feat: Deprecate GraphQL Playground that exposes master key in HTTP response

DEPRECATIONS.md

@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ The following is a list of deprecations, according to the [Deprecation Policy](h
 | DEPPS12 | Database option `allowPublicExplain` defaults to `false`                                     | [#7519](https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/issues/7519)   | 8.5.0 (2025)                    | 9.0.0 (2026)                    | changed               | -     |
 | DEPPS13 | Config option `enableInsecureAuthAdapters` defaults to `false`                               | [#9667](https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/pull/9667)     | 8.0.0 (2025)                    | 9.0.0 (2026)                    | changed               | -     |
 | DEPPS14 | Config option `pages.encodePageParamHeaders` defaults to `true`                              | [#10063](https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/issues/10063) | 9.4.0 (2026)                    | 10.0.0 (2027)                   | deprecated            | -     |
+| DEPPS15 | Remove config option `mountPlayground`                                                       | [#10110](https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/issues/10110) | 9.5.0 (2026)                    | 10.0.0 (2027)                   | deprecated            | -     |
+| DEPPS16 | Remove config option `playgroundPath`                                                        | [#10110](https://github.com/parse-community/parse-server/issues/10110) | 9.5.0 (2026)                    | 10.0.0 (2027)                   | deprecated            | -     |
 
 [i_deprecation]: ## "The version and date of the deprecation."
 [i_change]: ## "The version and date of the planned change."

spec/Deprecator.spec.js

@@ -103,4 +103,50 @@ describe('Deprecator', () => {
       })
     );
   });
+
+  it('logs deprecation for removed key when option is set', async () => {
+    deprecations = [{ optionKey: 'exampleKey', changeNewKey: '', solution: 'Use something else.' }];
+
+    spyOn(Deprecator, '_getDeprecations').and.callFake(() => deprecations);
+    const logger = require('../lib/logger').logger;
+    const logSpy = spyOn(logger, 'warn').and.callFake(() => {});
+
+    await reconfigureServer({ exampleKey: true });
+    expect(logSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      `DeprecationWarning: The Parse Server option '${deprecations[0].optionKey}' is deprecated and will be removed in a future version. ${deprecations[0].solution}`
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('does not log deprecation for removed key when option is not set', async () => {
+    deprecations = [{ optionKey: 'exampleKey', changeNewKey: '', solution: 'Use something else.' }];
+
+    spyOn(Deprecator, '_getDeprecations').and.callFake(() => deprecations);
+    const logSpy = spyOn(Deprecator, '_logOption').and.callFake(() => {});
+
+    await reconfigureServer();
+    expect(logSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('logs deprecation for mountPlayground when set', async () => {
+    const logSpy = spyOn(Deprecator, '_logOption').and.callFake(() => {});
+
+    await reconfigureServer({ mountPlayground: true, mountGraphQL: true });
+    expect(logSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      jasmine.objectContaining({
+        optionKey: 'mountPlayground',
+        changeNewKey: '',
+      })
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('does not log deprecation for mountPlayground when not set', async () => {
+    const logSpy = spyOn(Deprecator, '_logOption').and.callFake(() => {});
+
+    await reconfigureServer();
+    expect(logSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      jasmine.objectContaining({
+        optionKey: 'mountPlayground',
+      })
+    );
+  });
 });

src/Deprecator/Deprecations.js

@@ -26,4 +26,14 @@ module.exports = [
     changeNewDefault: 'true',
     solution: "Set 'pages.encodePageParamHeaders' to 'true' to URI-encode non-ASCII characters in page parameter headers.",
   },
+  {
+    optionKey: 'mountPlayground',
+    changeNewKey: '',
+    solution: "Use Parse Dashboard as GraphQL IDE or configure a third-party GraphQL client such as Apollo Sandbox, GraphiQL, or Insomnia with custom request headers.",
+  },
+  {
+    optionKey: 'playgroundPath',
+    changeNewKey: '',
+    solution: "Use Parse Dashboard as GraphQL IDE or configure a third-party GraphQL client such as Apollo Sandbox, GraphiQL, or Insomnia with custom request headers.",
+  },
 ];

src/Deprecator/Deprecator.js

@@ -20,11 +20,17 @@ class Deprecator {
       const solution = deprecation.solution;
       const optionKey = deprecation.optionKey;
       const changeNewDefault = deprecation.changeNewDefault;
+      const changeNewKey = deprecation.changeNewKey;
 
