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grafbase
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grafbase

Active·★ 1.2k·MPL-2.0·Updated 2026-07-01
★ Essential

Grafbase is an open-source, self-hosted GraphQL Federation v2 gateway written in Rust for high-throughput, low-latency API aggregation. It unifies GraphQL subgraphs, REST APIs, gRPC services, Postgres, Snowflake, and Kafka/NATS message queues into a single federated graph. In addition to WebAssembly (WASM) extensions for custom authentication, fine-grained authorization, and non-GraphQL resolvers, Grafbase includes built-in Model Context Protocol (MCP) server support—allowing engineering teams to expose their federated GraphQL API directly to AI agents as a structured MCP toolset with minimal configuration.

This write-up is based on the project's README and public repository data. We have not hand-tested the tool. Data as of 2026-10-26.

License
MPL-2.0
Latest release
gateway-0.53.5 · 2026-05-11
Last commit
2026-07-01
Contributors
47
Forks
75
Open issues and PRs
12
First published
2021-05-24

Source: GitHub, npm and PyPI public APIs.

#GraphQL Federation#API Gateway#Rust#Microservices#WebAssembly#Web Browsing#Data Analysis
$ Install
$ curl -fsSL https://grafbase.com/downloads/gateway | bash
↗ Visit site★ GitHub
01

Features

01Native support for Apollo Federation v2 specification.
02Rust-powered gateway delivering ultra-low latency and memory efficiency.
03Extensible via WebAssembly for custom authentication, authorization, and data sources.
04Enterprise-grade security with advanced schema governance and fine-grained authorization.
05Universal data integration supporting GraphQL subgraphs, REST APIs, gRPC, and databases.
02

Why choose it

+Rust-powered Apollo Federation v2 engine with low memory footprint and built-in MCP server exposure for AI agents.
+Extensible via WebAssembly (WASM) to integrate REST, gRPC, Postgres, Kafka, and custom auth logic without modifying gateway source code.
+Gateway binary is 100% self-hostable (including air-gapped environments) alongside a complete CLI toolchain.
03

Trade-offs

!Cloud control-plane features like hosted schema governance dashboards and branch environments are part of the commercial platform.
!Teams without existing GraphQL or Federation workflows face an initial schema modeling curve.
05

Maintenance check

SlowingChecked: 2026-10-24
Last commit
2026-05-11
Commits, last 90 days
0
Releases, last 90 days
0
Latest release
gateway-0.53.5 (2026-05-11)
Open issues
12
Recent issues with at least one comment
2/2
Commits per week, last 12 weeks
Commits per week, last 12 weeks: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

Oldest week on the left; the latest four weeks are orange. Source: GitHub commit activity.

Status rule: archived on GitHub = Archived; last commit within 90 days = Active; 91 to 365 days = Slowing; older = Stale. All figures come from the GitHub API on the date shown.

Most discussed open issues

  • #3614 update rsasl dependency, it doesn't build on macos (at least)1 comments · 2026-05-02
  • #3596 introspection `__schema.directives` field is always empty1 comments · 2026-03-04
  • #3001 Dependency Dashboard1 comments · 2025-04-09

Issue titles are quoted from GitHub. Open the link to check whether a problem still applies to the version you use.

04

Who it fits

Pick it if
  • You want a high-performance Rust Apollo Federation v2 GraphQL gateway that can expose your federated graph directly as an MCP server.
  • You want to unify GraphQL subgraphs, REST, gRPC, Postgres, and Kafka using WebAssembly extensions in a self-hosted gateway.
Look elsewhere if
  • You do not use GraphQL and just want a proxy/gateway in front of existing MCP servers; use MCP Gateways like AgentGateway or MetaMCP.
  • You want to write custom MCP tools in Python; use FastMCP or the MCP Python SDK.
06

How it differs

agentgateway logovs agentgateway★ 5.7k

Grafbase is a Rust GraphQL Federation v2 gateway that exposes a federated GraphQL API as an MCP server; AgentGateway is a Rust proxy specifically for routing, securing, and observing LLM, MCP, and A2A traffic.

Full comparison →
07

Compatibility

Apollo Federation v2
Native Support
Verified via docs
GraphQL Subgraphs
Supported
Verified via docs
REST APIs
Supported
Verified via docs
gRPC Services
Supported
Verified via docs
WebAssembly
Native Extensibility
Verified via docs
Model Context Protocol (MCP)
Native AI Support
Verified via docs
08

Quick start

1
$ curl -fsSL https://grafbase.com/downloads/gateway | bash
09

Use cases

↳Unifying disparate microservices, legacy systems, and third-party APIs into a single federated GraphQL API.
↳Building high-performance, mission-critical APIs requiring enterprise-grade security and advanced schema governance.
↳Extending GraphQL capabilities with custom authentication, authorization, and arbitrary data source resolvers via WebAssembly.
10

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On this page
01Features02Why choose it03Trade-offs05Maintenance check04Who it fits06How it differs07Compatibility08Quick start09Use cases10Alternatives
grafbase /
grafbase
↗

Rust-powered Apollo Federation v2 GraphQL gateway with WebAssembly extensions and built-in MCP server support

1.2k75MPL-2.0
Last commit3mo ago
StatusActive
CategoryAPI Integration
Contributors47
Latest releasegateway-0.53.5
Links
Documentation↗Discussion↗Issues↗Releases↗
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