Does Rover work with both federated and non-federated GraphQL graphs?

Yes. Use `rover subgraph` commands for federated graphs and `rover graph` commands for monographs (non-federated graphs). Both workflows are supported.

How do I explore a large GraphQL schema without loading the entire SDL into context?

Pipe `rover graph fetch` into `rover schema describe` or `rover schema search` — these commands read the schema via stdin and return only a compact overview or search results, keeping context manageable.

What's the difference between `rover graph fetch` and `rover supergraph fetch`?

`rover graph fetch` returns the API schema (what you can query), while `rover supergraph fetch` returns the composed supergraph SDL with federation internals like `join__` and `link__`. Use the former for schema exploration and the latter for composition/router work.

Can Rover execute GraphQL queries, or does it only manage schemas?

Rover only manages and inspects schemas. To run a generated query, you must send it to the graph's endpoint separately using curl or another HTTP client.

Does this skill require a GraphOS account, or can I use Rover offline?

Most Rover commands (publish, fetch, check) require authentication with a GraphOS API key. Local composition with `rover supergraph compose` and schema exploration of local files work offline.

rover by apollographql

Rover Configuration

Installation, authentication, and environment configuration for Apollo Rover CLI.

Installation

macOS and Linux

# Install latest version
curl -sSL https://rover.apollo.dev/nix/latest | sh

# Install specific version
curl -sSL https://rover.apollo.dev/nix/v0.26.0 | sh

# Add to PATH (if not automatic)
export PATH="$HOME/.rover/bin:$PATH"

npm (Cross-platform)

# Global install
npm install -g @apollo/rover

# Project-local install
npm install --save-dev @apollo/rover
npx rover --version

Windows PowerShell

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

# Install specific version
iwr 'https://rover.apollo.dev/win/v0.26.0' | iex

Verify Installation

rover --version
rover --help

Authentication

Interactive Authentication

# Opens browser for authentication
rover config auth

Process:

Browser opens to GraphOS Studio
Log in or create account
Authorize Rover
Token saved to config file

API Key Authentication

# Set via environment variable (recommended for CI/CD)
export APOLLO_KEY=your-api-key

# Or configure directly
rover config auth --api-key your-api-key

Verify Authentication

# Check current authentication
rover config whoami

Output:

Authenticated as: user@example.com
Organization: My Org
API Key Type: User

Environment Variables

Core Variables

Variable	Description	Example
`APOLLO_KEY`	API key for GraphOS	`user:gh.xxx:yyy`
`APOLLO_GRAPH_REF`	Default graph reference	`my-graph@production`

Using Environment Variables

# Set in shell
export APOLLO_KEY=your-api-key
export APOLLO_GRAPH_REF=my-graph@production

# Use in commands
rover subgraph fetch $APOLLO_GRAPH_REF --name products

# Or commands auto-detect APOLLO_GRAPH_REF
rover subgraph fetch --name products

CI/CD Environment

# GitHub Actions
env:
  APOLLO_KEY: ${{ secrets.APOLLO_KEY }}
  APOLLO_GRAPH_REF: my-graph@production

steps:
  - run: rover subgraph check $APOLLO_GRAPH_REF --name products --schema ./schema.graphql

# CircleCI
environment:
  APOLLO_KEY: ${APOLLO_KEY}
  APOLLO_GRAPH_REF: my-graph@production

Configuration File

Rover stores configuration in ~/.rover/config.toml.

Location

# View config path
rover config list

# macOS/Linux: ~/.rover/config.toml
# Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.rover\config.toml

Structure

[profiles.default]
api_key = "user:gh.xxx:yyy"

[profiles.staging]
api_key = "user:gh.xxx:zzz"

Profiles

Use profiles for different environments or accounts.

Create Profile

# Create/update profile
rover config auth --profile staging

Use Profile

# Specify profile for command
rover subgraph fetch my-graph@staging --name products --profile staging

List Profiles

rover config list

Output Formats

Plain Text (Default)

rover subgraph fetch my-graph@production --name products

Output: Raw SDL schema

JSON

rover subgraph fetch my-graph@production --name products --format json

Output:

{
  "data": {
    "sdl": "type Product { ... }",
    "name": "products"
  },
  "error": null
}

Using with jq

# Extract just the SDL
rover subgraph fetch my-graph@production --name products --format json | jq -r '.data.sdl'

# Check for errors
rover subgraph check my-graph@production --name products --schema ./schema.graphql --format json | jq '.error'

Logging

Log Levels

# Increase verbosity
rover --log debug subgraph fetch my-graph@production --name products

# Available levels: error, warn, info, debug, trace

Environment Variable

export APOLLO_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1  # Disable telemetry
export ROVER_LOG=debug              # Set log level

Telemetry

Rover collects anonymous usage data by default.

Disable Telemetry

export APOLLO_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1

What's Collected

Command names (not arguments or schemas)
Rover version
OS type
Anonymous usage patterns

Proxy Configuration

HTTP Proxy

export HTTP_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080
export HTTPS_PROXY=http://proxy.example.com:8080

No Proxy

export NO_PROXY=localhost,127.0.0.1,.internal.example.com

SSL/TLS Configuration

Custom CA Certificate

# Set CA bundle
export SSL_CERT_FILE=/path/to/ca-bundle.crt

# Or for curl-based operations
export CURL_CA_BUNDLE=/path/to/ca-bundle.crt

Disable SSL Verification (Not Recommended)

# For development only
export ROVER_SKIP_SSL_VALIDATION=1

Updating Rover

Check for Updates

rover update check

Update to Latest

# npm
npm update -g @apollo/rover

# curl (reinstall)
curl -sSL https://rover.apollo.dev/nix/latest | sh

Uninstalling

npm

npm uninstall -g @apollo/rover

Manual Installation

# Remove binary
rm -rf ~/.rover

# Remove from PATH (in .bashrc/.zshrc)
# Remove: export PATH="$HOME/.rover/bin:$PATH"

Troubleshooting

Authentication Issues

# Clear and re-authenticate
rm ~/.rover/config.toml
rover config auth

Network Issues

# Test connectivity
curl -I https://api.apollographql.com

# Check DNS
nslookup api.apollographql.com

Permission Issues

# Fix permissions (macOS/Linux)
chmod +x ~/.rover/bin/rover

Version Conflicts

# Check installed location
which rover

# Ensure correct version
rover --version

/rover

roverreferencesconfiguration.md