diff --git a/client/src/apollo/client.ts b/client/src/apollo/client.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4bd2d72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/client/src/apollo/client.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import { ApolloClient, HttpLink, InMemoryCache } from '@apollo/client';
+
+//GraphQL server address. Override with VITE_GRAPHQL_URL in .env (e.g. on the VM)
+const uri = import.meta.env.VITE_GRAPHQL_URL ?? 'http://localhost:3001/graphql';
+
+export const client = new ApolloClient({
+  link: new HttpLink({ uri }), //how requests reach the server
+  cache: new InMemoryCache(), //where query results are stored
+});
diff --git a/client/src/main.tsx b/client/src/main.tsx
index 57df51d..14f640d 100644
--- a/client/src/main.tsx
+++ b/client/src/main.tsx
@@ -1,10 +1,15 @@
 import { StrictMode } from 'react';
 import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client';
+import { ApolloProvider } from '@apollo/client/react';
+import { client } from './apollo/client';
 import './styles/index.css';
 import { App } from './App.tsx';
 
 createRoot(document.getElementById('root')!).render(
   <StrictMode>
-    <App />
+    {/*makes the GraphQL client available for every component*/}
+    <ApolloProvider client={client}>
+      <App />
+    </ApolloProvider>
   </StrictMode>,
 );