       // If default will change, only throw a warning if option is not set
       if (changeNewDefault != null && Utils.getNestedProperty(options, optionKey) == null) {
         Deprecator._logOption({ optionKey, changeNewDefault, solution });
       }
+
+      // If key will be removed or renamed, only throw a warning if option is set
+      if (changeNewKey != null && Utils.getNestedProperty(options, optionKey) != null) {
+        Deprecator._logOption({ optionKey, changeNewKey, solution });
+      }
     }
   }
 
@@ -107,7 +113,7 @@ class Deprecator {
 
     // Compose message
     let output = `DeprecationWarning: The Parse Server ${type} '${key}' `;
-    output += changeNewKey ? `is deprecated and will be ${keyAction} in a future version.` : '';
+    output += changeNewKey != null ? `is deprecated and will be ${keyAction} in a future version.` : '';
     output += changeNewDefault
       ? `default will change to '${changeNewDefault}' in a future version.`
       : '';

src/Options/Definitions.js

@@ -404,7 +404,7 @@ module.exports.ParseServerOptions = {
   },
   mountPlayground: {
     env: 'PARSE_SERVER_MOUNT_PLAYGROUND',
-    help: 'Mounts the GraphQL Playground which exposes the master key in the browser - never use this option in production',
+    help: 'Deprecated. Mounts the GraphQL Playground which is deprecated and will be removed in a future version. The playground exposes the master key in the browser. Use Parse Dashboard as GraphQL IDE or configure a third-party GraphQL client with custom request headers.',
     action: parsers.booleanParser,
     default: false,
   },
@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ module.exports.ParseServerOptions = {
   },
   playgroundPath: {
     env: 'PARSE_SERVER_PLAYGROUND_PATH',
-    help: 'Mount path for the GraphQL Playground, defaults to /playground',
+    help: 'Deprecated. Mount path for the GraphQL Playground. The playground is deprecated and will be removed in a future version.',
     default: '/playground',
   },
   port: {

src/Options/index.js

@@ -339,11 +339,11 @@ export interface ParseServerOptions {
   :ENV: PARSE_SERVER_GRAPHQL_PUBLIC_INTROSPECTION
   :DEFAULT: false */
   graphQLPublicIntrospection: ?boolean;
-  /* Mounts the GraphQL Playground which exposes the master key in the browser - never use this option in production
+  /* Deprecated. Mounts the GraphQL Playground which is deprecated and will be removed in a future version. The playground exposes the master key in the browser. Use Parse Dashboard as GraphQL IDE or configure a third-party GraphQL client with custom request headers.
   :ENV: PARSE_SERVER_MOUNT_PLAYGROUND
   :DEFAULT: false */
   mountPlayground: ?boolean;
-  /* Mount path for the GraphQL Playground, defaults to /playground
+  /* Deprecated. Mount path for the GraphQL Playground. The playground is deprecated and will be removed in a future version.
   :ENV: PARSE_SERVER_PLAYGROUND_PATH
   :DEFAULT: /playground */
   playgroundPath: ?string;

src/ParseServer.ts

@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ class ParseServer {
       if (options.mountPlayground) {
         parseGraphQLServer.applyPlayground(app);
         logging.getLogger().warn(
-          'GraphQL Playground is enabled and exposes the master key in the browser. The playground is a developer tool and should not be used in production. Use Parse Dashboard for production environments.'
+          'GraphQL Playground is deprecated and will be removed in a future version. It exposes the master key in the browser. Use Parse Dashboard as GraphQL IDE or configure a third-party GraphQL client with custom request headers.'
         );
       }
     }