Documentation

A Introduction#

FRAGMENT is a toolkit for building products that move and track money. It includes a dashboard, API and a CLI-based Ledger design tool.

Don't have a FRAGMENT workspace? Get access.

B Quickstart#

Follow this Quickstart to build and use a Ledger for a basic peer-to-peer payments app.

This app has users who can fund their account and transfer funds to others. Behind the scenes a bank account pools every user's cash.

To build and use the Ledger, you:

  1. Store a Schema that models the flow of funds
  2. Create a Ledger using the Schema
  3. Post a Ledger Entry
  4. Query a Ledger Account balance

a. API Explorer

#

To call the API, use the API Explorer in the dashboard. This is like Postman, but for GraphQL.

FRAGMENT is a GraphQL API, so every request has two parts: a GraphQL query and variables passed to the query. For each API call, copy-paste both the query and variables into the API Explorer. Then click the play button to call the API and see the response.

b. Store a Schema

#

In FRAGMENT, you use a Schema to model a product's flow of funds. A Schema defines the structure of a Ledger, and is specific to a given use case.

Call the storeSchema mutation to store a Schema for the app.

storeSchema query
mutation QuickstartStoreSchema($schema: SchemaInput!) {
  storeSchema(schema: $schema) {
    ... on StoreSchemaResult {
      schema {
        key
        name
        version {
          version
          created
          json
        }
      }
    }
    ... on Error {
      code
      message
    }
  }
}

The Schema defines Ledger Accounts for the users and the bank. The Schema also defines Ledger Entries for product events, like a user funding their account or making p2p transfers.

storeSchema variables
{
  "schema": {
    "key": "quickstart-schema",
    "name": "Quickstart Schema",
    "chartOfAccounts": {
      "defaultCurrency": {
        "code": "USD"
      },
      "defaultCurrencyMode": "single",
      "accounts": [
        {
          "key": "assets",
          "type": "asset",
          "children": [
            {
              "key": "banks",
              "children": [
                {
                  "key": "user-cash"
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "key": "liabilities",
          "type": "liability",
          "children": [
            {
              "key": "users",
              "template": true,
              "consistencyConfig": {
                "ownBalanceUpdates": "strong"
              },
              "children": [
                {
                  "key": "available"
                },
                {
                  "key": "pending"
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "key": "income",
          "type": "income"
        },
        {
          "key": "expense",
          "type": "expense",
          "children": []
        }
      ]
    },
    "ledgerEntries": {
      "types": [
        {
          "type": "user_funds_account",
          "description": "Funding {{user_id}} for {{funding_amount}}.",
          "lines": [
            {
              "account": { "path": "assets/banks/user-cash" },
              "key": "funds_arrive_in_bank",
              "amount": "{{funding_amount}}"
            },
            {
              "account": { "path": "liabilities/users:{{user_id}}/available" },
              "key": "increase_user_balance",
              "amount": "{{funding_amount}}"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "p2p_transfer",
          "description": "P2P of {{transfer_amount}} from {{from_user_id}} to {{to_user_id}}.",
          "lines": [
            {
              "account": {
                "path": "liabilities/users:{{from_user_id}}/available"
              },
              "key": "decrease_from_user",
              "amount": "-{{transfer_amount}}"
            },
            {
              "account": { "path": "liabilities/users:{{to_user_id}}/available" },
              "key": "increase_to_user",
              "amount": "{{transfer_amount}}"
            }
          ],
          "conditions": [
            {
              "account": {
                "path": "liabilities/users:{{from_user_id}}/available"
              },
              "postcondition": {
                "ownBalance": {
                  "gte": "0"
                }
              }
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "withdrawal",
          "description": "{{user_id}} withdraws {{withdrawal_amount}}",
          "lines": [
            {
              "account": { "path": "assets/banks/user-cash" },
              "key": "funds_leave_bank",
              "amount": "{{withdrawal_amount}}"
            },
            {
              "account": { "path": "liabilities/users:{{user_id}}/available" },
              "key": "decrease_user_balance",
              "amount": "{{withdrawal_amount}}"
            }
          ],
          "conditions": [
            {
              "account": { "path": "liabilities/users:{{user_id}}/available" },
              "postcondition": {
                "ownBalance": {
                  "gte": "0"
                }
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}
 
Chart of Accounts#

The chartOfAccounts field defines the Ledger Accounts to create. It has two types of accounts:

  • A bank account for user cash held by the company. This is an asset account because it is money the platform holds.
  • A tree of accounts for each user on the platform. These are liability accounts since the platform owes the users these funds. They are also marked as template: true, to indicate that instances of these accounts are created for each user.
Ledger Entries#

All Ledger writes go through Ledger Entries, defined in the ledgerEntries field. Think of them like stored procedures. This Schema has two Ledger Entries:

  • user_funds_account takes in a user_id, the ID of the user from your system, and funding_amount. It increases the user's available balance and increases the bank's cash.
  • p2p_transfer takes in two user IDs—from_user_id and to_user_id, and a transfer_amount. It decreases the available balance of the from_user_id and increases the available balance of the to_user_id.

c. View your Schema

#

After executing the storeSchema call in the API Explorer, see the Schema you created in the Schemas tab of the dashboard.

d. Create a Ledger

#

Create a Ledger for the app using the createLedger mutation.

createLedger
mutation QuickstartCreateLedger(
  $ik: SafeString!
  $ledger: CreateLedgerInput!
  $schema: SchemaMatchInput
) {
  createLedger(
    ik: $ik, 
    ledger: $ledger, 
    schema:$schema
  ) {
    ... on CreateLedgerResult {
      ledger {
        ik
        name
        created
        schema {
          key
        }
      }
    }
    ... on Error {
      code
      message
    }
  }
}

