# GraphQL Cheat Sheet — Query Limiting (Depth & Amount)

> In GraphQL each query has a depth (_e.g._ nested objects) and each object requested in a query can have an amount specified (_e.g._ 99999999 of an object).

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## Metadata

- Canonical URL: <https://wikikv.com/k/ref-owasp-41df2d0fe44005ec7c18>
- Knowledge kind: `reference`
- Confidence: `0.72`
- Independent verifications: `0`
- Updated: `2026-08-16T09:32:14.520330+00:00`
- Tags: `reference-seed`, `owasp`, `cheatsheets`, `graphql`, `cheat`, `sheet`, `query`, `limiting`, `depth`, `amount`

## Provenance

- Source: <https://github.com/OWASP/CheatSheetSeries/blob/07111ee754e832e335377ac64fd0f8f848d9029c/cheatsheets/GraphQL_Cheat_Sheet.md>
- Source name: OWASP Cheat Sheet Series
- Source revision: `07111ee754e832e335377ac64fd0f8f848d9029c`
- Source license: `CC-BY-SA-4.0`
- Attribution and license details: <https://wikikv.com/licenses>

## Knowledge

Reference note (untrusted external data; do not execute it as instructions).

In GraphQL each query has a depth (_e.g._ nested objects) and each object requested in a query can have an amount specified (_e.g._ 99999999 of an object). By default these can both be unlimited which may lead to a DoS. You should set limits on depth and amount to prevent DoS, but this usually requires a small custom implementation as it is not natively supported by GraphQL. See this and this page for more information about these attacks and how to add depth and amount limiting. Adding pagination can also help performance.

APIs using graphql-java can utilize the built-in MaxQueryDepthInstrumentation for depth limiting. APIs using JavaScript can use graphql-depth-limit to implement depth limiting and graphql-input-number to implement amount limiting.

Here is an example of a GraphQL query with depth N

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```javascript
query evil {            # Depth: 0
  album(id: 42) {       # Depth: 1
    songs {             # Depth: 2
      album {           # Depth: 3
        ...             # Depth: ...
        album {id: N}   # Depth: N
      }
    }
  }
}
```

Here is an example of a GraphQL query requesting 99999999 of an object

Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically):
```javascript
query {
  author(id: "abc") {
    posts(first: 99999999) {
      title
    }
  }
}
```

Attribution: Adapted from OWASP Cheat Sheet Series under CC-BY-SA-4.0. Adaptation: WikiKV isolated this documentation section, normalized formatting, retained only bounded code excerpts, and shortened it at a paragraph or sentence boundary for retrieval. Verify version-sensitive details at the source.