What's Changed

@nestjs/graphql, @nestjs/apollo and @nestjs/mercurius are now native ES modules, and this major targets the Nest 12 release line.

ESM migration

All three packages are published as pure ESM ("type": "module", compiled with NodeNext) behind a proper exports map. Deep imports into build internals are no longer resolvable — import from the package root:

// ❌ no longer resolvable
import { GraphQLModule } from '@nestjs/graphql/dist/graphql.module';

// ✅
import { GraphQLModule } from '@nestjs/graphql';

The one deep entry point that remains public is the CLI plugin:

// ✅ still supported
import { before } from '@nestjs/graphql/plugin';

require(esm) — CommonJS still works

You do not need to convert your app to ESM. Thanks to Node's require(esm) support, a CommonJS Nest app can keep require()-ing these packages unchanged. The @nestjs/graphql/plugin entry additionally ships a CJS shim (plugin.cjs), so ts-patch/ttypescript setups and nest-cli.json plugin registration continue to work as before.

GraphQL Playground has been removed

@apollo/server-plugin-landing-page-graphql-playground is gone — GraphiQL is the only built-in landing page. GraphiQL is enabled by default outside production, so most apps need no configuration at all.

playground survives as a deprecated boolean alias; the object form (playground settings) is no longer accepted:

// ❌ no longer supported
GraphQLModule.forRoot({ playground: { settings: { 'editor.theme': 'light' } } });

// ✅ boolean alias still works
GraphQLModule.forRoot({ playground: true });

// ✅ preferred
GraphQLModule.forRoot({ graphiql: true });
// or with options
GraphQLModule.forRoot({ graphiql: { url: '/graphql' } });

Resolution order is graphiql → playground → default (GraphiQL when NODE_ENV !== 'production', Apollo's default landing page otherwise).

subscriptions-transport-ws has been removed

The unmaintained subscriptions-transport-ws transport is dropped; graphql-ws is the only supported subscriptions protocol. The subscriptions-transport-ws key is no longer part of SubscriptionConfig, and installSubscriptionHandlers: true now registers graphql-ws:

// ❌ no longer supported
GraphQLModule.forRoot({
  subscriptions: { 'subscriptions-transport-ws': { path: '/graphql' } },
});

// ✅
GraphQLModule.forRoot({
  subscriptions: { 'graphql-ws': { path: '/graphql' } },
});

Clients still speaking the legacy graphql-ws subprotocol (Apollo Client 2, older subscriptions-transport-ws clients) must migrate to the graphql-transport-ws protocol.

Features

• Explicit @ArgsType() names — @ArgsType('MyArgs') lets you name the generated type instead of relying on the class name.
• Resolver decorator host — register decorators applied to every resolver method from a single place (also available in 13.4.3+).

Bug fixes

• fix(schema): map incoming field data back to the property name (#1096)
• fix(@nestjs/graphql): preserve federation directives in autoSchemaFile
• fix(@nestjs/graphql): keep resolvers required when skipping args
• fix(graphql): make info nullable
• fix(graphql,apollo): ensure extensions are added to resolved fields
• fix(apollo): respect useGlobalPrefix on a custom subscription path

Upgrading

npm i @nestjs/graphql@14 @nestjs/apollo@14

1. Bump @nestjs/common / @nestjs/core to v12.
2. Replace any playground: { ... } object config with graphiql.
3. Replace subscriptions['subscriptions-transport-ws'] with subscriptions['graphql-ws'], and migrate clients to the graphql-transport-ws protocol.
4. Replace deep @nestjs/graphql/dist/... imports with root imports.

No source changes are required for CommonJS apps beyond the above.