This is the 26.0 release of graphql-java. Highlights are summarized below; the full list of merged PRs is at the end.

⚠️ Breaking Changes

Query complexity limits are now enforced by default

New QueryComplexityLimits validation checks maxDepth (default 100) and maxFieldsCount (default 100,000) as part of standard validation. Queries exceeding these limits will now fail with new MaxQueryDepthExceeded / MaxQueryFieldsExceeded validation errors.

• Set custom limits via GraphQLContext using QueryComplexityLimits.KEY.
• Disable entirely with QueryComplexityLimits.NONE.

Introduced in #4256.

Validation rule filtering API changed

In #4228 the rule-filter predicate changed from Predicate<Class<?>> to Predicate<OperationValidationRule> in Validator.validateDocument(...) and ParseAndValidate.parseAndValidate(...). Callers that filtered by class (e.g. rule -> rule != NoUnusedFragments.class) must migrate to the enum (rule -> rule != OperationValidationRule.NO_UNUSED_FRAGMENTS). The @Internal classes AbstractRule and RulesVisitor were removed.

Built-in directive handling consolidated (#4229)

• DirectiveInfo was removed. Replace usages:
  • DirectiveInfo.isGraphqlSpecifiedDirective(...) → Directives.isBuiltInDirective(...)
  • DirectiveInfo.GRAPHQL_SPECIFICATION_DIRECTIVES → Directives.BUILT_IN_DIRECTIVES
  • DirectiveInfo.GRAPHQL_SPECIFICATION_DIRECTIVE_MAP → Directives.BUILT_IN_DIRECTIVES_MAP
• Directive ordering is now consistent: all 7 built-in directives appear first, followed by user-defined directives.
• GraphQLSchema.Builder.clearDirectives() was initially removed then re-added in #4276 with new semantics — it clears all additionalDirectives, but built-in directives are always re-added automatically at build time.

OneOf inhabitability validation (#4248)

New validator rejects OneOf input types that cannot be populated with a finite value (e.g. input A @oneOf { a: A }). Schemas that previously validated may now be rejected.

Non-null field validation for code-built schemas (#4194)

Code-built schemas now perform the same deprecated-on-non-null field validation as SDL-built ones. Schemas relying on the gap may now fail validation.

GraphQLSchema.getCodeRegistry() is no longer @Nullable (#4247)

The return type was incorrectly annotated nullable. Callers may now drop redundant null checks; downstream nullness tooling will reflect the change.

JSpecify nullability annotations rolled out broadly

Waves 2 and 3 (#4184, #4274) plus many individual PRs annotated hundreds of classes across graphql.analysis, graphql.execution, graphql.language, graphql.schema and others with @NullMarked/@NullUnmarked/@Nullable. Kotlin and other null-aware callers will now see stricter nullability contracts; code that relied on previously-permissive signatures may need adjustment.

✨ New Features

• GraphQLSchema.FastBuilder (#4197) — a more restrictive but ~5× faster schema builder that reduces both time and memory for large schemas.
• Query complexity limits (#4256) — depth/field-count guardrails baked into validation (see breaking changes above for the enforcement side).
• QueryAppliedDirective on operations and documents (#4297) — directives applied at the operation/document level are now exposed as QueryAppliedDirectives.
• New instrumentation hook for post-exception-handling results (#4206, #4207) — observe the DataFetcherResult after DataFetcherExceptionHandler has mapped exceptions to errors. ChainedInstrumentation delegates the new hook correctly.
• Generic DataFetcherResult.newBuilder(T data) (#4254) — removes the need for explicit type witnesses on the common DataFetcherResult.<T>newResult().data(x)... pattern.
• Re-added GraphQLSchema.Builder.clearDirectives() (#4276) — useful with GraphQLSchema.transform to rewrite non-built-in directives; built-ins are always re-added.
• toString() on AST directives holders (#4195).

