Accessing database within Hasura Action Handler

Question

I would like to be able to access data from the database within an Action Handler in Hasura. Is the best approach:

• to make a GraphQL query to the API exposed by Hasura; or
• use a client, like Prisma, to read from the db directly?

Answer 1

I'm not sure there is a best approach. Personally, I use the API exposed by Hasura in action handlers. I've chosen to do this because:

• I like the API exposed by Hasura.
• I like the access controls that Hasura layers over top of the DB (although you could just use the admin account, too).
• The API can be used to generate TypeScript types, which I use in the action handler. This means that I can confidently change the database schema or Hasura API and then see where my other code fails.

I have thought many times about your question though, because there is something a little odd about calling back into Hasura to handle a Hasura action. But the reasons mentioned above are substantial gains in my opinion, so I've stuck with this approach.