vue-apollo: GraphQL queries only run when using <ApolloQuery> tags. Never works in script code. this.$apollo.queries is empty - vue.js

Question

I know I'm probably missing something really super basic here, I'm trying to run a graphql query with vue-apollo... if I use tags, it works fine
If I try to run queries from inside my code, like in the basic examples in the docs (links below) then nothing happens. The server never receives any request, and this.$apollo.queries is empty.)
Basic examples from the docs:
https://akryum.github.io/vue-apollo/guide/apollo/#queries
https://vue-apollo.netlify.com/guide/apollo/queries.html#simple-query
I've defined the query in the "apollo" property/object... how do I actually execute it when the page loads? Note that I'm using typescript, which is why it's using a "get apollo()" method.
Here's my code...
<script lang="ts">
import { Component, Vue } from 'vue-property-decorator'
export default class List extends Vue {
myQueryName='my default value';
get apollo() {
return {
myQueryName: {
query: require('../graphql/listMeta.graphql'),
// prefetch: true <-- tried with and without this
}
}
}
}
</script>
<template>
<div>
<!-- THIS DOESN"T WORK ... -->
queries are: {{this.$apollo.queries}} <!-- THIS JUST SHOWS AN EMPTY OBJECT: {} -->
<hr>
myQueryName value is: {{myQueryName}} <!-- THIS JUST SHOWS "my default value" -->
<hr>
<!--
THIS DOES WORK...
<ApolloQuery :query="this.apollo.myQueryName.query" >
<template slot-scope="{ result: { loading, error, data } }"></template>
</ApolloQuery>
-->
</div>
</template>
Note that this.$apollo.queries is empty in the template, probably a clue... but still no idea why its empty. From the docs and examples I've seen it should be populated from my get apollo data method.
Looks basically the same as https://github.com/OniVe/vue-apollo-typescript-example/blob/master/pages/index.vue as far as I can tell, I don't know what the difference is.
I've tried rebuilding the project from scratch multiple times (with and without nuxt), over teh course of months and many different versions of vue/nuxt/apollo/vue-apollo... the queries never run (from memory) unless I use tags.
What am I missing?

Answer 1

You are missing #Component decorator, it is needed to set initial properties of Vue component, so vue-apollo can detect it when component created and make a smartquery property.
import { Component, Vue } from 'vue-property-decorator'
import listMetaDocument from '../graphql/listMeta.gql'
#Component({
name: 'List',
apollo: {
listMeta: {
query: listMetaDocument
},
},
})
export default class List extends Vue { }