⚡ Performance

• Incremental @defer execution starts earlier (#4174) — begins processing deferred payloads as soon as the first incremental call is detected instead of waiting for the initial result to complete.
• Validation consolidation (#4228) — all operation validation rules run in a single OperationValidator pass, significantly cutting validation overhead.
• Reduced allocations on the execution hot path (#4252):
  • Async$Many.materialisedList() — replaced ArrayList copy with a zero-copy Arrays.asList() wrapper.
  • ResultPath.toStringValue — lazy computation; the string form is only built on first toString() (typically only during error reporting).
  • New GraphQLCodeRegistry.getDataFetcher(String, String, GraphQLFieldDefinition) overload avoiding per-fetch FieldCoordinates allocations (~54 KB/op reduction).
• FastBuilder for schema construction (#4197) — see New Features.
• Fixed ShallowTypeRefCollector to also resolve type refs inside applied directive arguments and enum value definitions (#4288) — correctness fix enabling FastBuilder to be used on more schemas.

🐛 Other Noteworthy Changes

Execution / data fetching

• DataLoader dispatch with multiple @defer fragments (#4270) — fixes a case where DataLoaders were not dispatched correctly when multiple deferred fragments were in play.
• CompletionStageSubscriber race condition (#4296) — completion signal could be lost if an in-flight CompletionStage resolved concurrently. Fix is backed by new jcstress stress tests.
• PropertyDataFetcher on non-public classes (#4287) — properties on non-public classes that implement public interfaces (e.g. TreeMap.Entry) now fetch correctly on Java 16+ by searching public interfaces.
• ExecutableNormalizedField respects GraphqlFieldVisibility (#4204) — selection-set APIs now use the schema's configured visibility instead of going straight to the type.
• ScheduledDataLoaderRegistry "dispatch all" fix (#4164).
• ChainedInstrumentation onExceptionHandled delegation (#4207).

Schema / field visibility

• Fixes for complex field-visibility transformer cases and schema transformation when deletions cascade (#4203, #4205, #4208, #4209, #4212, #4213, #4275).
• Overlapping-fields null-type regression fixed (#4291).
• GraphQLTypeCollectingVisitor now recursively traverses indirect strong references (#4213).
• SchemaTraverser::depthFirst overload signature fix (#4165).

Build / packaging / security

• Bytecode-modified classes no longer ship in published JARs (#4343) — the @Generated annotation injected for coverage reporting was leaking into published artifacts. JARs now contain pristine compiler output.
• Trojan Source / glassworm Unicode detection (#4344) — pre-commit hook and CI workflow now reject dangerous BiDi/zero-width/control characters in source.
• Windows compatibility (#4239) — removed colons from performance-results/ filenames, split the oversized large-schema-5.graphqls, added pre-commit + CI checks.

Tooling / DX

• getDataLoader type bounds improved (#4180).
• Build and test on Java 25 (#4173, #4330).
• Many dependency updates (Reactor, Jackson, Kotlin, Groovy, Gradle, ByteBuddy, errorprone, etc.) across the release.

Full PR list

A word of warning

While all features are tested and we consider them ready to be used, we don't guarantee that this is a stable version: this means there will be more breaking changes until we reach 26.0.

This version is intended for testing and providing feedback to the GraphQL Java team.

What's Changed

Breaking Changes

• Validation rules consolidated into single OperationValidator — The 31 individual rule classes in graphql.validation.rules.*, AbstractRule, and RulesVisitor have been removed. The rule filtering predicate type changed from Predicate<Class<?>> to Predicate<OperationValidationRule> (a new @PublicApi enum). Code that filters rules by class reference must migrate to the enum. (#4228)

• DirectiveInfo class removed — Use Directives.isBuiltInDirective() and Directives.BUILT_IN_DIRECTIVES instead. GraphQLSchema.Builder.clearDirectives() has also been removed — all 7 built-in directives are now always present. Built-in directives now consistently appear first in schema.getDirectives(). (#4229)

• JSpecify nullability annotations — big wave 2 — ~50 classes annotated with @NullMarked and @Nullable. This may surface new warnings or errors in projects using NullAway or Kotlin. (#4184)

Performance

• 23-39% execution throughput improvement — Reduce allocations in Async$Many (zero-copy list), ResultPath (lazy toString()), and GraphQLCodeRegistry (fast-path DataFetcher lookup avoiding throwaway FieldCoordinates allocation). (#4252)

• 14-40% faster validation — Single OperationValidator eliminates per-rule visitor overhead and reduces collection allocations on hot paths. (#4228)

