In the past few months we have been working to bring the Graph API up to parity with REST API, significantly improve our Graph API documentation, and publish resources and sample apps to make it easier to write apps against the API. As part of these efforts, we are launching the Graph API Explorer.

The Graph API Explorer makes it easy to get started with the Graph API and test the API as you program against it and build your app.

The Explorer helps you to do the following:

1. Make requests to the Graph API and see formatted results in-line.
2. Explore the connections for each object and view field descriptions to help you understand what the response means.
3. Easily obtain an access_token with the specific permissions necessary to access the data you need to optimize your app for users. The ‘Select Permissions’ dialog allows you to select the specific user data, friends’ data or extended permissions needed. The Explorer then shows you the same permissions dialog your users will see when you request these permissions in your production app.



4. Easily switch between HTTP GET, POST and DELETE to get, create, update or delete objects.
   
   When POSTing to the API, you can provide a list of {name, value} pairs that you want to send as parameters to the API. For example to create a new event you can post to /me/events with the required name and start_time fields as parameters, using an access_token with the create_event extended permission.




5. Move between objects in the graph just by clicking their id in the formatted result. For example clicking on the id of the event object returned after creating an event will show you details of the event you just created.

Please note the Graph API Explorer only shows you the data you have access to see (data that is public or belongs to you or your friends) and that you give the Graph API Explorer permission to access on your behalf. The Explorer is simply an application built on Facebook Platform that uses the Graph API with the permissions you grant it, to help you explore objects and connections in the graph.

We hope you enjoy exploring your Facebook Graph with the Graph API Explorer. Please share your feedback with us in the comments below.