IBM API Connect for GraphQL

Overview

IBM API Connect for GraphQL as a Service is a modern API platform that lets you build GraphQL APIs and MCP Servers for all your data sources using a declarative approach. APIs run in an in-memory Golang based GraphQL engine deployed into Kubernetes, and are highly responsive to application needs. Delivered as a fully managed SaaS, it enables developers to create concise, performant GraphQL APIs and agent ready MCP servers in minutes, deploy in seconds, and run securely without managing infrastructure. APIs are built using a declarative approach, allowing developers to compose GraphQL schemas, federated graphs (supergraphs), and MCP endpoints by combining building blocks that describe your enterprise data. Strong introspection and schema composition mean you can model and expose your data; for applications, agents, or AI; with just a few lines of code. The platform runs on a high-performance, in memory Golang based engine deployed to Kubernetes, delivering low latency, high throughput, and minimal backend load. At runtime, it optimizes queries and orchestrates access to your backends, whether they are public or private, SQL, NoSQL, REST, SOAP/XML, or even other GraphQL APIs. Build modern APIs for any data source. Concise, declarative APIs and MCP Servers ready for applications and AI agents alike. Any data source. Any sized graph or schema. Learn more: https://stepzen.com/product/build  Deploy & Run at scale. Fully managed Golang-based query optimization engine. Scale, secure, and optimize APIs and backends; no servers to manage. Learn more: https://stepzen.com/product/run-serverless  Federate your data. The only declarative approach for federated GraphQL and agent ready data access. Learn more: https://stepzen.com/product/federation 

Highlights

• Build GraphQL APIs & MCP Servers for all your data sources in minutes, deploy them in seconds, and run them securely and efficiently as fully managed SaaS.

• Unparalleled flexibility to retrieve data wherever it resides. Connect data from any backend data source: SQL, NoSQL, REST, SOAP/XML, GraphQL etc. Declarative, consistent approach reduces backend complexity. IBM API Connect Essentials as a Service's declarative approach to GraphQL results in smaller and more intuitive code, better runtime performance, and faster time to value.

• Automatic performance optimizations. Because the API is defined declaratively, IBM API Connect Essentials as a Service's runtime engine can parse the backend calls and create an optimal execution plan that includes caching, memorization, parallelization's, and combining multiple calls into one (N+1 problem). Furthermore, the runtime is a carefully designed thread-safe implementation in Golang, resulting in only a few milliseconds overhead.