How can I use Hoppscotch to measure and isolate server‑side processing time for a GraphQL query before optimizing?

Answer the question directly

Hoppscotch shows a timing breakdown for each request. The Wait value (time‑to‑first‑byte, TTFB) equals:

Wait ≈ DNS lookup + TCP connect + TLS handshake + Server‑side processing

To isolate the server‑side component, subtract the network‑only timings that Hoppscotch also reports.

Confirmed steps (based on Hoppscotch behavior)

1. Open Hoppscotch and create a new request.
2. Set the method to POST and enter your GraphQL endpoint URL.
3. Switch the body tab to GraphQL, paste the query (and variables), and verify syntax.
4. Disable any caching: turn off the cache toggle or open an incognito/private tab so each request hits the server.
5. Send the request.
6. When the response appears, open the Timings pane (usually a small graph or table below the response).
7. Record the following values (in milliseconds):
   • DNS
   • Connect (TCP handshake)
   • SSL (TLS handshake)
   • Wait (TTFB)
8. Compute server‑side processing time:

Server‑side ≈ Wait – (DNS + Connect + SSL)

9. Repeat the request 5‑10 times and average the result to reduce jitter.

When the recommendation changes

If you are using HTTP/1.1 without keep‑alive (each request opens a new socket), the Connect and SSL timings will include the full handshake for every request, making the subtraction above accurate. If you are using HTTP/2 or have keep‑alive enabled, the connection may be reused, causing Connect and SSL to be near zero after the first request. In that case, you need to either:

• Force a new connection per request (e.g., add a dummy header like Connection: close) to measure the full handshake, or
• Accept that the measured Wait already reflects a warmed‑up connection and treat the residual as server‑side processing plus any remaining network RTT.

Please let me know whether you are using HTTP/1.1 with keep‑alive disabled or HTTP/2, as this determines whether the subtraction method above is the correct approach.

Additional notes

Hoppscotch does not export a HAR file directly, but you can copy the timing values from the UI or use your browser’s developer tools Network tab (right‑click → Save as HAR) to obtain a full trace for deeper analysis.