The schema.key field is set to quickstart-schema so the Ledger is created using the Schema stored by the previous API call.

createLedger variables
{
  "ik": "quickstart-ledger",
  "ledger": {
    "name": "Quickstart Ledger"
  },
  "schema": {
    "key": "quickstart-schema"
  }
}

e. Post Ledger Entries

#

Use the addLedgerEntry mutation to post Ledger Entries.

addLedgerEntry
mutation QuickstartAddLedgerEntry(
  $ik: SafeString!
  $entry: LedgerEntryInput!
) {
  addLedgerEntry(
    ik: $ik,
    entry: $entry,
  ) {
    ... on AddLedgerEntryResult {
      entry {
        type
        created
        posted
      }
      lines {
        amount
        key
        description
        account {
          path
        }
      }
    }
    ... on Error {
      code
      message
    }
  }
}

Start with user_funds_account.

addLedgerEntry variables
{
  "ik": "fund-user-1-account",
  "entry": {
    "type": "user_funds_account",
    "posted": "1234-11-11T13:00:00.000Z",
    "ledger": {
      "ik": "quickstart-ledger"
    },
    "parameters": {
      "funding_amount": "10000",
      "user_id": "user-1"
    }
  }
}

The important fields in an addLedgerEntry call are type and parameters. For details on other fields, check out Post Ledger Entries.

  • entry.type is set to user_funds_account, defined in the Schema.
  • entry.parameters contains a key/value pair of all the parameters defined in the Schema. The funding_amount parameter sets the Ledger Line amounts and the user_id parameter sets the Ledger Account path. Since the user account is a template, the Ledger Account is created on demand.

After funding the first user, change the parameter values and re-run the mutation to create another funded user account.

addLedgerEntry variables
{
  "ik": "fund-user-2-account",
  "entry": {
    "type": "user_funds_account",
    "posted": "1234-11-11T13:00:00.000Z",
    "ledger": {
      "ik": "quickstart-ledger"
    },
    "parameters": {
      "funding_amount": "6000",
      "user_id": "user-2"
    }
  }
}

You can then try the p2p_transfer Ledger Entry by setting type to p2p_transfer and providing the appropriate parameters from the Schema.

addLedgerEntry variables
{
  "ik": "p2p-transfer",
  "entry": {
    "type": "p2p_transfer",
    "posted": "1234-12-11T13:00:00.000Z",
    "ledger": {
      "ik": "quickstart-ledger"
    },
    "parameters": {
      "transfer_amount": "5000",
      "from_user_id": "user-1",
      "to_user_id": "user-2"
    }
  }
}

f. Query a balance

#

With accounts funded and a transfer made, query a Ledger Account's balance using the ledgerAccount query.

GetBalances query
query QuickstartGetBalance (
  $account: LedgerAccountMatchInput!
) {
    ledgerAccount(ledgerAccount: $account) {
      path
      name
      type
      ownBalance(consistencyMode: use_account)
      created
      currency {
        code
      }
  }
}
GetBalances variables
{
  "account": {
    "path": "liabilities/users:user-1/available",
    "ledger": {
      "ik": "quickstart-ledger"
    }
  }
}

Try changing path to assets/banks/user-cash or liabilities/users:user-2/available to query the other Ledger Accounts.

g. View your Ledger

#

Look in the dashboard to see the Ledger, Ledger Accounts and Ledger Entries you've created.

h. Next steps

#

Now that you've created a demonstrative Ledger for this p2p app, model your own product's flow of funds and build your own Ledger. To do that, continue to the next section, Design your Ledger.

C Design your Ledger#

A Ledger uses a Schema to define functionality for a specific product and use case. Run the Ledger designer, a CLI tool, to create your Schema.

Ledgers track money using:

  • Ledger Accounts, balances that represent the financial state of a business
  • Ledger Entries, financial events that update Ledger Accounts

a. Ledger Accounts

#

A Ledger Account has a balance. Changes to a Ledger Account's balance are called Ledger Lines.

There are four types of Ledger Accounts, split into two layers:

State

Assets: what you own
Liabilities: what you owe

Change

Income: what you've earned
Expense: what you've spent

State Ledger Accounts track your product's financial relationships with your bank, payment systems and users. Balance Sheets are a report of State Ledger Account balances.

Change Ledger Accounts track when and how your product makes a profit or loss. They produce Income Statements.

Within a Schema, the chartOfAccounts key contains a nested tree of Ledger Accounts, up to a maximum depth of 10:

A minimal Schema
{
  "schema": {
    "chartOfAccounts": {
      "accounts": [
        {
          "key": "banks",
          "type": "asset",
          "children": [
            {
              "key": "bank",
              "children": [
                {"key": "user-cash"},
                {"key": "reserve"}
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Ledger Accounts that share a parent require a unique key, but the same key can be used in different parts of the tree.

For some Ledger Accounts, you must set additional properties:

  • linkedAccount enables reconciliation with an external system
  • template allows multiple instances to be created on demand
  • currencyMode configures the account's currency mode, single or multi
  • consistencyConfig configures the whether the Ledger Account's balances and Ledger Lines are strongly or eventually consistent

b. Ledger Entries

#

A Ledger Entry is a single update to a Ledger. Define a Ledger Entry type in your Schema for every financial event in your product and bank.

A Ledger Entry must be balanced, which means it follows the Accounting Equation.

How you balance a Ledger Entry depends upon its net effect to the Ledger's balances.

