[Bug]: GraphQL aggregate field missing from connection types despite documentation

[MarsKong123]

Link to the documentation page or resource

https://docs.strapi.io/cms/api/graphql#aggregations

Describe the bug

According to the official Strapi documentation, connection types in the GraphQL API (such as doctors_connection) should include aggregate field for aggregation queries. However, after installing the latest Strapi core and @strapi/plugin-graphql (v5.43.0), this field is missing from the generated GraphQL schema.

I have set v4CompatibilityMode to false in plugins.ts and restarted the server, but the aggregate field still DO NOT appear in the schema introspection results.

This issue makes it impossible to perform aggregation queries as described in the documentation.

Please clarify whether this is a documentation error, a missing feature, or if there are additional steps required to enable these fields.

My GraphQL query:

query {
    doctors_connection {
        aggregate {
            count
        }
    }
}

The error message i got:

{
    "errors": [
        {
            "message": "Cannot query field \"aggregate\" on type \"DoctorEntityResponseCollection\".",
            "locations": [
                {
                    "line": 3,
                    "column": 9
                }
            ],
            "extensions": {
                "code": "GRAPHQL_VALIDATION_FAILED",
                "stacktrace": [
                    ...
                ]
            }
        }
    ]
}

Additional context

No response

Suggested improvements or fixes

No response

Related issue(s)/PR(s)

No response

[github-actions]

🤖 I've analyzed your question and here's what I found:

Thanks for the detailed bug report — you've clearly done your homework here, and this is a genuinely useful find for the community! 🙌

What's happening

You're right to flag this. The official Strapi 5 documentation clearly describes aggregate fields on *_connection types, but based on the error you're seeing (Cannot query field "aggregate" on type "DoctorEntityResponseCollection"), the aggregate field is not present in the generated schema for your version.

Looking at the source code for the response-collection builder, the current implementation only exposes nodes and pageInfo (plus data and meta in v4CompatibilityMode) — there is no aggregate field being registered in the schema builder: [response-collection source]

This means the aggregation feature described in the documentation is either:

• Not yet fully shipped in @strapi/plugin-graphql v5.43.0, or
• Was added to the documentation ahead of the implementation being released

The documentation was updated to include the aggregations section as part of release 6.12.0 of the docs: [release notes]

This looks like a product bug / missing feature

This discrepancy between the documentation and the actual generated schema is a real issue that warrants core team attention. I'd flag @pwizla for a potential transfer to the strapi/strapi repository to investigate whether:

1. The aggregate field implementation is missing from the plugin, or
2. It requires a newer version of @strapi/plugin-graphql than v5.43.0

In the meantime

Unfortunately, there is no documented workaround for performing server-side aggregations via GraphQL if the aggregate field is absent from the schema. As an alternative, you could:

• Use the REST API with pagination metadata to get counts (e.g., GET /api/doctors?pagination[pageSize]=1 returns meta.pagination.total)
• Implement a custom GraphQL resolver that manually computes aggregations using the Document Service API

Next steps

• ✅ You can track this on the Strapi GitHub repository
• 💬 Join the Strapi Discord community for real-time help from the team and community
• 📣 If you'd like to upvote this as a feature priority, you can also visit feedback.strapi.io

Thank you again for taking the time to report this so thoroughly — it genuinely helps improve Strapi for everyone! 🙏

📚 Relevant documentation:

• Advanced queries for the GraphQL API
• Documentation release notes - 6.12.0
• GraphQL API
• GraphQL API - Aggregations
• GraphQL API - Combine with pagination and sorting
• Strapi > Strapi > Blob > Develop > Packages > Plugins > Graphql > Server > Src > Services > Builders - relation-response-collection.ts
• Strapi > Strapi > Blob > Develop > Packages > Plugins > Graphql > Server > Src > Services > Builders - response-collection.ts
• Strapi > Strapi > Blob > Develop > Packages > Plugins > Graphql > Server > Src > Services > Builders - type.ts (L224-L300)
• Strapi > Strapi > Blob > Develop > Packages > Plugins > Graphql > Server > Src > Services > Builders - type.ts (L331-L441) > buildTypeDefinition
• Strapi > Strapi > Blob > Develop > Packages > Plugins > Graphql > Server > Src > Services > Builders > Queries - collection-type.ts (L132-L171)
• Strapi > Strapi > Blob > Develop > Packages > Plugins > Graphql > Server > Src > Services > Builders > Queries - collection-type.ts (L6-L131)
• Strapi > Strapi > Blob > Develop > Packages > Plugins > Graphql > Server > Src > Services > Content-api - index.ts (L22-L120)
• The GraphQL API has been updated
• The GraphQL API has been updated - Migration

---

ℹ️ This response was generated automatically. If this doesn't fully answer your question or if you need further assistance, please mention @pwizla in a comment and a human maintainer will help you.

You can also try our interactive AI chat for more detailed assistance.

💡 For feature requests or product feedback, visit feedback.strapi.io.

[pwizla]

Hi @MarsKong123, thanks for reporting this.

The bot's analysis is correct: the aggregation feature described in our docs is not yet implemented in @strapi/plugin-graphql. The documentation was published ahead of the actual implementation.

We've updated the docs to reflect the current state in #3183.

In the meantime, you can get a total document count through the REST API:

GET /api/doctors?pagination[pageSize]=1

The response includes meta.pagination.total with the total count.

For more complex aggregations, you'd need a custom GraphQL resolver using the Document Service API.

Sorry for the confusion, and thanks again for flagging this.