New Features

• feat: GraphQLSchema.FastBuilder for high-performance schema construction by @rstata in #4197
• Add OneOf inhabitability validation by @jbellenger in #4248
• Call onExceptionHandled in ChainedInstrumentation by @tinnou in #4207
• New transformSchemaWithDeletes method for complex deletion cases in #4209

Bug Fixes

• Fix ExecutableNormalizedField to respect GraphqlFieldVisibility by @Samjin in #4204
• Fix type collecting for indirect references in #4213
• Fix and improve field visibility in #4212
• Code-built schemas now perform deprecated non-null field validations (same as SDL-built) in #4194
• Remove incorrect @Nullable from GraphQLSchema.getCodeRegistry() in #4247

Other Improvements

• AST directives holder has a toString() in #4195
• Add documentation and test for additionalTypes in GraphQLSchema in #4208
• Build and test using Java 25 by @yeikel in #4173
• Update Objenesis, Spock and Groovy by @m1ngyuan in #4240
• Bump Gradle wrapper to 9.3.1, Shadow to 9.3.1, Kotlin to 2.3.0

New Contributors

• @jbellenger made their first contribution in #4248
• @rstata made their first contribution in #4197
• @Samjin made their first contribution in #4204
• @m1ngyuan made their first contribution in #4240
• @yeikel made their first contribution in #4173

Full Changelog: v26.0.beta-1...v26.0.beta-2

This is a beta release for the upcoming version 26.

A word of warning

While all features are tested and we consider them ready to be used, we don't guarantee that this is a stable version: this means there will be more breaking changes until we reach 26.0.

This version is intended for testing and providing feedback to the GraphQL Java team.

What's Changed

• use dispatch all to not break ScheduledDataLoaderRegistry by @andimarek in #4164
• Upgrade to Gradle 9.2.0 by @Copilot in #4171
• fix build after gradle 9 upgrade by @andimarek in #4175
• GQLGW-5297-optimise-incremental-part-execution-for-defer-requests by @llin2 in #4174
• Bump actions/checkout from 5 to 6 by @dependabot[bot] in #4178
• Bump net.bytebuddy:byte-buddy from 1.17.8 to 1.18.1 by @dependabot[bot] in #4176
• Bump io.projectreactor:reactor-core from 3.7.12 to 3.8.0 by @dependabot[bot] in #4168
• Bump com.google.errorprone:error_prone_core from 2.43.0 to 2.44.0 by @dependabot[bot] in #4167
• Fix error: Unusable type signature for overload of graphql.schema.SchemaTraverser::depthFirst #4147 by @marktech0813 in #4165
• Getdataloader type bounds by @ctbarbour in #4180
• All fields removed from object/interface via field visibility transformer which is reachable via additional types by @andimarek in #4203
• fixes complex case for Field visibility transformer. See test case by @andimarek in #4205
• Proposal for an additional instrumentation hook point by @tinnou in #4206

New Contributors

• @Copilot made their first contribution in #4171
• @llin2 made their first contribution in #4174
• @marktech0813 made their first contribution in #4165
• @ctbarbour made their first contribution in #4180

Full Changelog: v25.0...v26.0.beta-1

Key changes

Dataloader

Refactoring strategy

The existing PerLevelDataLoaderStrategy has been refactored which lead to simplifications and performance improvements.

New strategies

Two new strategies were introduced: CHAINED and EXHAUSTED. Both can be configured via UnusalConfiguration (see next section).

CHAINED allow for chained DataLoaders to be used while keeping a per level dispatch strategies.

EXHAUSTED is a completely new strategy that works on the basis to dispatch once the engine is not busy. It mirrors the JS data loader dispatch strategy, but for a multi threaded system.

Unusual Configuration

A more generalised configuration mechanism has been added for "unusual configuration". By that we mean configuation we dont expect many people to use but if they do its now in a more common place

For example if you wanted to change the maximum depth the document parser will accept you could call the following methods.

        var parserOptions = newParserOptions().maxRuleDepth(99).build()
        GraphQL.unusualConfiguration().parsing().setDefaultParserOptions(parserOptions)

JSpecify Annotations

The team are starting to embrace https://jspecify.dev/ annotations as the way to indicate nullable and non nullable fields. Many important classes have had these annotations added to help make it more semantically clear when a value can be null or not.

