typescript-graphql-server, a deprecated set of GraphQL boilerplates worth reading anyway

What the repository was and what it is now

This repository was a set of boilerplates for GraphQL servers written in TypeScript, described as boilerplate code for scalable, production-ready GraphQL servers. The pitch was to bootstrap your GraphQL server within seconds, and the argument was that the boilerplates provide the perfect foundation whether you are just getting started with GraphQL or aim to build a fully-fledged application.

The deprecation notice is the most important fact in the README now. It states that the repository has been deprecated and is currently unmaintained, and it points to up-to-date examples for building GraphQL servers with a database in the Prisma examples repository. That notice is a replacement for a development section, and it tells you to use someone else's examples instead of these.

The deprecation is not surprising given the dependencies. The scaffolding command comes from the GraphQL CLI, and all the projects are based on graphql-yoga, a GraphQL server library from the Graphcool team. Both belong to a generation of GraphQL tooling that predates the current mainstream, and a boilerplate that depends on a download tool and a library from that era is not going to age well.

The repository is not archived, and the last push was on 2026-10-22, so something was committed recently even though the README declares the project unmaintained. The default branch is master, the primary language is TypeScript, and the licence field reports it as one GitHub cannot classify. There are no GitHub releases, so the version record is the commit history.

The three levels and what each one added

The value of the repository is the progression it laid out, and the three tiers are the interesting part.

The minimal boilerplate was marked as coming soon in the README's quickstart list, with the description that it would have basic Hello World functionality. It was never finished, and the directory exists in the repository listing but the project is described as incomplete.

The basic boilerplate is based on a simple data model and comes with a GraphQL database, meaning a database wired into the schema and resolvers rather than a hardcoded object.

The advanced boilerplate adds a GraphQL database, authentication and realtime subscriptions. That is the standard escalation for a GraphQL server, and each of the three additions corresponds to a distinct piece of work that a team would otherwise have to design: how the data is shaped and reached, who is allowed to see it, and how clients are told about changes without polling.

The instructions were to select a boilerplate and follow the instructions in the belonging README to get started, which is the shape of the GraphQL CLI model. Each tier was a directory with its own README, and the top-level repository listing shows exactly that structure: advanced/, basic/, minimal/ and a renovate.json alongside the top-level README.

The renovate.json is a small detail that tells you the boilerplates were maintained as real projects rather than as a one-off commit. Automated dependency updates are exactly what you want in a template that people copy, because a template with a stale dependency is a template that teaches the wrong thing.

The design principles the README states

Three features are listed, and each one is a design decision rather than a capability.

Rapid scaffolding is done with graphql create from the GraphQL CLI, which downloads the boilerplate you want. The point is that you get a working project without assembling it yourself, and the mechanism is a dedicated command rather than a clone and a manual merge.

Easily extensible is the second, and the explanation is the useful part: a boilerplate only provides the minimum setup so you can tailor the API to your use case. That is a deliberate constraint on what a boilerplate should be. A template that includes everything teaches nothing and constrains everything, and the author's position is that the value is in the starting structure, with the rest left to the user.

Best practices is the third, and the wording is that each boilerplate incorporates best practices from the GraphQL community. Combined with the previous point, this is the interesting tension in the design. Incorporating best practices implies a considered set of choices, and providing only the minimum setup implies restraint. The resolution is that the practices are in the structure, such as how the schema is organised and how the server is wired, rather than in a pile of helper utilities.

The README points to a longer article on the blog about the idea behind GraphQL boilerplates and how to set up a GraphQL project, which is where the reasoning behind the three tiers is set out.

On the wider project, the boilerplates were maintained by the GraphQL community with official support from the Apollo and Graphcool teams, and there was a Slack channel called graphql-boilerplate on the Graphcool workspace for questions and contributions. The community framing is consistent with a project whose output is meant to be copied and argued with.

What to take from it now

The honest reading is that this is a reference to read rather than a template to start from, and the README itself points you at the Prisma examples for anything current.

There are two things still worth taking. The first is the escalation path, which is a good description of the decisions a GraphQL server forces on you. A minimal server with a static model is a few files. Adding a database means deciding how resolvers reach data and what shape the schema has. Adding authentication means deciding where identity lives and how resolvers see it. Adding subscriptions means deciding how the server pushes changes and how a client subscribes. Most teams hit those three decisions in that order, and having worked examples of each stage in the same style is a genuinely useful reference, whichever library you end up using.

The second is the principle that a boilerplate should provide the minimum. It is a corrective to the way most starters are written, and it is the reason the tiers exist rather than one maximal template with everything switched on.

What to leave behind is the tooling. The graphql create download flow depended on the GraphQL CLI, and the projects depend on graphql-yoga. Both were reasonable at the time and neither is what a new project should be built on today. Copying the old scaffolding into a new project would give you a project with an unfashionable dependency and a structure shaped by constraints that no longer apply.

If you are starting a GraphQL server now, the path the README recommends is the sensible one: look at the current Prisma examples for GraphQL servers with a database, and treat the basic and advanced directories here as a map of the territory rather than as code to copy. The most useful thing in them is the shape of the progression, and the least useful thing is the version numbers in their lockfiles.

One more thing worth noting for anyone who finds this repository while searching for GraphQL starters. The deprecation notice is prominent and early, which is better than it could have been, and the point it redirects to is a maintained set of examples rather than a paid product. That is a reasonable way to end a project that has outgrown itself, and it means the repository is a safe thing to read even though it is not a safe thing to copy.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt the ideas in this repository rather than the code, since the repository itself is deprecated and unmaintained and the README points to the Prisma examples as the current route. Skip it if you need a maintained starter, because the boilerplates were built on graphql-yoga and the GraphQL CLI tooling that downloads them. Verify first by reading the basic and advanced READMEs side by side to see the progression the author intended, then check the current examples the deprecation notice points to before copying anything.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. graphql-boilerplates/typescript-graphql-server on GitHub
2. Issues
3. README