apollo-server-plugin-response-cache: cache hint not working

My apollo graphql server setup uses the following:

    "apollo-datasource-rest": "^0.6.9",
    "apollo-server-express": "^2.9.12",
    "apollo-server-plugin-response-cache": "^0.3.8",

My schema:

type Query {
  types: [Type!]! @cacheControl(maxAge: 3600)
}

type Type {
  id: ID!
  label: String!
  active: Boolean!
}

My responseCachePlugin config:

responseCachePlugin({
    sessionId: (requestContext) => (requestContext.request.http.headers.get('sessionId') || null),
  })

Neither the static cache hint like the above nor the dynamic cache hint in the resolver work. i.e., they don’t cache the response from the datasource (REST API).

A bunch of other devs reported this issue on Spectrum. One of the Spectrum posts points to the problem:

The property requestContext.overallCachePolicy doesn't get updated by the cache hint, nither the static one in schema or the dynamic one ...
The value is always the cacheControl you configured when creating ApolloServer

github link to the line in the code where there is a potential problem: https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-server/blob/1acf62d903253f5669c0c4f7255c8a87b95b5e6c/packages/apollo-server-plugin-response-cache/src/ApolloServerPluginResponseCache.ts#L243

Spectrum post that details the above issue: https://spectrum.chat/apollo/apollo-server/apollo-server-plugin-response-cache-is-not-working-properly~e3390cd4-9e3f-4919-88b4-92508e235e38

Other Spectrum posts that talk about this problem:

1. https://spectrum.chat/apollo/apollo-server/cachecontrol-does-not-work-unless-defaultmaxage-is-set~0e4dc3c5-7cdc-40be-b833-0b2d436d1288
2. https://spectrum.chat/apollo/apollo-server/does-rediscache-work-in-dev-mode~18358268-8d11-4b13-a0c9-abddfb6623f3

cc to: @trevor-scheer

[leonardoanalista]

It’s disappointing the cache only works if you set a global caching settings:

  const server = new ApolloServer({
    cacheControl: {
       defaultMaxAge: 50,
    },
    plugins: [responseCachePlugin()],
    cache: new RedisCache({
      host: '127.0.0.1',
      namespace: 'apollo-cache:',
    }),

I am using merge-graphql-schemas with Redis and I am unable to get anything cached without the global settings.

I think it is a great idea to @cacheControl in the schema but it would be even better it it works first.

[leonardoanalista]

It is documented correctly but the result is not something usable. If you can’t set a overall cache, the cache doesn’t work at all. This is basically the issue. I wonder if someone from Apollo actively looks at the issues?