Clarification about usage of 404 not found in the application/graphql-response+json spec #446

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1. martinbonnin commented on Oct 15, 2026

   

   martinbonnin

   on Oct 15, 2026

   Last edited by martinbonnin

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   Hi 👋

   I'd recommend using partial data and 294 200 (edit: no error so no need for 294) for these use cases:

   query GetUserAndProducts($userId: ID!) {
     user(id: $id) {
       id 
       name
       email
     }
     products {
       name
       price
     }
   }

   Some of the user data may not exist in your graph but other data might still be present:

   {
     "data": {
       "user": null,
       "products": [ 
          // actual data here ... 
        ]
     }
   }

   👍React with 👍1Reacted by Guus van der Meer
2. OhMyGuus commented on Oct 15, 2026

   

   OhMyGuus

   on Oct 15, 2026

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   1. Hi 👋
      I'd recommend using partial data and 294 for these use cases:
      query GetUserAndProducts($userId: ID!) {
      user(id: $id) {
      id
      name
      email
      }
      products {
      name
      price
      }
      }

      Some of the user data may not exist in your graph but other data might still be present:
      {
      "data": {
      "user": null,
      "products": [
      // actual data here ...
      ]
      }
      }

   Thanks already 😄, just to double-check:

   If the query and response were as follows:

   query GetUser($userId: ID!) {
     user(id: $id) {
       id
       name
       email
     }
   }
   

   {
     "data": {
       "user": null
     }
   }
   

   Would you still return 294 in that case, or would u use 404 or a 200 in this case there is no data now at all but the graph succeeded... 😅
3. martinbonnin commented on Oct 15, 2026

   

   martinbonnin

   on Oct 15, 2026

   Last edited by martinbonnin

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   {
     "data": {
       "user": null
     }
   }

   This is actually a case of 200, not 294 because there is technically no error, it's just a field that returns null, I have updated my response above.

   This is explained here in the spec:

   If the [GraphQL result](https://http-spec.graphql.org/draft/#graphql-result) contains the data entry 
   and it is not null, then the server MUST reply with a 2xx status code.
   
   If the [GraphQL result](https://http-spec.graphql.org/draft/#graphql-result) contains the data entry 
   and does not contain the errors entry, then the server SHOULD reply with a 200 status code.
   

   So you MUST use 2xx and 200 is preferred.

   The 294 could be useful if you have errors as well as data:

   {
     "data": {
       "user": null,
       "products": [ 
          // actual data here ... 
        ]
     }
     "errors": { 
       "path": ["user"],
       "message": "Cannot resolve user"
     }
   }

   Whether you model absence of a user as a null or an error is a schema design consideration. I like using null in that case but the spec doesn't mandate it.