Constraints and Indexes Guide

<h2 id="constraints-and-indexes-guide" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Constraints and Indexes Guide <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="constraints-and-indexes-guide" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Constraints and Indexes Guide"> Share link </button> </h2><div id="headingShareModal" class="heading-share-modal" role="dialog" aria-modal="true" aria-labelledby="headingShareTitle" hidden> <div class="hsm-dialog" role="document"> <div class="hsm-header"> <h2 id="headingShareTitle" class="h6 mb-0 fw-bold">Share this section</h2> <button type="button" class="hsm-close" aria-label="Close"> </button> </div> <div class="hsm-body"> <label for="headingShareInput" class="form-label small text-muted mb-1 text-uppercase fw-bold" style="font-size: 0.7rem; letter-spacing: 0.5px;">Permalink</label> <div class="input-group mb-4 hsm-url-group"> <input id="headingShareInput" type="text" class="form-control font-monospace" readonly aria-readonly="true" style="font-size: 0.85rem;" /> <button class="btn btn-primary hsm-copy" type="button" aria-label="Copy" title="Copy"> </button> </div> <div class="small fw-bold mb-2 text-muted text-uppercase" style="font-size: 0.7rem; 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This guide covers all constraint and index types, when to use each, and best practices for production systems. <h3 id="overview" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Overview <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="overview" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Overview"> Share link </button> </h3>Constraints enforce data integrity rules: <ul> <li>Unique constraints prevent duplicate values</li> <li>Existence constraints require properties to be present</li> </ul> Indexes improve query performance: <ul> <li>B-tree indexes for range queries and ordering</li> <li>Hash indexes for exact lookups</li> <li>Composite indexes for multi-property queries</li> <li>Vector indexes for similarity search</li> <li>Full-text indexes for text search</li> </ul> <h3 id="constraints" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Constraints <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="constraints" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Constraints"> Share link </button> </h3> <h4 id="unique-constraints" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Unique Constraints <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="unique-constraints" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Unique Constraints"> Share link </button> </h4>Unique constraints ensure that no two nodes with the same label have the same property value. Syntax: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">CREATE CONSTRAINT constraint_name ON :Label(property) ASSERT UNIQUE </code></pre></div>Examples: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Ensure unique email addresses CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_unique ON :User(email) ASSERT UNIQUE // Ensure unique product SKUs CREATE CONSTRAINT product_sku_unique ON :Product(sku) ASSERT UNIQUE // Ensure unique order numbers CREATE CONSTRAINT order_number_unique ON :Order(order_number) ASSERT UNIQUE </code></pre></div>Multi-Property Unique Constraints: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Composite unique constraint (tenant + username) CREATE CONSTRAINT tenant_user_unique ON :User(tenant_id, username) ASSERT UNIQUE // Unique within scope CREATE CONSTRAINT org_repo_unique ON :Repository(org_id, name) ASSERT UNIQUE </code></pre></div><div class="docs-tabs mb-4"> <ul class="nav nav-tabs" id="tabs-1774880883212493318" role="tablist"><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link active" id="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-0-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-0" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-0" aria-selected="true" > Go </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-1-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-1" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-1" aria-selected="false" > Python </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-2-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-2" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-2" aria-selected="false" > Rust </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-3-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-3" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-3" aria-selected="false" > Node.js </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-4-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-4" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-4" aria-selected="false" > Zig </button> </li></ul> <div class="tab-content border border-top-0 rounded-bottom p-3" id="tabs-1774880883212493318-content"><div class="tab-pane fade show active" id="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-0" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-0-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-go" data-lang="go">// Create unique constraint _, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, ` CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_unique ON :User(email) ASSERT UNIQUE `) if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } // Attempt to insert duplicate (will fail) _, err = db.ExecContext(ctx, `CREATE (:User {email: ?})`, "[email protected]") if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } _, err = db.ExecContext(ctx, `CREATE (:User {email: ?