Breaking Changes

A wrapping FetchedValue object is not always returned on field fetchers for performance reasons. This means that graphql.execution.instrumentation.parameters.InstrumentationFieldCompleteParameters#getFetchedObject was created to replace the older getFetchedValue method and the returns object can sometimes be a FetchedValue or sometimes a simple POJO value.

Performance improvements

A series of performance improvements have been made to reduce the memory footprint of the library. Also the Java .stream() operator can be slower than a more direct loop and many of these calls have been changed for performance reasons.

• avoid wrapping materialized fieldValueObject in a CompletableFuture by @samuelAndalon in #3943
• ExecutionStrategyParameters now has a direct transform without a Builder by @bbakerman in #3935
• ExecutionStepInfo now has a direct transform without a Builder by @bbakerman in #3934
• FpKit now longer uses streams for performance reasons by @bbakerman in #3932
• Implement toString/hashCode/equals for DataFetcherResult by @AlexandreCarlton in #3964
• Introduce a filter and map imperative method to replace .stream() calls by @bbakerman in #3931
• Removing some of the Optional.map() and .stream() for performance reasons by @bbakerman in #3930
• Stop creating NonNullableFieldValidator every for every object or list field by @bbakerman in #3929

What's Changed

• Bump EnricoMi/publish-unit-test-result-action from 2.18.0 to 2.19.0 by @dependabot[bot] in #3906
• Add JSpecify nullability annotations to DataFetcherResult by @dondonz in #3891
• Clean up ReactiveSupport by @hantsy in #3908
• Remove unused import by @ngocnhan-tran1996 in #3905
• Bump com.tngtech.archunit:archunit-junit5 from 1.2.0 to 1.4.0 by @dependabot[bot] in #3907
• add dataloader performance test by @andimarek in #3913
• Fix and improve EngineRunning state by @andimarek in #3911
• move jmh tests into dedicated folder by @andimarek in #3916
• Revert "New spec validation: Subscriptions root field must not contain @Skip nor @include on root selection set" by @dondonz in #3917
• Bump org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter from 5.12.1 to 5.12.2 by @dependabot[bot] in #3915
• Bump com.google.code.gson:gson from 2.12.1 to 2.13.0 by @dependabot[bot] in #3914
• Bump io.projectreactor:reactor-core from 3.7.4 to 3.7.5 by @dependabot[bot] in #3923
• Large in memory query benchmark by @bbakerman in #3921
• Bad naming in runner by @bbakerman in #3928
• Bump com.google.code.gson:gson from 2.13.0 to 2.13.1 by @dependabot[bot] in #3937
• Bump com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind from 2.18.3 to 2.19.0 by @dependabot[bot] in #3936
• avoid wrapping materialized fieldValueObject in a CompletableFuture by @samuelAndalon in #3943
• Test by @andimarek in #3946
• Test by @andimarek-atlassian in #3947
• reduce forks to 2 to make perf tests faster by @andimarek in #3948
• ResponseMapFactory #3857 by @dfa1 in #3894
• OSGI - Make org.jspecify.* imports optional by @schulm in #3949
• Specify nullness for some graphql.schema.idl classes by @mk868 in #3895
• fix case when a fragment is deferred and non deferred at the same time for overlapping fields by @andimarek in #3953
• Make JSpecify optional import more specific by @dondonz in #3959
• Retriveing singleton property fetchers will not create DataFetcherFactoryEnvironment objects by @bbakerman in #3942
• ExecutionStrategyParameters now has a direct transform without a Builder by @bbakerman in #3935
• ExecutionStepInfo now has a direct transform without a Builder by @bbakerman in #3934
• FpKit now longer uses streams for performance reasons by @bbakerman in #3932
• Implement toString/hashCode/equals for DataFetcherResult by @AlexandreCarlton in #3964
• add defer test case by @andimarek in #3967
• Add DataLoader 5.0.0 by @dondonz in #3958
• Introduce a filter and map imperative method to replace .stream() calls by @bbakerman in #3931
• Removing some of the Optional.map() and .stream() for performance reasons by @bbakerman in #3930
• Stop creating NonNullableFieldValidator every for every object or list field by @bbakerman in #3929
• Enable DataLoader chaining (nesting) by @andimarek in #3872
• Avoid rare TCK test failure by @andimarek in #3975
• Bump com.tngtech.archunit:archunit-junit5 from 1.4.0 to 1.4.1 by @dependabot[bot] in #3957
• A generalised configuration mechanism by @bbakerman in #3945
• update gradle wrapper validation by @andimarek in #3982
• Bump io.projectreactor:reactor-core from 3.7.5 to 3.7.6 by @dependabot[bot] in #3977
• deterministic SourceLocation serialization by @jbellenger in #3987
• make dataloader work inside defer blocks by @andimarek in #3980
• Bump EnricoMi/publish-unit-test-result-action from 2.19.0 to 2.20.0 by @dependabot[bot] in #3990
• Add ArchUnit rule to ban javax & JetBrains nullability annotations by @dondonz in #3985
• Query generator by @felipe-gdr in #3979
• upgrade antlr by @andimarek in #3997
• a bit more efficient load in case the strategy doesn't fit by @andimarek in #4001
• Bump org.apache.groovy:groovy-json from 4.0.26 to 4.0.27 by @dependabot[bot] in #3998
• Bump org.junit.jupiter:junit-jupiter from 5.12.2 to 5.13.0 by @dependabot[bot] in #3999
• Response factory as config by @bbakerman in #3950
• Bump org.apache.groovy:groovy from 4.0.26 to 4.0.27 by @dependabot[bot] in #4000
• minimize work done when chained dataloaders are disabled by @andimarek in #4003
• ensure DFEImpl graphql context is never n...

