Operations
An operation is an action against your data. Where a resource describes what your data looks like, an operation describes what can be done with it — and every operation you define is exposed through the API as a GraphQL query or mutation.
Create an operation
- Open Data in your workspace and go to the Overview tab.
- Choose Create Operation.
- Give it a Name; the Identifier is derived from it automatically.
- Choose the resource it acts on, then configure the fields below.
- Save.
Workspace-wide operations are listed under the Operations tab. An operation attached to a specific resource also appears in that resource's detail pane.
Kind
Whether the operation is exposed as a GraphQL Query or a Mutation. Use Query for anything that only reads data, and Mutation for anything that changes it.
Behavior
The behavior kind determines how the operation is actually carried out:
| Behavior kind | What it does |
|---|---|
| Database Query | Runs a query against a database. |
| API Request | Calls an external HTTP API. |
| Code | Runs custom code. |
| Flow | Triggers an Automation flow. |
Each behavior kind has its own settings — a database query needs the query itself, an API request needs the endpoint and how to build the request, and so on.
Method
The method describes the shape of the operation, which is what tells DashX how to generate its arguments and return type:
| Method | Shape |
|---|---|
| GET | Fetch a single record. |
| LIST | Fetch many records. |
| AGGREGATE | Return a computed value over a set of records, such as a count. |
| CREATE | Insert a new record. |
| UPDATE | Modify an existing record. |
| DESTROY | Delete a record. |
| IMPORT | Bring records in in bulk. |
| GENERIC | Anything that doesn't fit the shapes above. Use this when the operation is custom enough that DashX shouldn't infer a shape for it. |
Acts on
Whether the operation applies to a single record or to the collection as a whole:
- Member — acts on one record, so it needs that record's identifier.
- Collection — acts on the resource as a whole.
A GET or UPDATE is typically a member operation; a LIST or AGGREGATE is typically a collection operation.
Parameters
Parameters are the inputs an operation accepts, and they become the arguments of the generated GraphQL field. Each parameter has a name, an identifier, and a data type, and can be marked as required.
Response mapping
When an operation's underlying behavior returns a payload that doesn't already match the shape you want to expose — a nested API response, for example — a response mapper reshapes it. There are two kinds:
- Key — return the value found at a given key in the response.
- Function — a transformation function that receives the response data as its input and returns the reshaped result.
Calling operations
Operations are available everywhere the rest of your data is: through the GraphQL API, the REST API, the dashboard UI, and the CLI. See the SDKs section for calling them from your application code.