})`, "[email protected]") if err != nil { // Error: constraint violation log.Printf("Expected error: %v", err) } </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-1" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-1-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-python" data-lang="python">async with client.connection() as conn: # Create unique constraint await conn.execute( "CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_unique ON :User(email) ASSERT UNIQUE" ) # Insert first user await conn.execute( "CREATE (:User {email: $email})", {"email": "[email protected]"} ) # Attempt duplicate (will raise exception) try: await conn.execute( "CREATE (:User {email: $email})", {"email": "[email protected]"} ) except ConstraintViolationError as e: print(f"Constraint violation: {e}") </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-2" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-2-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-rust" data-lang="rust">// Create unique constraint conn.query("CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_unique ON :User(email) ASSERT UNIQUE") .await?; // Insert first user let mut params = HashMap::new(); params.insert("email".to_string(), Value::string("[email protected]")); conn.query_with_params("CREATE (:User {email: $email})", &params).await?; // Attempt duplicate (will error) match conn.query_with_params("CREATE (:User {email: $email})", &params).await { Ok(_) => println!("Unexpected success"), Err(e) => println!("Expected constraint violation: {}", e), } </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-3" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-3-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-typescript" data-lang="typescript">// Create unique constraint await client.exec( 'CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_unique ON :User(email) ASSERT UNIQUE' ); // Insert first user await client.exec( 'CREATE (:User {email: $email})', { params: { email: '[email protected]' } } ); // Attempt duplicate (will throw) try { await client.exec( 'CREATE (:User {email: $email})', { params: { email: '[email protected]' } } ); } catch (error) { console.log('Expected constraint violation:', error.message); } </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-4" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883212493318-tab-4-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-zig" data-lang="zig">// Create unique constraint try client.sendRunGql(1, "CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_unique ON :User(email) ASSERT UNIQUE", null); _ = try client.receiveMessage(30000); // Insert first user var params = std.json.ObjectMap.init(allocator); defer params.deinit(); try params.put("email", .{ .string = "[email protected]" }); try client.sendRunGql(2, "CREATE (:User {email: $email})", .{ .object = params }); _ = try client.receiveMessage(30000); // Attempt duplicate (will return error in response) try client.sendRunGql(3, "CREATE (:User {email: $email})", .{ .object = params }); const result = try client.receiveMessage(30000); defer allocator.free(result); // Check result for constraint violation error </code></pre></div> </div></div> </div> <h4 id="existence-constraints" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Existence Constraints <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="existence-constraints" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Existence Constraints"> Share link </button> </h4>Existence constraints ensure that nodes with a specific label always have certain properties. Syntax: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">CREATE CONSTRAINT constraint_name ON :Label(property) ASSERT EXISTS </code></pre></div>Examples: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Require email for all users CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_exists ON :User(email) ASSERT EXISTS // Require name for all products CREATE CONSTRAINT product_name_exists ON :Product(name) ASSERT EXISTS // Require created_at timestamp CREATE CONSTRAINT order_created_exists ON :Order(created_at) ASSERT EXISTS </code></pre></div>Multi-Property Existence: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Require multiple properties CREATE CONSTRAINT user_required ON :User(email) ASSERT EXISTS CREATE CONSTRAINT user_name_required ON :User(name) ASSERT EXISTS </code></pre></div><div class="docs-tabs mb-4"> <ul class="nav nav-tabs" id="tabs-1774880883228153301" role="tablist"><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link active" id="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-0-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-0" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-0" aria-selected="true" > Go </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-1-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-1" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-1" aria-selected="false" > Python </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-2-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-2" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-2" aria-selected="false" > Rust </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-3-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-3" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-3" aria-selected="false" > Node.js </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-4-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-4" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-4" aria-selected="false" > Zig </button> </li></ul> <div class="tab-content border border-top-0 rounded-bottom p-3" id="tabs-1774880883228153301-content"><div class="tab-pane fade show active" id="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-0" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-0-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-go" data-lang="go">// Create existence constraint _, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, ` CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_exists ON :User(email) ASSERT EXISTS `) if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } // This will succeed _, err = db.ExecContext(ctx, `CREATE (:User {email: ?, name: ?})`, "[email protected]", "Alice") if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } // This will fail (missing email) _, err = db.ExecContext(ctx, `CREATE (:User {name: ?