When the net change to the State Ledger Accounts is zero, the financial event being recorded did not change the net worth of the business. In this example, an increase to an asset account is balanced by an increase in a liability account:

User funds their balance
{
  "ledgerEntries": {
    "types": [
      {
        "type": "user_funds_account",
        "description": "Funding {{user_id}} for {{funding_amount}}.",
        "lines": [
          {
            "key": "funds_arrive_in_bank",
            "account": { 
              "path": "assets/banks/user-cash"
            },
            "amount": "{{funding_amount}}"
          },
          {
            "key": "increase_user_balance",
            "account": { 
              "path": "liabilities/users:{{user_id}}/available"
            },
            "amount": "{{funding_amount}}"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

When the net change to the State Ledger Accounts is non-zero, the financial event being recorded made a profit or loss. In this example, a difference in asset and liability accounts is balanced by an increase in an income account.

Withdrawal with fee
{
  "schema": {
    "ledgerEntries": {
      "types": [
        {
          "type": "withdrawal",
          "description": "{{user_id}} withdraws {{withdrawal_amount}}",
          "lines": [
            {
              "key": "funds_leave_bank",
              "account": {
                "path": "assets/banks/user-cash"
              },
              "amount": "-{{withdrawal_amount}} + {{instant_fee}}"
            },
            {
              "key": "decrease_user_balance",
              "account": {
                "path": "liabilities/users:{{user_id}}/available"
              },
              "amount": "-{{withdrawal_amount}}"
            },
            {
              "key": "record_instant_payout_income",
              "account": {
                "path": "income/fees/instant_payouts"
              },
              "amount": "{{instant_fee}}"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

c. Ledger designer

#

The fragment CLI includes a Ledger designer to create, visualize and simulate your Schema.

To install the CLI, run:

brew tap fragment-dev/tap
brew install fragment-dev/tap/fragment-cli

To write an example Schema to ./fragment.jsonc run:

fragment init

To start the Ledger designer run:

fragment start

The Ledger designer creates a visualization of the example Schema. Whenever you edit the fragment.jsonc file, the Ledger designer updates to reflect your changes.

D Deploy your Ledger#

Once you've designed your Ledger in a Schema, you can deploy it. This is a two-step process:

  1. Store your Schema.
  2. Create your Ledger.

Once your Ledger is created, subsequent updates to the Schema automatically update the Ledger.

FRAGMENT supports Ledger deployment within your development process: locally, by your CI/CD or directly from your product.

a. Develop locally

#

While developing locally, use the fragment CLI. See the installation instructions if you don't already have the CLI.

First, authenticate your local environment:

fragment login

Second, store your Schema:

fragment store-schema

Third, create the Ledger:

fragment create-ledger \
--name "sample ledger" \
--ik "ledger-1" \
--schema "sample-schema"

You can use the same Schema to create multiple Ledgers. Many applications create one Ledger for each development environment.

b. Integrate CI/CD

#

You can integrate the CLI commands into your CI/CD pipeline to automatically deploy your Ledger.

Use env vars with fragment login to re-use it across environments.

fragment login - env vars

export FRAGMENT_CLIENT_ID="fake-client-id"
export FRAGMENT_CLIENT_SECRET="fake-client-secret"
export FRAGMENT_API_URL="https://api.us-west-2.fragment.dev/graphql"
export FRAGMENT_OAUTH_URL="https://auth.us-east-2.fragment.dev/oauth2/token"
export FRAGMENT_OAUTH_SCOPE="https://api.us-east-2.fragment.dev/*"

fragment login \
  --client-id ${FRAGMENT_CLIENT_ID} \
  --client-secret ${FRAGMENT_CLIENT_SECRET} \
  --api-url ${FRAGMENT_API_URL} \
  --oauth-url ${FRAGMENT_OAUTH_URL} \
  --oauth-scope ${FRAGMENT_OAUTH_SCOPE}

Similar to logging in, when storing the Schema, use env vars for your Links. The CLI finds and replaces ${env vars} in your Schema with the values from your environment before calling the storeSchema API.

fragment store-schema with env vars
EXTERNAL_ACCOUNT_ID="external-account-id" \
  fragment store-schema

c. From your product

#

If you are creating a Ledger for each of your users, call the storeSchema and createLedger APIs directly from your product.

Call storeSchema to store a Schema. Depending on your use case, you may share one Schema for all your users, or create a Schema per user.

storeSchema query
mutation QuickstartStoreSchema($schema: SchemaInput!) {
  storeSchema(schema: $schema) {
    ... on StoreSchemaResult {
      schema {
        key
        name
        version {
          version
          created
          json
        }
      }
    }
    ... on Error {
      code
      message
    }
  }
}
storeSchema variables
{
  "schema": {
    "key": "quickstart-schema",
    "name": "Quickstart Schema",
    "chartOfAccounts": {
      "defaultCurrency": {
        "code": "USD"
      },
      "defaultCurrencyMode": "single",
      "accounts": [
        {
          "key": "assets",
          "type": "asset",
          "children": [
            {
              "key": "banks",
              "children": [
                {
                  "key": "user-cash"
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "key": "liabilities",
          "type": "liability",
          "children": [
            {
              "key": "users",
              "template": true,
              "consistencyConfig": {
                "ownBalanceUpdates": "strong"
              },
              "children": [
                {
                  "key": "available"
                },
                {
                  "key": "pending"
                }
              ]
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "key": "income",
          "type": "income"
        },
        {
          "key": "expense",
          "type": "expense",
          "children": []
        }
      ]
    },
    "ledgerEntries": {
      "types": [
        {
          "type": "user_funds_account",
          "description": "Funding {{user_id}} for {{funding_amount}}.",
          "lines": [
            {
              "account": { "path": "assets/banks/user-cash" },
              "key": "funds_arrive_in_bank",
              "amount": "{{funding_amount}}"
            },
            {
              "account": { "path": "liabilities/users:{{user_id}}/available" },
              "key": "increase_user_balance",
              "amount": "{{funding_amount}}"
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "type": "p2p_transfer",
          "description": "P2P of {{transfer_amount}} from {{from_user_id}} to {{to_user_id}}.",
          "lines": [
            {
              "account": {
                "path": "liabilities/users:{{from_user_id}}/available"
              },
              "key": "decrease_from_user",
              "amount": "-{{transfer_amount}}"
            },
            {
              "account": { "path": "liabilities/users:{{to_user_id}}/available" },
              "key": "increase_to_user",
              "amount": "{{transfer_amount}}"
            }
          ],
          "conditions": [
            {
              "account": {
                "path": "liabilities/users:{{from_user_id}}/available"
              },
              "postcondition": {
                "ownBalance": {
                  "gte": "0"
                }
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}
 

