026
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