Entity Service API

Caution

The Entity Service API is deprecated in Strapi v5. Please consider using the Document Service API instead.

Prerequisites

Before diving deeper into the Entity Service API documentation, it is recommended that you read the following introductions:

• the backend customization introduction,
• and the Content APIs introduction.

The Strapi backend provides an Entity Service API, built on top of the Query Engine API. The Entity Service is the layer that handles Strapi's complex data structures like components and dynamic zones, and uses the Query Engine API under the hood to execute database queries.

Entity Service API vs. Query Engine API

Strapi v4 offers several layers to interact with the backend and build your queries:

• The Document Service API is the recommended API to interact with your application's database. The Document Service is the layer that handles Strapi's document model and the complex data structures like components and dynamic zones, which the lower-level layers are not aware of.
• The Query Engine API interacts with the database layer at a lower level and is used under the hood to execute database queries. It gives unrestricted internal access to the database layer, but should be used only if the Document Service API does not cover your use case.
• If you need direct access to knex functions, use strapi.db.connection.

Disambiguation: Services vs. Entity Service

While services can use the Entity Service API, services and the Entity Service API are not directly related. You can find more information about the core elements of the Strapi back end in the back-end customization documentation.

Basic usage

The Entity Service is available through strapi.entityService:

const entry = await strapi.entityService.findOne('api::article.article', 1, {
  populate: { someRelation: true },
});

Available operations

The Entity Service API allows the following operations on entities:

CRUD operations

Create, read, update, and delete entities with the Entity Service API.

Filters

Get exactly what you need by filtering entities with your Entity Service API queries.

Populate

Get additional data with your Entity Service API queries by populating relations.

Order & Pagination

Sort and paginate the results of your Entity Service API queries.

Components/Dynamic Zones

Create and update components and dynamic zones with your Entity Service API queries.