Create a Ledger using the createLedger mutation.

createLedger
mutation QuickstartCreateLedger(
  $ik: SafeString!
  $ledger: CreateLedgerInput!
  $schema: SchemaMatchInput
) {
  createLedger(
    ik: $ik, 
    ledger: $ledger, 
    schema:$schema
  ) {
    ... on CreateLedgerResult {
      ledger {
        ik
        name
        created
        schema {
          key
        }
      }
    }
    ... on Error {
      code
      message
    }
  }
}

The schema.key field is set to the key from the storeSchema API call.

createLedger variables
{
  "ik": "quickstart-ledger",
  "ledger": {
    "name": "Quickstart Ledger"
  },
  "schema": {
    "key": "quickstart-schema"
  }
}
E Integrate the API#

This section covers how to build a reliabile and fault tolerant integration with FRAGMENT.

To integrate the API, you need to:

  1. Select the AWS region for your workspace.
  2. Generate an SDK based off your GraphQL queries and mutations.
  3. Authenticate your API client.
  4. Call the API with an idempotency key.
  5. Handle errors from the API.
  6. Decide whether to call the API synchronously or asynchronously.

a. Select region

#

FRAGMENT has a GraphQL API to read and write data from your Ledger. The API is available in the following AWS regions:

  • us-east-1
  • us-east-2
  • us-west-2
  • eu-west-1

You can find the region for your workspace in the API URL in the settings tab of the dashboard. If you need to create a new workspace, you can do so through the top-left dropdown in the dashboard.

If you don't see your desired AWS region, contact us.

b. Generate an SDK

#

To ensure you always make valid queries, generate a typed SDK for your programming language. Do so using an SDK codegen tool and the current version of the FRAGMENT GraphQL schema.

FRAGMENT hosts the latest GraphQL schema at:

https://api.fragment.dev/schema.graphql

Use this URL as the SDK codegen input. All changes to the GraphQL API are backwards-compatible. You only need to generate a new version of the SDK to use new features.

Typescript#

graphql-codegen is a tool for generating Typescript SDKs:

  1. Add necessary dependencies to your package.json: graphql-codegen/typescript-graphql-request, graphql-codegen/cli, graphql-request, graphql-tag.
  2. Configure a codegen.yml file.
  3. Define the GraphQL queries that your app uses in the queries folder.
  4. Generate the SDK by calling yarn graphql-codegen.

An example codegen.yml:

codegen.yml

schema: "https://api.fragment.dev/schema.graphql"
generates:
  fragment-sdk.ts:
    plugins:
      - typescript
      - typescript-operations
      - typescript-graphql-request
      - add:
          content: "/* This file was auto-generated. Don't edit it directly. See 'codegen.yml' */"
    documents: './queries/**/*.ts'
    config:
      scalars:
        Int96: string

As an example, to generate a typed call to addLedgerEntry, define your query in ./queries/addLedgerEntry.ts as:

addLedgerEntry.ts

import gql from 'graphql-tag';

// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unused-vars
const QUERY = gql`
  mutation addLedgerEntryApiTest($entry: LedgerEntryInput!, $ik: SafeString!) {
    addLedgerEntry(ik: $ik, entry: $entry) {
      __typename
      ... on AddLedgerEntryResult {
        entry {
          id
          posted
          created
          date
          description
        }
        lines {
          id
          date
          posted
          created
          amount
          type
          ledgerId
          accountId
          ledgerEntryId
        }
        isIkReplay
      }
      ... on Error {
        code
        message
      }
    }
  }
`;

c. Authenticate

#

FRAGMENT uses OAuth2's client credentials flow to authenticate API clients. The call requesting an access token follows the OAuth2 spec. You can use any OAuth2 library that supports the client credentials grant to retrieve the token or make an HTTP request. The flow is:

  1. Create an API client in the FRAGMENT dashboard. All API Clients have full access to your workspace.
  2. Note the auth endpoint URL and OAuth scope for your API Client. This is specific to the AWS region of your workspace.
  3. Get a fresh access token from the token endpoint. The access token expires in 1 hour. We recommend retrieving a new token for each set of calls you make. You can generate and use multiple tokens at the same time.
  4. Use that token in an Authorization header with the value Bearer {{access_token}} when calling the GraphQL API.

Your token request payload should be in x-www-form-urlencoded format, with the keys grant_type, scope and client_id.