This is another beta release for the upcoming version 25.

A word of warning

While all features are tested and we consider them ready to be used, we don't guarantee that this is a stable version: this means there will be more breaking changes until we reach 25.0.

This version is intended for testing and providing feedback to the GraphQL Java team.

What's Changed

• Bump gradle/actions from 4 to 5 by @dependabot[bot] in #4132
• Memoize ResultPath level by @AlexandreCarlton in #4135
• More Chained DataLoaders performance improvements by @andimarek in #4136

Full Changelog: v25.0.beta-7...v25.0.beta-9

This is another beta release for the upcoming version 25.

It contains a new Data Loader dispatching strategy ... see #4130

A word of warning

While all features are tested and we consider them ready to be used, we don't guarantee that this is a stable version: this means there will be more breaking changes until we reach 25.0.

This version is intended for testing and providing feedback to the GraphQL Java team.

What's Changed

• Bump com.google.errorprone:error_prone_core from 2.41.0 to 2.42.0 by @dependabot[bot] in #4125
• 5.0.3 version of dataloader by @bbakerman in #4126
• Per level tracking simplification and performance improvements by @andimarek in #4128
• cleanup and comments for dataloader tracking by @andimarek in #4129
• Bump com.uber.nullaway:nullaway from 0.12.9 to 0.12.10 by @dependabot[bot] in #4124
• New Exhaustion based data loader dispatching strategy by @andimarek in #4130

Full Changelog: 25.0.beta-6...v25.0.beta-8

This is another beta release for the upcoming version 25.

This small bug fix brings in java-dataloader 5.0.3 which itself has a fix such that the Kotlin stdlib is not included a POM dependency

See https://github.com/graphql-java/java-dataloader/releases/tag/v5.0.3 for more details

What's Changed

• Backport new Sonatype credentials by @dondonz in #4061
• 5.0.3 version of dataloader on 24.x by @bbakerman in #4127

Full Changelog: v24.2...v24.3

This is another beta release for the upcoming version 25.

It contains various changes, specifically performance improvements for the new chained dataloader feature.

A word of warning

While all features are tested and we consider them ready to be used, we don't guarantee that this is a stable version: this means there will be more breaking changes until we reach 25.0.

This version is intended for testing and providing feedback to the GraphQL Java team.

