Apollo Rover CLI Guide

Rover is the official CLI for Apollo GraphOS. It helps you manage schemas, run composition locally, publish to GraphOS, and develop supergraphs on your local machine.

Quick Start

Step 1: Install

bash

# macOS/Linux
curl -sSL https://rover.apollo.dev/nix/latest | sh

# npm (cross-platform)
npm install -g @apollo/rover

# Windows PowerShell
iwr 'https://rover.apollo.dev/win/latest' | iex

Step 2: Authenticate

bash

# Interactive authentication (opens browser)
rover config auth

# Or set environment variable
export APOLLO_KEY=your-api-key

Step 3: Verify Installation

bash

rover --version
rover config whoami

Core Commands Overview

Command	Description	Use Case
`rover subgraph publish`	Publish subgraph schema to GraphOS	CI/CD, schema updates
`rover subgraph check`	Validate schema changes	PR checks, pre-deploy
`rover subgraph fetch`	Download subgraph schema	Local development
`rover supergraph compose`	Compose supergraph locally	Local testing
`rover dev`	Local supergraph development	Development workflow
`rover graph publish`	Publish monograph schema	Non-federated graphs

Graph Reference Format

Most commands require a graph reference in the format:

<GRAPH_ID>@<VARIANT>

Examples:

```
my-graph@production
```
```
my-graph@staging
```
```
my-graph@current
```
(default variant)

Set as environment variable:

bash

export APOLLO_GRAPH_REF=my-graph@production

Subgraph Workflow

Publishing a Subgraph

bash

# From schema file
rover subgraph publish my-graph@production \
  --name products \
  --schema ./schema.graphql \
  --routing-url https://products.example.com/graphql

# From running server (introspection)
rover subgraph publish my-graph@production \
  --name products \
  --schema <(rover subgraph introspect http://localhost:4001/graphql) \
  --routing-url https://products.example.com/graphql

Checking Schema Changes

bash

# Check against production traffic
rover subgraph check my-graph@production \
  --name products \
  --schema ./schema.graphql

Fetching Schema

bash

# Fetch from GraphOS
rover subgraph fetch my-graph@production --name products

# Introspect running server
rover subgraph introspect http://localhost:4001/graphql

Supergraph Composition

Local Composition

Create

supergraph.yaml

yaml

federation_version: =2.9.0
subgraphs:
  products:
    routing_url: http://localhost:4001/graphql
    schema:
      file: ./products/schema.graphql
  reviews:
    routing_url: http://localhost:4002/graphql
    schema:
      subgraph_url: http://localhost:4002/graphql

Compose:

bash

rover supergraph compose --config supergraph.yaml > supergraph.graphql

Fetch Composed Supergraph

bash

rover supergraph fetch my-graph@production

Local Development with

rover dev

Start a local Router with automatic schema composition:

bash

# Start with supergraph config
rover dev --supergraph-config supergraph.yaml

# Start with GraphOS variant as base
rover dev --graph-ref my-graph@staging --supergraph-config local.yaml

With MCP Integration

bash

# Start with MCP server enabled
rover dev --supergraph-config supergraph.yaml --mcp

Reference Files

Detailed documentation for specific topics:

Subgraphs - fetch, publish, check, lint, introspect, delete
Graphs - monograph commands (non-federated)
Supergraphs - compose, fetch, config format
Dev - rover dev for local development
Configuration - install, auth, env vars, profiles

Common Patterns

CI/CD Pipeline

bash

# 1. Check schema changes
rover subgraph check $APOLLO_GRAPH_REF \
  --name $SUBGRAPH_NAME \
  --schema ./schema.graphql

# 2. If check passes, publish
rover subgraph publish $APOLLO_GRAPH_REF \
  --name $SUBGRAPH_NAME \
  --schema ./schema.graphql \
  --routing-url $ROUTING_URL

Schema Linting

bash

# Lint against GraphOS rules
rover subgraph lint --name products ./schema.graphql

# Lint monograph
rover graph lint my-graph@production ./schema.graphql

Output Formats

bash

# JSON output for scripting
rover subgraph fetch my-graph@production --name products --format json

# Plain output (default)
rover subgraph fetch my-graph@production --name products --format plain

Ground Rules

ALWAYS authenticate before using GraphOS commands (
```
rover config auth
```
or
```
APOLLO_KEY
```
)
ALWAYS use the correct graph reference format:
```
graph-id@variant
```

PREFER

rover subgraph check

before

rover subgraph publish

in CI/CD

USE
```
rover dev
```
for local supergraph development instead of running Router manually
NEVER commit
```
APOLLO_KEY
```
to version control; use environment variables
USE
```
--format json
```
when parsing output programmatically
SPECIFY
```
federation_version
```
explicitly in supergraph.yaml for reproducibility
USE
```
rover subgraph introspect
```
to extract schemas from running services

rover

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Apollo Rover CLI Guide

Quick Start

Step 1: Install

Step 2: Authenticate

Step 3: Verify Installation

Core Commands Overview

Graph Reference Format

Subgraph Workflow

Publishing a Subgraph

Checking Schema Changes

Fetching Schema

Supergraph Composition

Local Composition

Fetch Composed Supergraph

Local Development with
`rover dev`

With MCP Integration

Reference Files

Common Patterns

CI/CD Pipeline

Schema Linting

Output Formats

Ground Rules