Token request body
grant_type=client_credentials&scope={{scope}}&client_id={{client_id}}

Your token request headers should contain the following, where client_credentials is the Base64-encoded version of: {{client_id}}:{client_secret}}.

Token request headers
{
    "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
    "Authorization": "Basic {{client_credentials}}",
    "Accept": "*/*"
}

The response is a JSON object containing your access token.

Token response body
{
    "access_token": "<access token>",
    "expires_in": 3600,
    "token_type": "Bearer"
}

Putting it all together:

Javascript
import axios from "axios";

const btoa = (str) => Buffer.from(str).toString("base64");

// credentials from the dashboard
const clientId = "2h4t0cv7qv5c9r0qgs1o3erkuk";
const secret = "superSecretClientSecret";
const scope = "https://api.us-west-2.fragment.dev/*";
const authUrl = "https://auth.us-west-2.fragment.dev/oauth2/token";

const getToken = async () => {

  // encode the client id and secret
  const auth = btoa(`${clientId}:${secret}`);
  
  // create the request body
  const data = new URLSearchParams();
  data.append("grant_type", "client_credentials");
  data.append("scope", scope);
  data.append("client_id", clientId);

  // retrieve the token
  const response = await axios.request({
    method: "POST",
    url: authUrl,
    headers: {
      "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
      Authorization: `Basic ${auth}`,
      Accept: "*/*",
    },
    data,
  });

  if (!response.data.access_token) {
    throw new Error(
      "didn't get an access token from auth endpoint"
    );
  }
  return response.data.access_token;
};
 

d. Use idempotency

#

To ensure write operations are executed exactly once, all write mutations in FRAGMENT are idempotent. This lets you safely retry operations without risk of duplicate effects, so your application only needs to guarantee that it calls the API at least one time.

Mutations require you to provide a unique idempotency key (ik). For calls to reconcileTx, syncCustomAccounts and syncCustomTxs, FRAGMENT internally uses the transaction or account ID from the request as the idempotency key.

If you call the API more than once with the same ik and the same values, it executes only once. FRAGMENT ignores additional requests and returns the original response with isikReplay: true in the response.

Idempotency keys are scoped per-Ledger; if you send multiple requests with the same IK to different Ledgers, all mutations execute and return isIkReplay: false.

e. Error handling

#

All successful mutation requests return a union type that represents an application error or a successful result. For example, the response type of the addLedgerEntry mutation:

API Response Union Types
union AddLedgerEntryResponse =
  AddLedgerEntryResult | BadRequestError | InternalError

When calling the API, your code should handle errors in this order:

  1. Handle retryable HTTP errors. These are 429 or 5XX.
  2. Handle non-retryable HTTP errors, other 4XX status codes. This typically happens if your query does not conform to the GraphQL spec, like omitting a required variable or selecting a nonexistent field. This class of error can be avoided if you use a generated, typed SDK.
  3. Query the __typename field. This contains BadRequestError, InternalError or your MutationResult type.
  4. Handle InternalError with retries and exponential backoff.
  5. Handle BadRequestError by failing the operation.
  6. Handle <Mutation>Result types such as AddLedgerEntryResult.

Here is an example of this written in Typescript:

Handling API Responses
import assert from 'assert';

type RequestParams = {
  query: string;
  variables: Record<string, unknown>;
};

const makeRequest = async ({ query, variables }: RequestParams): Promise<Response> => {
  const token = await getToken();
  return fetch('Fragment GraphQL URL', {
    headers: {
      Authorization: `Bearer ${token}`,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    },
    body: JSON.stringify({ query, variables }),
  });
};

const query = '''
  mutation addLedgerEntry($ik: SafeString, $entry: LedgerEntryInput!) {
    addLedgerEntry(ik: $ik, entry: $entry) {
      __typename
      ...
    }
  }
''';
const variables = { ik: 'sample-ik', entry: {...} };

const handleRequest = (req: Response) => {
  if (req.status === 429 || req.status >= 500) {
    // Rate-limited or intermittent http failures. Retry the request.
    return handleRequest(await makeRequest({ query, variables }));
  }
  if ((req.status >= 400 || req.status < 500) && req.status !== 429) {
    // Invalid GraphQL request provided to Fragment. Handle the error.
    throw new Error('Invalid GraphQL request');
  }

  // .json() checks that it was a 200
  const response = await req.json();
  if (response.data.addLedgerEntry.__typename === 'InternalError') {
    // Retry the request in case of internal errors, with backoff.
    return handleRequest(await makeRequest({ query, variables }));
  }
  if (response.data.addLedgerEntry.__typename === 'BadRequestError') {
    // Invalid request provided to Fragment. Handle the error.
    throw new Error('Invalid API request to Fragment');
  }
  return response;
};

const response = handleRequest(await makeRequest({ query, variables }));
// Entry successfully posted to Fragment. Handle the response.
assert(response.data.addLedgerEntry.__typename === 'AddLedgerEntryResult');
handlePostedEntry(response.data.addLedgerEntry);
 

f. Sync or async

#

You can call FRAGMENT to update your Ledger with your product both synchronously and asynchronously.

To show users balances in real time, call the API synchronously. This ensures product flows block until the Ledger is updated; your users won't need to refresh to see updated balances. Sync updates can be both strongly or eventually consistent, depending on the use case. To make updates fault tolerant, implement your API calls with retries and exponential backoff.

For updates that don't need to be shown in real time, you can call the API asynchronously. This ensures your product flows don't block user activity while the balances are updated in your Ledger. Async updates are eventually consistent. A good easy pattern here is to have a table in your database that represents a call to FRAGMENT. Update this table transactionally from your product, then use an async queue that calls the API at least once for each transaction.

