Confusion about future of MongoDB Realm and Stitch

[Salman_Alam]

Hi,

We have a production app that is running on MongoDB Realm mainly using “mongodb-stitch-browser-sdk” & “mongodb-stitch-server-sdk”. Our entire team picked up MQL and we are quite comfortable with it.

With the new changes I see that “mongodb-stitch-browser-sdk” and the server side version is being called Legacy SDK.

I wrote to support some time ago and they mentioned that EOL will be announced for the Legacy SDK

Then I saw this post on the "stitch-js-sdk" repo in GitHub

Then there are multiple places within the MongoDB Realm UI where there are seemingly confusing code snippets like

1. When I go to the docs here - I see this
   

   

2. When I go to the “Web SDK” in Realm docs here - I see this
   

   

3. Lastly, if you go navigate inside a “Realm app” and choose “Clusters” and click on the dropdown “Working with your clusters” - you get this code snippet
   

   

I am honestly confused and highly worried because as a fintech startup COO I have a production app on MongoDB Realm (we started last it year when it was MongoDB Stitch) and I have a lot of questions

1. How long can we use “mongodb-stitch-browser-sdk” & “mongodb-stitch-server-sdk”?

2. Is there a equivalent to “mongodb-stitch-browser-sdk” and it’s server-side library in terms of functionality? If so which is it exactly? Web SDK & Node.js SDK? It doesn’t seem like you can do MQL operations from them only GraphQL

3. Will MQL on client side be phased out as well along with the functionality that exists on “mongodb-stitch-browser-sdk”? I get the impression on the MongoDB Realm docs that may be case as all the examples of reading and writing queries are all GraphQL based.

4. What advice do you have for a startup like us and what are the things that we should be concerned about given we had launch a production app using MongoDB Stitch SDKs

We invested some significant time on MongoDB Stitch learning, understanding the ins & outs and being comfortable with all the concepts hence we are really concerned with all the new but different information.

Thanks

[Drew_DiPalma]

Hi Salman –

Looks like some of the docs content can be corrected, I’ll get folks working on that. To address your questions –

1. As I stated in the email above, we’ll be announcing a 12 month EoL timeline for the Stitch SDKs relatively soon. However we want to make sure the Realm SDKs are feature complete/ready for the transition before making a broader announcement.
2. There is a Node.js and Web SDK for Realm. We are working on distribution of the Web SDK via CDN as well. The latest versions of these SDKs support MQL. All features from the Stitch SDKs are either available or will be available shortly with the exception of 3rd party services (we recommend moving this functionality to functions).
3. MQL usage is not being phased out, but GraphQL will probably appear in more examples/guidance for the foreseeable future.
4. I would recommend that you see if the Realm Web SDK suits your needs and if there are features pending then wait until they are available before switching over. There are no plans for the existing SDKs to stop functioning within the next few months as per above.

Thanks,
Drew

[Salman_Alam]

@Drew_DiPalma

Ks support MQL. All features from the Stitch SDKs are either available or will be available shortly with the exception of 3rd party service

Thank you very much for further clarification. Is there a reference manual for Realm Web SDK? I see that the one in the docs is basic - it does not clearly show how to use MQL using the Web SDK. Is there any document or article that we can reference?

[Drew_DiPalma]

Hi – I believe you should be able to use the same JS SDK reference for Web/Server. You can also find an example here.

[J_W]

I share the same confusion as Salman with the SDKs and general roadmap for the merging of Stitch and Realm. I’m eager to use Mongo for my next project, however the mixed messaging on how to get started with the Web SDK is a barrier to adoption.

On one hand, the docs advise to use ‘realm-web’ (which is in line with the comments regarding EOL for the stitch-browser-sdk I’ve seen here and on Github), however, on the other hand, many of the example and demos provided by Mongo employees themselves are still referencing the old Stitch SDK(s) - e.g. the live coding YouTube video on Mongo’s official channel as of a week and a half ago.

I can appreciate that things are in flux with Stitch and Realm, and that it will take some time to get everything merged. In the meantime though, a little more attention on the docs and setting expectations on what’s to come would help my team feel more confident in going all in on Realm. Until then, Firebase is a tempting alternative (really hoping to stick with Mongo BaaS though).