Using Global Node IDs

Global node IDs help you query about specific Scope objects (users, groups, scenarios, etc.) via the Scope GraphQL API.

You can get global node IDs from the REST API and/or webhooks.

In REST, the global node ID field is named node_id, and in webhooks, the global node ID field is named resource_id. In GraphQL, it's an id field on the node interface. For a refresher on what "node" means in GraphQL, see "Introduction to GraphQL."

In this article

1 Putting global node IDs to use
2 Using global node IDs in migrations

Putting global node IDs to use

You can follow three steps to use global node IDs effectively:

Call a REST endpoint that returns an object's node_id, receive a webhook that supplies a resource_id for an object, or execute a GraphQL query that returns an id for an object.
Find the object's type in the GraphQL reference docs.
Use the ID and type to do a direct node lookup in GraphQL.

Let's walk through an example.

1. Execute a GraphQL query that returns an id for an object

While Exploring the Graph, execute the following query

query {
  viewer {
    organization {
      groups {
        nodes {
          id
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

you'll get a response that includes the id of each group registered for the organization associated with the authenticate user:

{
  "data": {
    "viewer": {
      "lastName": "Support",
      "email": "support@scopear.com",
      "organization": {
        "groups": {
          "nodes": [
            {
              "name": "Default",
              "id": "OiSSdfK1Su4gwG4zAi2InavDB9eRE9aOnGHYRMG5dqY=",
              "databaseId": "1"
            },
            {
              "name": "GroupA",
              "id": "6_kJ_XUGDxMDWkwq2bAK-dKknUQ7GPpsI2yfj691f9L2n6N4sAhdU4urWqNG1RVX",
              "databaseId": "497"
            },
            {
              "name": "GroupB",
              "id": "883xpQFv8XQ8-_RgxNUOHdKknUQ7GPpsI2yfj691f9L2n6N4sAhdU4urWqNG1RVX",
              "databaseId": "498"
            },
            {
              "name": "GroupC",
              "id": "p8jFJG8yW_IEBdf0IRiqRdKknUQ7GPpsI2yfj691f9L2n6N4sAhdU4urWqNG1RVX",
              "databaseId": "593"
            },
            {
              "name": "RAR Users",
              "id": "5s5FE2crVGovEVQX2rXEMdKknUQ7GPpsI2yfj691f9L2n6N4sAhdU4urWqNG1RVX",
              "databaseId": "647"
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

2. Find the object type in GraphQL

In this example, the id value of the first group is OiSSdfK1Su4gwG4zAi2InavDB9eRE9aOnGHYRMG5dqY=. You can use this value to query the same object in GraphQL.

You'll need to know the object's type first, though. If you don’t know the type of an object, you can check the type with a simple GraphQL query:

{
  "data": {
    "node": {
      "__typename": "Group"
    }
  }
}

This type of query—that is, finding the node by ID—is known as a "direct node lookup."

When you run this query, you'll see that the __typename is Group.

3. Do a direct node lookup in GraphQL

Once you've confirmed the type, you can use an inline fragment to access the object by its ID and return additional data. In this example, we define the fields on User that we'd like to query:

This type of query is the standard approach for looking up an object by its global node ID.

Using global node IDs in migrations

When building integrations that use either the REST API or the GraphQL API, it's best practice to persist the global node ID so you can easily reference objects across API versions. For more information on handling the transition between REST and GraphQL, see "Migrating from REST to GraphQL."