F Post Ledger Entries#

Posting a Ledger Entry to your Ledger is a two-step process:

  1. Define the structure of the Ledger Entry in your Schema.
  2. Post the Ledger Entry using the API.

a. Schema

#

Ledger Entries are defined in your Schema under the ledgerEntries.types key. Every Ledger Entry has a type that must be unique within the Schema.

Ledger Entry definition
{
  "key": "schema-key",
  "chartOfAccounts": {...},
  "ledgerEntries": {
    "types": [
      {
        "type": "user_funds_account",
        "description": "Funding {{user_id}} for {{funding_amount}}",
        "lines": [
          {
            "account": { "path": "assets/banks/user-cash" },
            "key": "funds_arrive_in_bank",
            "amount": "{{funding_amount}}"
          },
          {
            "account": { "path": "liabilities/users:{{user_id}}/available" },
            "key": "increase_user_balance",
            "amount": "{{funding_amount}}"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

The amounts of a Ledger Line can be parameterized using {{handlebar}} syntax and can contain basic arithmetic (+ or -):

Ledger Entry definition
{
  "key": "schema-key",
  "chartOfAccounts": {...},
  "ledgerEntries": {
    "types": [
      {
        "type": "user_funds_account_with_fee",
        "description": "Funding {{user_id}} for {{funding_amount}} with {{fee_amount}} fee",
        "lines": [
          {
            "account": { "path": "assets/banks/user-cash" },
            "key": "funds_arrive_in_bank",
            "amount": "{{funding_amount}}"
          },
          {
            "account": { "path": "liabilities/users:{{user_id}}/available" },
            "key": "increase_user_balance",
            "amount": "{{funding_amount}} - {{fee_amount}}"
          },
          {
            "account": { "path": "income/funding-fees" },
            "key": "take_fee",
            "amount": "{{fee_amount}}"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Ledger Entries must be balanced by the Accounting Equation. If they are not, the Ledger designer throws an error.

b. Post to the API

#

Call the addLedgerEntry mutation to post a Ledger Entry:

addLedgerEntry query
mutation AddLedgerEntry(
  $ik: SafeString!
  $entry: LedgerEntryInput!
) {
  addLedgerEntry(
    ik: $ik,
    entry: $entry
  ) {
    ... on AddLedgerEntryResult {
      entry {
        type
        created
        posted
        created
      }
      lines {
        amount
        key
        description
        account {
          path
        }
      }
    }
    ... on Error {
      code
      message
    }
  }
}
 

Set the Ledger Entry's type and the required parameters.

addLedgerEntry variables
{
  "ik": "add-ledger-entry",
  "entry": {
    "ledger": {
      "ik": "ledger-ik"
    },
    "type": "user_funds_account",
    "posted": "1234-01-01T01:01:01",
    "parameters": {
      "user_id": "testing-user",
      "funding_amount": "200"
    }
  }
}
Idempotency#

To ensure a Ledger Entry is only posted once, provide an Idempotency Key ik to the addLedgerEntry mutation. This identifies the Ledger Entry and lets you safely retry the API call. More details are in the Integrate the API section.

Minor Units#

All numbers in FRAGMENT are integers representing the smallest unit. For example, USD $2.50 is provided as 250.

Timestamps#

Ledger Entries have two timestamps:

  • posted, the time the money movement event happened. You provide this to the addLedgerEntry API call.
  • created, the time at which the Ledger Entry was posted to the API. FRAGMENT auto-generates this value.

You can post entries with a posted timestamp in the past or future. Posting a Ledger Entry updates all balances from the posted time into the future.

c. Linked Accounts

#

Linked Ledger Accounts are used for reconciling your Ledger with your external financial systems.

To define a Ledger Entry to a Linked Ledger Account, you must specify the tx of the Ledger Line. This is the ID of the transaction at the external system.

Linked Ledger Account Entry
{
  "key": "linked-ledger-account-schema",
  "chartOfAccounts": {...},
  "ledgerEntries": {
    "types": [
      {
        "type": "reconciliation-type",
        "lines": [
          {
            "key": "reconciliation-line-key",
            "account": { "path": "bank" },
            "amount": "{{some_amount}}",
            "tx": {
              "externalId": "{{bank_transaction_id}}"
            }
          },
          {...other line}
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

To post Ledger Entries to a Linked Ledger Account, call reconcileTx instead of addLedgerEntry:

reconcileTx query
mutation ReconcileTx(
    $entry: LedgerEntryInput!
  ) {
    reconcileTx(entry: $entry) {
      __typename
      ... on ReconcileTxResult {
        entry {
          ik
          posted
          created
        }
        isIkReplay
        lines {
          amount
          currency {
            code
          }
        }
      }
      ... on Error {
        code
        message
      }
    }
  }
 

The query variables are the same as addLedgerEntry, except posted and ik are omitted. They are inferred from the external Tx.

reconcileTx variables
{
  "entry": {
    "type": "reconciliation-type",
    "ledger": {
      "ik": "ledger-ik"
    },
    "parameters": {
      "bank_transaction_id": "tx_1234"
    }
  }
}

Read more about creating and using Linked Ledger Accounts in Reconcile transactions.

d. Currencies

#

If a Ledger Account is in currencyMode: multi, you must specify the currency of the Ledger Lines posted to it.

