Neo4j Cypher Query Cheatsheet

🔍

Basic Graph Exploration

MATCH (n)-[r]->(m) RETURN n, r, m LIMIT 100

Show all nodes, relationships, and connections (limited to 100)

MATCH (n) RETURN n LIMIT 25

Show all nodes in the database (limited to 25)

MATCH ()-[r]->() RETURN r LIMIT 50

Show all relationships (limited to 50)

MATCH (n) RETURN DISTINCT labels(n) as node_labels

Get all unique node labels in the database

MATCH ()-[r]->() RETURN DISTINCT type(r) as relationship_types

Get all unique relationship types

MATCH (n) RETURN count(n) as total_nodes

Count total number of nodes

MATCH ()-[r]->() RETURN count(r) as total_relationships

Count total number of relationships

➕

Basic Node Operations

CREATE (n:Person {name: 'John', age: 30})

Create a node with label 'Person' and properties

MATCH (n:Person) WHERE n.name = 'John' RETURN n

Find nodes by property value

MATCH (n:Person {name: 'John'}) SET n.age = 31 RETURN n

Update node properties

MATCH (n:Person {name: 'John'}) DELETE n

Delete a node (only if no relationships exist)

MATCH (n:Person {name: 'John'}) DETACH DELETE n

Delete a node and all its relationships

🔗

Relationship Operations

CREATE (a:Person {name: 'Alice'})-[r:WORKS_AT {since: 2020}]->(b:Company {name: 'TechCorp'})

Create nodes and relationship in one query

MATCH (a)-[r:KNOWS]->(b) WHERE a.name = 'John' RETURN a, r, b

Find relationships and connected nodes

MATCH (a)-[r:KNOWS]->(b) WHERE a.name = 'John' DELETE r

Delete a specific relationship

🎯

Advanced Queries

MATCH path = shortestPath((a:Person {name: 'John'})-[*]-(b:Person {name: 'Jane'})) RETURN path

Find shortest path between two nodes

MATCH (p:Person) WITH p, [(p)-[:KNOWS]->(friend) | friend.name] as friends RETURN p.name, friends

Collect friends as a list for each person

MATCH (p:Person) OPTIONAL MATCH (p)-[:WORKS_AT]->(c:Company) RETURN p.name, c.name

LEFT JOIN equivalent - return people with or without companies

🗑️

Delete All Data

⚠️ DANGER ZONE

The following queries will permanently delete data. Use with extreme caution!

MATCH (n) DETACH DELETE n

🔥 Delete ALL nodes and relationships in the database (PERMANENT!)

MATCH (n) DETACH DELETE n

🔥 Alternative single-line version - deletes everything (PERMANENT!)

⚙️

Configuration Settings

Key Neo4j configuration settings (neo4j.conf file):

# neo4j.conf - Key Configuration Settings # Memory Settings dbms.memory.heap.initial_size=1G dbms.memory.heap.max_size=1G dbms.memory.pagecache.size=1G # Network Settings dbms.default_listen_address=0.0.0.0 dbms.default_advertised_address=localhost dbms.connector.bolt.listen_address=:7687 dbms.connector.http.listen_address=:7474 # Security Settings dbms.security.auth_enabled=true dbms.security.procedures.unrestricted=gds.*,apoc.* # Performance Settings dbms.query_cache_size=1000 dbms.query.max_time=60s

Memory Tuning Tips:

Set heap size to 1/4 of available RAM
Page cache should be 1/2 of available RAM (minus heap)
Monitor with :sysinfo in Neo4j Browser