What's Changed

• MergedField single field support by @bbakerman in #4056
• Prohibit JMH tests from having more than 2 forks by @dondonz in #4075
• Remove unused imports by @ngocnhan-tran1996 in #4078
• Require JSpecify annotations on new Public API and Experimental API classes by @dondonz in #3892
• Specify nullness for nodes in the graphql.language package by @mk868 in #3899
• Update badges and add book link by @dondonz in #4079
• Bump com.gradleup.shadow from 8.3.8 to 9.0.1 by @dependabot[bot] in #4080
• Fix IncrementalExecutionResult.transform() to preserve incremental fields by @AndreaRomani in #4073
• Type extension field name uniqueness is checked only once by @bbakerman in #4076
• Bump com.uber.nullaway:nullaway from 0.12.7 to 0.12.8 by @dependabot[bot] in #4081
• Bump actions/checkout from 4 to 5 by @dependabot[bot] in #4082
• Fixed deferred support to have proper Instrumentation by @bbakerman in #4083
• Prohibit Map.of and provide alternative methods by @dondonz in #4086
• Bump io.projectreactor:reactor-core from 3.7.8 to 3.7.9 by @dependabot[bot] in #4090
• Bump com.gradleup.shadow from 9.0.1 to 9.0.2 by @dependabot[bot] in #4091
• Bump org.eclipse.jetty:jetty-server from 11.0.25 to 11.0.26 by @dependabot[bot] in #4092
• Bump org.jetbrains.kotlin.jvm from 2.2.0 to 2.2.10 by @dependabot[bot] in #4093
• Bump net.bytebuddy:byte-buddy from 1.17.6 to 1.17.7 by @dependabot[bot] in #4094
• Add @NullUnmarked to builders by @dondonz in #4087
• Try revert this shadow change with JMH debugging by @dondonz in #4095
• Bump com.uber.nullaway:nullaway from 0.12.8 to 0.12.9 by @dependabot[bot] in #4100
• Bump actions/setup-java from 4 to 5 by @dependabot[bot] in #4101
• Bump actions/stale from 9 to 10 by @dependabot[bot] in #4110
• Bump aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials from 4 to 5 by @dependabot[bot] in #4109
• Bump com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind from 2.19.2 to 2.20.0 by @dependabot[bot] in #4106
• Removed ' character from introspection messages by @bbakerman in #4112
• Dont include Kotlin stdlib as a dependency by @bbakerman in #4113
• Bump io.projectreactor:reactor-core from 3.7.9 to 3.7.11 by @dependabot[bot] in #4117
• Bump org.jetbrains.kotlin.jvm from 2.2.10 to 2.2.20 by @dependabot[bot] in #4116
• Bump com.google.code.gson:gson from 2.13.1 to 2.13.2 by @dependabot[bot] in #4114
• Chained dl performance improvements with no locking by @andimarek in #4123
• chained data loader performance improvements by @andimarek in #4122

New Contributors

• @AndreaRomani made their first contribution in #4073

Full Changelog: v25.0.beta-5...25.0.beta-6

This is another beta release for the upcoming version 25.

This beta-5 release includes improvements to the Profiler to make it easier to use and analyse. More documentation on the Profiler is to come.

A word of warning

While all features are tested and we consider them ready to be used, we don't guarantee that this is a stable version: this means there will be more breaking changes until we reach 25.0.

This version is intended for testing and providing feedback to the GraphQL Java team.

What's Changed

• Bump org.apache.groovy:groovy from 4.0.27 to 4.0.28 by @dependabot[bot] in #4066
• Bump com.fasterxml.jackson.core:jackson-databind from 2.19.1 to 2.19.2 by @dependabot[bot] in #4065
• Bump com.graphql-java:java-dataloader from 5.0.1 to 5.0.2 by @dependabot[bot] in #4064
• Bump io.projectreactor:reactor-core from 3.7.7 to 3.7.8 by @dependabot[bot] in #4062
• Bump com.google.errorprone:error_prone_core from 2.40.0 to 2.41.0 by @dependabot[bot] in #4067
• A smidge faster unwrap non-null by @bbakerman in #4059
• comment out the processor by default by @andimarek in #4071
• cleanup of no longer used Agent class by @andimarek in #4070
• Profiler tweaks for JSON serialisation by @dondonz in #4068

Full Changelog: v25.0.beta-4...v25.0.beta-5