Ledger Entry definition
{
  "key": "schema-key",
  "chartOfAccounts": {...},
  "ledgerEntries": {
    "types": [
      {
        "type": "user_funds_account",
        "description": "Funding {{user_id}} for {{funding_amount}}",
        "lines": [
          {
            "account": { "path": "assets/banks/user-cash" },
            "key": "funds_arrive_in_bank",
            "amount": "{{funding_amount}}",
            "currency": {
              "code": "USD"
            }
          },
          {
            "account": { "path": "liabilities/users:{{user_id}}/available" },
            "key": "increase_user_balance",
            "amount": "{{funding_amount}}",
            "currency": {
              "code": "USD"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Read more about how to implement a product that handles multiple currencies in Handle currencies.

e. Using conditions

#

Ledger Entry conditions are rules defined in your Schema used to manage concurrency and enforce correctness within your Ledger. If a condition is not met, the Ledger Entry is not posted and the mutation throws a BadRequestError.

Conditions are defined in the Schema:

Ledger Entry Template with conditions
{
  "type": "user_withdraws_funds",
  "description": "{{user_id}} withdraws for {{withdraw_amount}}",
  "lines": [
    {
      "account": { "path": "assets/banks/user-cash" },
      "key": "funds_leave_bank",
      "amount": "-{{withdraw_amount}}"
    },
    {
      "account": { "path": "liabilities/users:{{user_id}}/available" },
      "key": "decrease_user_balance",
      "amount": "-{{withdraw_amount}}"
    }
  ],
  "conditions": [
    {
      "account": {
        "path": "liabilities/users:{{user_id}}/available"
      },
      "postcondition": {
        "ownBalance": {
          "gte": "0"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Read more about using Ledger Entry Conditions in Configure consistency.

f. Runtime Entries

#

You can define a Ledger Entry whose Ledger Lines are defined at runtime.

This can be useful if you're building a product where your end user, not you, defines the Ledger Entry structure. This is common for FRAGMENT users offering accounting services to their users.

To support runtime-defined Ledger Entries, omit the lines field in the Schema.

Runtime-defined Ledger Entry

{
  "type": "runtime_entry",
  "description": "Runtime-defined ledger entry"
}

Then, set the lines field when posting the Ledger Entry using addLedgerEntry or reconcileTx:

AddRuntimeLedgerEntry query
mutation AddRuntimeLedgerEntry(
  $ik: SafeString!
  $entry: LedgerEntryInput!
) {
  addLedgerEntry(
    ik: $ik,
    entry: $entry
  ) {
    ... on AddLedgerEntryResult {
      entry {
        type
        created
        posted
      }
      lines {
        amount
        key
        description
        account {
          path
        }
      }
    }
    ... on Error {
      code
      message
    }
  }
}
 
AddRuntimeLedgerEntry variables
{
  "ik": "add-arbitrary-ledger-entry",
  "entry": {
    "type": "runtime_entry",
    "lines": [
        {
          "account": { "path": "assets/banks/user-cash" },
          "key": "funds_arrive_in_bank",
          "amount": "100"
        },
        {
          "account": { "path": "liabilities/users:test-user/available" },
          "key": "increase_user_balance",
          "amount": "100"
        }

    ]
  }
}
G Reconcile Transactions#

Your Ledger should accurately track the real-world movement of money within your product. This is done by reconciling transactions from your external financial systems with your Ledger.

The overall workflow is a three-step process:

  1. Transact at your external financial system.
  2. Sync the real-world money movement to FRAGMENT.
  3. Reconcile the transaction to a Ledger Entry using the API.

This whole process happens through a FRAGMENT Link.

d. Linked Accounts

#

After you set up the Link, create Linked Ledger Accounts, accounts in your Ledger that map 1:1 with accounts at your external financial system.

To define a Linked Ledger Account, set linkedAccount on a Ledger Account in your Schema:

Linked Ledger Account with hardcoded IDs
{
  "chartOfAccounts": {
    "accounts": [
      {
        "key": "assets-root",
        "name": "Assets",
        "type": "asset",
        "children": [{
          "key": "operating",
          "name": "Operating Bank",
          "linkedAccount": {
            "linkId": "some-link-id",
            "externalId": "bank-account-1"
          }
        }]
      }
    ]
  }
}

The linkId comes from the Link you create in the dashboard. The externalId is the ID of the account at your external financial system.

The CLI automatically replaces variables with ${ENV_VAR} syntax when running fragment store-schema. This lets you use different External Accounts per environment:

Linked Ledger Account with env var IDs
{
  "chartOfAccounts": {
    "accounts": [
      {
        "key": "assets-root",
        "name": "Assets",
        "type": "asset",
        "children": [{
          "key": "operating",
          "name": "Operating Bank",
          "linkedAccount": {
            "linkId": "${BANK_LINK_ID}",
            "externalId": "${BANK_ACCOUNT_ID}"
          }
        }]
      }
    ]
  }
}

To create a Linked Ledger Account that is part of a Ledger Account template, parameterize the linkedAccount field:

Linked Ledger Account with parameter IDs
{
  "chartOfAccounts": {
    "accounts": [
      {
        "key": "assets-root",
        "name": "Assets",
        "type": "asset",
        "children": [{
          "key": "operating",
          "name": "Operating Bank",
          "template": true,
          "linkedAccount": {
            "linkId": "{{BANK_LINK_ID}}",
            "externalId": "{{BANK_ACCOUNT_ID}}"
          }
        }]
      }
    ]
  }
}

These parameters are then required when posting a Ledger Entry to a Linked Ledger Account. This can be useful if you're creating bank accounts per customer, for example.

e. Transact externally

#

Transactions at your external financial system are initiated in one of two ways:

  • You initiate a payment by calling their API.
  • You are notified by the external system that a transaction has occurred. This can happen via webhook, by polling their API, or receiving a periodic transaction report.

f. Sync transactions

#

Once a transaction occurs, you need to sync it with your FRAGMENT Ledger.

