How do you access the GraphQL context including the authenticated user inside a resolver in NestJS?

Q: How do you access the GraphQL context including the authenticated user inside a resolver in NestJS?

// GQL auth guard — must use GqlExecutionContext @Injectable() export class GqlAuthGuard implements CanActivate { canActivate(context: ExecutionContext): boolean { const ctx = GqlExecutionContext.create(context); // required for GraphQL const req = ctx.getContext().req; const token = req.headers.authorization?.split(' ')[1]; req.user = this.jwtService.verify(token); return !!req.user; } } // @CurrentUser() param decorator export const CurrentUser = createParamDecorator( (_data: unknown, ctx: ExecutionContext) => { const gqlCtx = GqlExecutionContext.create(ctx); return gqlCtx.getContext().req.user; }, ); // Use in resolver @Query(() => User) @UseGuards(GqlAuthGuard) me(@CurrentUser() user: User): User { return user; } // Direct context injection via @Context @Query(() => User) me(@Context('req') req: Request): User { return req.user as User; } ctx.switchToHttp() returns undefined in a GraphQL resolver — always use GqlExecutionContext.create(ctx). GqlExecutionContext.create(ctx).getContext() returns the context object from the GraphQLModule factory. The req object is available on the context only when forwarded via the context factory in GraphQLModule.forRoot(). @Context() injects the full context object; @Context('req') injects only the req field. Building a @CurrentUser() decorator avoids repeating GqlExecutionContext logic in every resolver.

Difficulty: 5/10

GraphQL context, NestJS resolvers, authentication

Use GqlExecutionContext.create(context) to switch from the NestJS ExecutionContext to the GraphQL context. Without this, ctx.switchToHttp() returns undefined in a GraphQL resolver. Build a @CurrentUser() param decorator that reads from GqlExecutionContext to inject the authenticated user directly into resolver arguments.

GqlExecutionContext and @CurrentUser() decorator

GraphQL context access rules:

1
ctx.switchToHttp() returns undefined in a GraphQL resolver — always use GqlExecutionContext.create(ctx).
2

How do you access the GraphQL context including the authenticated user inside a resolver in NestJS?

Difficulty: 5/10

GraphQL context, NestJS resolvers, authentication

Use GqlExecutionContext.create(context) to switch from the NestJS ExecutionContext to the GraphQL context. Without this, ctx.switchToHttp() returns undefined in a GraphQL resolver. Build a @CurrentUser() param decorator that reads from GqlExecutionContext to inject the authenticated user directly into resolver arguments.

GqlExecutionContext and @CurrentUser() decorator

GraphQL context access rules:

1
ctx.switchToHttp() returns undefined in a GraphQL resolver — always use GqlExecutionContext.create(ctx).
2

How do you access the GraphQL context including the authenticated user inside a resolver in NestJS?

How do you access the GraphQL context including the authenticated user inside a resolver in NestJS?

Scenario Questions

Follow-up Questions