Clients can now send library name and version metadata for client awareness and enhanced client awareness using HTTP headers. This provides a consistent transport mechanism instead of splitting values between headers and request.extensions.
By @calvincestari in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8503
You can now configure tag-based OCI references in the router. When you use a tag reference such as artifacts.apollographql.com/my-org/my-graph:prod, the router polls and reloads when that tag points to a new artifact.
This also applies to automatically generated variant tags and custom tags.
By @graytonio in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8805
The router now supports a memory_limit option on experimental_cooperative_cancellation to cap memory allocations during query planning. When the memory limit is exceeded, the router:
enforce mode, cancels query planning and returns an error to the client.measure mode, records the cancellation outcome in metrics and allows query planning to complete.The memory limit works alongside the existing timeout option. Whichever limit is reached first triggers cancellation.
This feature is only available on Unix platforms when the global-allocator feature is enabled and dhat-heap is not enabled.
Example configuration:
supergraph:
query_planning:
experimental_cooperative_cancellation:
enabled: true
mode: enforce # or "measure" to only record metrics
memory_limit: 50mb # Supports formats like "50mb", "1gb", "1024kb", etc.
timeout: 5s # Optional: can be combined with memory_limitBy @rohan-b99 in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8808
The router now emits two histogram metrics to track memory allocation activity during request processing:
apollo.router.request.memory: Memory activity across the full request lifecycle (including parsing, validation, query planning, and plugins)apollo.router.query_planner.memory: Memory activity for query planning work in the compute job thread poolEach metric includes:
allocation.type: allocated, deallocated, zeroed, or reallocatedcontext: The tracking context name (for example, router.request or query_planning)This feature is only available on Unix platforms when the global-allocator feature is enabled and dhat-heap is not enabled.
By @rohan-b99 in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8717
@key fields in response caching (PR #8767)Response caching can now use nullable @key fields. Previously, the response caching feature rejected nullable @key fields, which prevented caching in schemas that use them.
When you cache data keyed by nullable fields, keep your cache keys simple and avoid ambiguous null values.
By @aaronArinder in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8767
429 instead of 503 when enforcing a rate limit (PR #8765)In v2.0.0, the router changed the rate-limiting error from 429 (TOO_MANY_REQUESTS) to 503 (SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE). This change restores 429 to align with the router error documentation.
By @carodewig in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8765
http_request spans (PR #8775)The router now always adds the http.response.status_code attribute to http_request spans (for example, for router -> subgraph requests). The router also conditionally adds error.type for non-success status codes.
By @rohan-b99 in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8775
The router now returns an error when response cache invalidation fails. Previously, an invalidation attempt could fail without being surfaced as an error.
After you upgrade, you might see an increase in the apollo.router.operations.response_cache.invalidation.error metric.
By @bnjjj in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8813
The response cache now reuses Redis connection pools when subgraph-level configuration resolves to the same Redis configuration as the global all setting. Previously, the router could create redundant Redis connections even when the effective configuration was identical.
Impact: If you configure response caching at both the global and subgraph levels, you should see fewer Redis connections and lower connection overhead.
By @bnjjj in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8764
The router listener loop no longer blocks while waiting for a TLS handshake to complete. Use server.http.tls_handshake_timeout to control how long the router waits before terminating a connection (default: 10s).
By @rohan-b99 in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8779
The router now emits the apollo.router.telemetry.metrics.cardinality_overflow metric for additional OpenTelemetry cardinality overflow error formats.
By @bonnici in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8740
The router now injects trace propagation headers into the initial HTTP upgrade request when it opens WebSocket connections to subgraphs. This preserves distributed trace continuity between the router and subgraph services.
Trace propagation happens during the HTTP handshake only. After the WebSocket connection is established, headers cannot be added to individual messages.
By @theJC in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8739
Query planning compute jobs now stop when cooperative cancellation cancels the parent task.
By @rohan-b99 in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8741
The response cache invalidation endpoint now rejects request payloads that include unknown fields. When unknown fields are present, the router returns HTTP 400 (Bad Request).
By @bnjjj in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8752
SubscriptionTaskParams in execution::Request builders (PR #8771)Plugins and other external crates can use SubscriptionTaskParams with execution::Request builders again. This restores compatibility for plugin unit tests that construct subscription requests.
By @aaronArinder in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8771
When issuers or audiences is included in the router's JWK configuration, the router will check each request's JWT for iss or aud and reject requests with mismatches.
Expected behavior:
iss claim must be specified as a string.
issuers is empty.iss is a string and is present in the JWK's issuers.iss is null.iss is a string but is not present in the JWK's issuers.iss is not a string or null.aud claim can be specified as either a string or an array of strings.
audiences is empty.aud is a string and is present in the JWK's audiences.aud is an array of strings and at least one of those strings is present in the JWK's audiences.aud is not a string or array of strings (i.e., null).Behavior prior to this change:
iss was not null or a string, it was permitted (regardless of its value).aud was an array, it was rejected (regardless of its value).By @carodewig in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8780
The router now enforces license restrictions even when a license is in a warning state. Previously, warning-state licenses could bypass enforcement for restricted features.
If your deployment uses restricted features, the router returns an error instead of continuing to run.
By @aaronArinder in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8768
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT is set (PR #8729)The router now displays a warning at startup if the OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT environment variable is set. This variable takes precedence over default configurations and can override trace export to Apollo Studio, so the warning helps you identify when telemetry data might not be sent where expected.
By @apollo-mateuswgoettems in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8729
Perform the 'unresponsive' check every two seconds. This aligns with the Redis client's guideline that the check interval should be less than half the timeout value.
By @carodewig in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8763
Corrected the subscription support documentation to reflect that subscriptions are available on all GraphOS plans (Free, Developer, Standard, and Enterprise) with self-hosted routers.
The documentation previously stated that subscription support was an Enterprise-only feature for self-hosted routers, which was incorrect. Subscriptions are a licensed feature available to all GraphOS plans when the router is connected to GraphOS with an API key and graph ref.
Updated both the configuration and overview pages to remove the misleading Enterprise-only requirement and clarify the actual requirements.
By @the-gigi-apollo in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8726
The traffic shaping documentation now clearly explains how the router handles HTTP compression headers for subgraph requests. It clarifies that content-encoding is set when compression is configured via traffic_shaping, while accept-encoding is automatically set on all subgraph requests to indicate the router can accept compressed responses (gzip, br, or deflate). The documentation also notes that these headers are added after requests are added to the debug stack, so they won't appear in the Connectors Debugger.
By @the-gigi-apollo in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8773
The documentation now explains how histogram bucket configuration affects timeout monitoring in Prometheus and other metrics exporters.
The documentation now includes:
0.001 to 10.0 seconds)telemetry.exporters.metrics.common.buckets to match your timeout settingsThis update helps users understand why their timeout metrics may not behave as expected and provides clear guidance on customizing buckets for applications with longer timeout configurations.
By @the-gigi-apollo in https://github.com/apollographql/router/pull/8783
Fetched April 11, 2026