Amplify-cli: using createdAt as a sortKey in @key directive results mandatory id and createdAt fields in CreateItemInput and CreateItem mutation in GraphQL Transform

[iselcuk]

In GraphQL Transform, transforming a schema that includes @key directive like: @key(fields: ["id", "createdAt"]) forces to make key fields non-nullable and that results with mandatory id and createdAt fields in CreateItemInput. Since CreateItemInput has these mandatory fields, it is a must to pass id and createdAt to createItem mutation. I want createdAt to be handled by automatically like mentioned here if it is possible: Timestamps for GraphQL/AppSync models

Example:

type Item @model @key(fields: ["id", "createdAt"]){
    id: ID!
    createdAt: String!
}

Result:

input CreateItemInput {
    id: ID!
    createdAt: String!
}

Expected Result:

input CreateItemInput {
    id: ID
    createdAt: String
}

[iselcuk]

Also it is not limited to createdAt. Using @key directive with custom fields like @key(fields: ["id", "sortKey"] results with non-nullable id and sortKey fields in CreateItemInput and UpdateItemInput.

[Crisp3333]

I am in favor of this. A scenario where this is critical is a real time application where the date field must be controlled by one global system/server that sets the time. If the time is set by the application code, then there could be lapses and inconsistencies reflected in time of multiple events. If device A creates a mutation before device B, there is a strong possibility device B's time record in the database is earlier than the record of device A (This is due to the system time of each device). This is a BIG problem if device A and B are communicating.

A solution in the mean time would be to send the records to a AWS lambda function to deal with the mutation, that is, the AWS lambda function handling the createdAt time would be global for all devices. However, I have not thought much into this solution, still looking into way as this is a current problem I am facing.

[Crisp3333]

I did some research and a quick solution would be is to use an api to get a uniform time. If it is very important for the time timestamp to be consistent (which it should) you can use truetime library. I am using the truetime library so regardless of any system my application is running on, I will at least have consistent times for my database entries.

[dseeker]

bump, just encountered this limitation.
Key directive must be able to accept nulls to allow autoid, server createdAt and updatedAt
related to https://github.com/aws-amplify/amplify-cli/pull/356

[ajhool]

I've always had trouble retrieving createdAt because it isn't in the autogenerated schema and I think there might have been a resolver issue at one point. Are you able to retrieve createdAt?

Edit: confirmed access issue - #401

[hirochachacha]

I've created https://github.com/hirochachacha/graphql-auto-transformer for solving these kinds of problems.

[hirochachacha]

Usage:

type Item @model @key(fields: ["id", "createdAt"]){
    id: ID!
    createdAt: String! @auto
}

[hirochachacha]

It turned out that amplify's import mechanism is broken. https://github.com/aws-amplify/amplify-cli/pull/3236
So above approach doesn't work right now.

[hanna-becker]

@hirochachacha Your transformer works again, since the issue above was resolved and merged about two weeks ago. However, when I use three field values, the composite key cannot not retrieve the autogenerated value.

E.g., this model
type ChatMessageV2 @model @key(fields: ["projectId", "createdAt", "sender"]) { id: ID! message: String type: ChatMessageType projectId: String! createdAt: AWSDateTime! @auto updatedAt: AWSDateTime sender: String! }

generates a correct looking Create mutation, however, when using it, it results in DB entries that look like this:
{ "__typename": "ChatMessageV2", "createdAt": "2020-05-23T12:55:09.630Z", "createdAt#sender": "${ctx.args.input.createdAt}#hanna", "message": "Hello", "projectId": "2889e7fc-53b2-4807-a862-e8898f5e1ebd", "sender": "hanna", "updatedAt": "2020-05-23T12:55:09.630Z" }

As you can see, the "createdAt#sender" field is still trying to retrieve the createdAt value from the input, instead of using the auto-generated one. Is this something you could fix easily?

I am using the latest amplify-cli version (4.20.0).

[hirochachacha]

@hanna-becker I've released 1.3.0 which might solve your problem.

[yuth]

This fix is released in Amplify CLI v4.21.1

[TheUncharted]

@hirochachacha Hi
I used your transformer but got an error when trying a basic mutation
I looked in the resolver and it seems the code generated as a little bug

$util.qr($context.args.input.put("createdAt", $util.defaultIfNull($ctx.args.input.createdAt, util.time.nowISO8601())))

missing a '$' before util.time.nowISO8601

[hirochachacha]

@TheUncharted Fixed. Thanks for pointing it out. BTW, If you find specific issues about the plugin, please report at https://github.com/hirochachacha/graphql-auto-transformer/issues instead. Thanks.