If you're using a Native Link, FRAGMENT automatically syncs transactions. You can skip ahead to Reconcile transactions.

If you're using a Custom Link, your sync process should call syncCustomTxs. Your sync process can periodically enumerate transactions in your external system or be triggered by webhook.

You may also want to sync and reconcile when your product makes a payment. You should only sync transactions that are settled, not pending or declined.

Once you have a set of transactions to sync, call syncCustomTxs:

syncCustomTxs mutation
mutation SyncTransactions(
  $link: LinkMatchInput!
  $txs: [CustomTxInput!]!
) {
  syncCustomTxs(link: $link, txs: $txs) {
    __typename
    ... on SyncCustomTxsResult {
      txs {
        id
        externalId
        amount
        date
        description
      }
    }
    ... on Error {
      code
      message
    }
  }
}
syncCustomTxs variables
{
  "link": { "id": "some-link-id" },
  "txs": [
    {
      "account": {
        "linkId": "some-link-id",
        "id": "bank-account-1"
      },
      "externalId": "tx-1",
      "description": "Processed ACH batch",
      "amount": "-100",
      "posted": "1968-01-01"
    },
    {
      "account": {
        "linkId": "some-link-id",
        "externalId": "bank-account-2"
      },
      "externalId": "tx-2",
      "description": "Received RTP payment",
      "amount": "100",
      "posted": "1968-01-01T16:45:00Z"
    }
  ]
}

You should ensure that externalId is a stable and unique identifier for each transaction, within the scope of its account. This identifier enforces idempotentency. This identifier is typically the ID of the transaction at the external system. Make sure you use the lowest level transaction ID available, not the ID of a higher level construct that may be linked to multiple transactions, like a payment.

Calling syncCustomTxs with a different description for an existing externalId updates the name of the External Account. amount and posted timestamp are immutable.

You can sync transactions from different accounts in the same API call, but they must all belong to the same Custom Link.

g. Reconcile a Tx

#

To reconcile a transaction from an external system, follow the same two-step process as when posting Ledger Entries:

  1. Define the structure of the Ledger Entry in your Schema.
  2. Post the Ledger Entry using the API.

Ledger Entries posting to a Linked Ledger Account must specify the Tx from the External Account tied to the Ledger Account. This lets FRAGMENT know which transaction to reconcile:

LedgerEntrySchema with Linked Ledger Account
{
  "key": "schema-key",
  "chartOfAccounts": {...},
  "ledgerEntries": {
    "types": [
      {
        "type": "user_funds_account_via_link",
        "description": "Funding {{user_id}} for {{funding_amount}}",
        "lines": [
          {
            "account": { "path": "assets/operating" },
            "key": "funds_arrive_in_bank",
            "tx": {
              "externalId": "{{bank_transaction_id}}"
            }
          },
          {
            "account": { "path": "liabilities/users:{{user_id}}/available" },
            "key": "increase_user_balance"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Notes:

  • Ledger Lines posting to a Linked Ledger Account must match 1:1 with the Tx that's being reconciled.
  • bank_transaction_id represents the ID of the transaction at the external system.

Instead of calling addLedgerEntry, Linked Ledger Accounts use the reconcileTx mutation:

reconcileTx mutation
mutation ReconcileTx(
  $entry: LedgerEntryInput!
) {
  reconcileTx(
    entry: $entry
  ) {
    ... on ReconcileTxResult {
      entry {
        type
        created
        posted
      }
      lines {
        amount
        key
        description
        account {
          path
        }
      }
    }
    ... on Error {
      code
      message
    }
  }
}
 

The parameters look similar to addLedgerEntry. Specify the Ledger Entry type that you are using and provide the parameters defined in the Schema:

reconcileTx variables
{
  "entry": {
    "type": "user_funding",
    "ledger": {
      "ik": "ledger-ik"
    },
    "parameters": {
      "txId": "tx_12345",
      "customerId": "customer-1"
    }
  }
}

ik and posted are optional when posting Ledger Entries with reconcileTx:

  • ik: the Tx.externalId is used to ensure that reconciling a transaction is idempotent
  • posted: the timestamp of the Ledger Entry is taken from the Tx to ensure the Ledger mirrors the external system

h. Unreconciled Txs

#

Transactions synced to FRAGMENT but not reconciled to a Ledger are considered unreconciled.

You can query unreconciled transactions in a Linked Ledger Account using the unreconciledTxs field on theLedgerAccount. It is recommended to periodically call this query to ensure your Ledger stays up to date. It can also be used to build reconciliation UIs:

unreconciledTxs query
query GetUnreconciledTxs (
  $ledgerAccount: LedgerAccountMatchInput!
) {
  ledgerAccount(ledgerAccount: $ledgerAccount) {
    id
    unreconciledTxs {
      nodes {
        id
        description
        amount
        externalId
        externalAccountId
      }
      pageInfo {
        endCursor
        hasNextPage
      }
    }
  }
}

The variables specify the path of the Linked Ledger Account you are querying and the Ledger it belongs to.

unreconciledTxs variables
{
  "ledgerAccount": {
    "path": "assets/operating",
    "ledger": {...}
  }
}

unreconciledTxs is eventually consistent, so if you've recently transacted at a Native Link or just synced manually for a Custom Link, you may not see the transaction in the query results immediately.

H Read balances#

FRAGMENT supports querying a Ledger Account for its latest balances, historical balances and balance changes.