neo4j

native graph database platform for connected data

TLDR

Start Neo4j server

$ neo4j start

Stop server

$ neo4j stop

Check status

$ neo4j status

Run as console (foreground)

$ neo4j console

Open Cypher shell

$ cypher-shell

Set initial password

$ neo4j-admin dbms set-initial-password [password]

Neo4j is a native graph database platform for connected data. It uses the Cypher query language and stores data as nodes and relationships.Neo4j excels at queries involving complex relationships that would require expensive joins in relational databases.

PARAMETERS

start

Start server in background.

stop

Stop server.

restart

Restart server.

status

Check server status.

console

Run in foreground.

version

Print Neo4j version information and exit.

help

Print usage information for the neo4j launcher.

CONFIGURATION

$ /etc/neo4j/neo4j.conf
~/.neo4j/neo4j.conf

CYPHER EXAMPLES

$ // Create node
CREATE (n:Person {name: 'Alice'})

// Create relationship
MATCH (a:Person), (b:Person)
WHERE a.name = 'Alice' AND b.name = 'Bob'
CREATE (a)-[:KNOWS]->(b)

// Query
MATCH (n:Person)-[:KNOWS]->(m)
RETURN n.name, m.name

CAVEATS

Memory-intensive for large graphs. Community edition is single-node only. Requires Java 21 or later (starting with the 2025 calendar-versioned releases). Default endpoints: Neo4j Browser on port 7474, Bolt protocol on port 7687. Administrative actions (initial password, dump/load, database create) are handled by neo4j-admin, not neo4j.

HISTORY

Neo4j was developed by Neo4j, Inc. (originally Neo Technology), with version 1.0 released in 2010. It pioneered the property graph model.