Why it's a strong pick

Apollo Client Devtools lets you see what your Apollo Client app is asking for and what it stored. It is open source under the MIT license, and its code is public on GitHub. It uses Manifest V3, Chrome's current extension format. Its latest release was on 11 September 2026.

What it does

The extension adds an Apollo panel to Chrome DevTools. You can run queries against your GraphQL server, watch the queries your app has running, look at mutations and search the cache. It works with Apollo Client apps only.

Key features

Explorer. Run queries against your GraphQL server.
Watched query inspector. See the queries your app is watching.
Mutation inspector. Check the mutations your app sends.
Cache inspector. Browse what Apollo has stored, with search.
Narrow host access. The manifest lists no host permissions.

Who it's for

Apollo Client Devtools is for front-end developers who build GraphQL apps with Apollo Client. If your app uses another GraphQL client, this panel will not show your data.

What permissions does Apollo Client Devtools ask for?

Its manifest asks for storage and lists no host permissions. It runs content scripts on all pages, and one of them runs in the page's own context. It also adds a DevTools page. We could not read the developer's privacy policy when we checked; read it before installing.

Which Apollo Client versions does it support?

The README says it supports the current minor version of Apollo Client, with best effort for older 3.x versions. It does not support 2.x. If your app is on an older release, check the project's README before you spend time on setup.

What can the Explorer do?

The Explorer lets you write and run queries against your GraphQL server from inside DevTools. That helps you test a query before you put it in code. It is one of four main tools in the panel, next to the query, mutation and cache inspectors.

FAQ

Does it work with any GraphQL client? No. It is for Apollo Client apps.

Can I search the cache? Yes. The cache inspector has search.

Is it open source? Yes, under the MIT license.

Good to know

Check your Apollo Client version first. Support is best on the current minor release, and 2.x is not supported at all. Also remember that its content scripts run on every page, so turn it off when you are not doing GraphQL work.

Other developer tools to compare

Apollo Client Devtools is one of 13 picks in our developer tools guide:

Redux DevTools: debug Redux state.
Preact Developer Tools: inspect Preact components.
JSON Formatter: read JSON responses.
Lighthouse: audit a page.
React Developer Tools: inspect React components.
Vue.js devtools: inspect Vue 3 apps.
Requestly: Open-source HTTP interceptor: redirect URLs, modify headers and mock requests while you test.
Solid DevTools: debug SolidJS reactivity.
Ember Inspector: inspect Ember.js apps.
MobX Developer Tools: debug MobX apps.
Refined GitHub: Simplifies GitHub and adds 100+ small improvements for repos and pull requests. Works on GitHub.com only. Open source.
Header Editor: Rewrites request and response headers, redirects and blocks requests with rules you set. The Chrome build is the Lite version. Open source.