GraphQL large integer error: Int cannot represent non 32-bit signed integer value

Question

I´m trying to store a UNIX timestamp in MongoDB using GraphQL, but it seens that GraphQL has a limit to handle integers. See the mutation below:

const addUser = {
    type: UserType,
    description: 'Add an user',
    args: {
        data: {
            name: 'data',
            type: new GraphQLNonNull(CompanyInputType)
        }
    },
    resolve(root, params) {

        params.data.creationTimestamp = Date.now();

        const model = new UserModel(params.data);
        const saved = model.save();

        if (!saved)
            throw new Error('Error adding user');

        return saved;
    }
}

Result:

  "errors": [
    {
      "message": "Int cannot represent non 32-bit signed integer value: 1499484833027",
      "locations": [
        {
          "line": 14,
          "column": 5
        }
      ],
      "path": [
        "addUser",
        "creationTimestamp"
      ]
    }

I´m currently using GraphQLInteger for this field on type definition:

creationTimestamp: { 
    type: GraphQLInt
}

How can I solve that situation if there is no larger GraphQLInt available in GraphQL ?

score 49 · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-23 18:59:55Z

49

GraphQL doesn’t support integers larger than 32 bits as the error indicates. You’re better off using a custom scalar like GraphQL Date. There’s also a "Long" type available here. Or you could roll your own custom type; there’s a great example from Apollo here.

If you’re curious why GraphQL does not support anything bigger, you can check out this issue on Github.

edited Sep 23, 2020 at 18:59

answered Jul 8, 2017 at 6:02

Daniel Rearden

80.3k11 gold badges183 silver badges182 bronze badges

4

Thanks for the links. Could we get an explanation? 😀

– reergymerej

Sep 23, 2020 at 17:52
@reergymerej what is still unclear from the answer?

– Daniel Rearden

Sep 23, 2020 at 19:00
I think what @reergymerej meant is a TLDR for why GraphQL doesn't support integers larger than 32 bits.

– Paul Razvan Berg

Nov 5, 2020 at 11:28
github.com/graphql/graphql-js/issues/292#issuecomment-186702763

– Daniel Rearden

Nov 5, 2020 at 12:52

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Tamlyn 22.1k12 gold badges110 silver badges127 bronze badges · Accepted Answer · 2023-01-27 21:11:51Z

7

⚠️Not recommended due to potential loss of precision…

… but if you want a quick fix (maybe you don’t have the time to implement a custom scalar), you can use the Float type instead of Int.

edited Jan 27 at 21:11

Tamlyn

22.1k12 gold badges110 silver badges127 bronze badges

answered Apr 7, 2021 at 9:21

johannchopin

13.7k10 gold badges54 silver badges100 bronze badges

5

Hey, I downvoted your comment because it's not very helpful and you're even "Not recommending" it, yourself. Float and Int share the same bit-size.

– bastianwegge

Apr 12, 2021 at 18:50
2

I mean I know but when I came to this error I didn't had the time at all to refactorise all my schema like mentioned in the valid answer :/ this error is kind of unexpected since simple timestamp doesn't fit in (and please try it by your own because this 'trick' works I found it in this issue). So yes maybe it's not the best answer but it could definitively help someone which faced the same problem so there is no reason to downvote it.

– johannchopin

Apr 12, 2021 at 21:23
1

This says not recommended, but does not provide a reason why you wouldn't want to do this.

– Gakio

Jul 22, 2021 at 19:18
1

@Gakio Because it's better to use the right type for what you need. If you don't need to use some floats there is no point.

– johannchopin

Jul 23, 2021 at 14:18
1

The real issue is that a signed 32 bit integer can exactly represent any integer up to about 2 x 10^9. A 32 bit float can exactly represent any integer up to about 1.5 x 10^7 but can approximately represent numbers up to about 3 x 10^38: a hugely wider range but at the cost of precision. Sometimes loss of precision is fine and other times it very isn't.

– Tamlyn

Jan 27 at 21:11

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KamilKamil 11 bronze badge · Accepted Answer · 2023-08-17 06:53:19Z

Float instead of Int is actually not a bad choice in some cases. Int is a 32-bit integer, which means that it can safely represent numbers with up to 9 decimal digits, whereas Float is a 64-bit floating-point number (see: https://graphql.org/learn/schema/), which means it has 53 significant bits, which then translates to safely representing all integers with up to 15 decimal digits.

GraphQL large integer error: Int cannot represent non 32-bit signed integer value