What plans include Graph Pruning?

Graph Pruning is available on Pro and Enterprise plans.

What are the three Graph Pruning rules?

UNUSED_FIELDS identifies fields with no usage. DEPRECATED_FIELDS flags deprecated fields still in the schema. REQUIRE_DEPRECATION_BEFORE_DELETION fails checks when fields are removed without prior @deprecated marking.

What usage data does Graph Pruning analyze?

Graph Pruning queries the Cosmo analytics pipeline for field usage within the configured check period. Analytics must be enabled for usage data to be available.

What is the grace period?

The grace period is a configurable time window after a field is published before Graph Pruning rules are enforced. It prevents rules from flagging fields that are new and not yet widely adopted.

Can I configure the usage check period?

Enterprise customers can configure the schema usage check period. On other plans, the period is determined by billing plan limits.

Does Graph Pruning run automatically?

Graph Pruning rules run during wgc subgraph check operations. They do not run automatically outside of a check.

Graph Pruning for Federated GraphQL | Cosmo by WunderGraph

The problem

Schemas grow. Fields rarely leave.

Without usage data, there is no safe way to know which fields to remove, which deprecated fields still have traffic, or which deletions need a warning first.

Schemas accumulate unused fields over time

Teams add fields speculatively. Features are removed but fields remain. Without usage data, there is no way to know which fields are safe to remove.

Deprecated fields linger indefinitely

Fields are marked @deprecated but never removed. Without tracking which deprecated fields still receive traffic, teams cannot safely complete the cleanup.

Deleting fields without prior deprecation breaks consumers

Removing a field that was never formally deprecated gives consumers no warning. A deletion policy that requires deprecation first protects downstream teams.

Our solution

Usage-based schema pruning

Graph Pruning runs during schema checks and queries real traffic data to flag unused fields, track lingering deprecated fields, and block deletions that skipped the deprecation step.

From check to clean schema

Graph Pruning rules run during schema check operations alongside other lint and breaking change checks.
The linter analyzes the schema and queries the analytics pipeline for field usage data.
UNUSED_FIELDS identifies fields with no usage within the check period.
DEPRECATED_FIELDS flags deprecated fields still present in the schema.
REQUIRE_DEPRECATION_BEFORE_DELETION fails checks that attempt to delete fields not previously marked as @deprecated.
A grace period can be configured to prevent false positives on recently published fields.

Real traffic data. Informed decisions. Cleaner schemas.

Graph Pruning

Before & After

Before Cosmo	With Cosmo
Unknown which fields clients actually use	UNUSED_FIELDS rule flags fields with no traffic in the check period
Deprecated fields remain in the schema indefinitely	DEPRECATED_FIELDS rule identifies deprecated fields still present
Fields deleted without warning to consumers	REQUIRE_DEPRECATION_BEFORE_DELETION fails checks that skip deprecation
False positives on recently added fields	Configurable grace period before rules are enforced

Rules

The three Graph Pruning rules

UNUSED_FIELDS: Identifies fields with no usage within the configured check period.
DEPRECATED_FIELDS: Flags deprecated fields that still appear in the schema.
REQUIRE_DEPRECATION_BEFORE_DELETION: Fails checks when fields are deleted without prior @deprecated marking.

How Graph Pruning works in Cosmo

01

Three rules, configurable per namespace.

Enable

Enable Graph Pruning in Cosmo Studio for the namespace. Select which of the three rules to activate.

02

Grace period prevents false positives.

Configure

Set severity (error or warning) and grace period for each rule. Enterprise customers can also configure the schema usage check period.

03

Checks against real traffic data.

Check

Run wgc subgraph check. Graph Pruning evaluates the schema against usage data from the analytics pipeline.

04

Usage-informed decisions.

Act

Review flagged fields. Remove fields with no usage, communicate deprecation for fields still in use, or add @deprecated before deletion.

Capabilities

What Graph Pruning gives you

Usage-based analysis

Rules check field usage against real traffic data from the analytics pipeline. Decisions are based on actual queries, not estimates.

Grace period

Configure a time window after schema publication before rules are enforced. Prevents false positives on fields published but not yet widely adopted.

Three rules, independent configuration

UNUSED_FIELDS, DEPRECATED_FIELDS, and REQUIRE_DEPRECATION_BEFORE_DELETION each have their own severity and grace period settings.

Configurable check period

Enterprise customers can set the time window for usage analysis. Other plans use the period defined by their billing plan.

Remove fields with confidence

Use real traffic data to identify what is safe to remove. Available on Pro and Enterprise.

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Find unused fields before they become technical debt