})`, "Bob") if err != nil { log.Printf("Expected error: %v", err) } </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-1" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-1-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-python" data-lang="python">async with client.connection() as conn: # Create existence constraint await conn.execute( "CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_exists ON :User(email) ASSERT EXISTS" ) # This will succeed await conn.execute( "CREATE (:User {email: $email, name: $name})", {"email": "[email protected]", "name": "Alice"} ) # This will fail (missing email) try: await conn.execute( "CREATE (:User {name: $name})", {"name": "Bob"} ) except ConstraintViolationError as e: print(f"Missing required property: {e}") </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-2" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-2-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-rust" data-lang="rust">// Create existence constraint conn.query("CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_exists ON :User(email) ASSERT EXISTS") .await?; // This will succeed let mut params = HashMap::new(); params.insert("email".to_string(), Value::string("[email protected]")); params.insert("name".to_string(), Value::string("Alice")); conn.query_with_params( "CREATE (:User {email: $email, name: $name})", &params ).await?; // This will fail (missing email) let mut bad_params = HashMap::new(); bad_params.insert("name".to_string(), Value::string("Bob")); match conn.query_with_params("CREATE (:User {name: $name})", &bad_params).await { Ok(_) => println!("Unexpected success"), Err(e) => println!("Expected missing property error: {}", e), } </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-3" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-3-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-typescript" data-lang="typescript">// Create existence constraint await client.exec( 'CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_exists ON :User(email) ASSERT EXISTS' ); // This will succeed await client.exec( 'CREATE (:User {email: $email, name: $name})', { params: { email: '[email protected]', name: 'Alice' } } ); // This will fail (missing email) try { await client.exec( 'CREATE (:User {name: $name})', { params: { name: 'Bob' } } ); } catch (error) { console.log('Missing required property:', error.message); } </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-4" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883228153301-tab-4-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-zig" data-lang="zig">// Create existence constraint try client.sendRunGql(1, "CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_exists ON :User(email) ASSERT EXISTS", null); _ = try client.receiveMessage(30000); // This will succeed var params = std.json.ObjectMap.init(allocator); defer params.deinit(); try params.put("email", .{ .string = "[email protected]" }); try params.put("name", .{ .string = "Alice" }); try client.sendRunGql(2, "CREATE (:User {email: $email, name: $name})", .{ .object = params }); _ = try client.receiveMessage(30000); // This will fail (missing email) params.clearRetainingCapacity(); try params.put("name", .{ .string = "Bob" }); try client.sendRunGql(3, "CREATE (:User {name: $name})", .{ .object = params }); const result = try client.receiveMessage(30000); defer allocator.free(result); // Response will contain constraint violation error </code></pre></div> </div></div> </div> <h4 id="managing-constraints" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Managing Constraints <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="managing-constraints" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Managing Constraints"> Share link </button> </h4>View Constraints: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">SHOW CONSTRAINTS </code></pre></div>Drop Constraints: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">DROP CONSTRAINT user_email_unique DROP CONSTRAINT user_email_exists </code></pre></div>Check Constraint Details: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">SHOW CONSTRAINT user_email_unique </code></pre></div> <h3 id="property-indexes" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Property Indexes <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="property-indexes" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Property Indexes"> Share link </button> </h3>Indexes accelerate query performance by creating efficient lookup structures. <h4 id="b-tree-indexes" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> B-Tree Indexes <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="b-tree-indexes" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: B-Tree Indexes"> Share link </button> </h4>B-tree indexes are the default and most versatile index type. They support: <ul> <li>Exact matches</li> <li>Range queries (>, <, >=, <=)</li> <li>Prefix matching (STARTS WITH)</li> <li>Ordering (ORDER BY)</li> </ul> Syntax: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">CREATE INDEX index_name ON :Label(property) CREATE BTREE INDEX index_name ON :Label(property) </code></pre></div>Examples: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Simple property index CREATE INDEX user_email ON :User(email) // Explicit B-tree index CREATE BTREE INDEX user_age ON :User(age) // Index for ordering CREATE INDEX order_date ON :Order(created_at) </code></pre></div>Query Patterns That Use B-Tree Indexes: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Exact match MATCH (u:User {email: "[email protected]"}) RETURN u // Range query MATCH (u:User) WHERE u.age > 25 AND u.age < 40 RETURN u // Prefix search MATCH (u:User) WHERE u.name STARTS WITH "Ali" RETURN u // Ordering MATCH (o:Order) RETURN o ORDER BY o.created_at DESC </code></pre></div> <h4 id="hash-indexes" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Hash Indexes <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="hash-indexes" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Hash Indexes"> Share link </button> </h4>Hash indexes provide the fastest exact-match lookups but do not support range queries or ordering. Syntax: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">CREATE HASH INDEX index_name ON :Label(property) </code></pre></div>Examples: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Hash index for exact lookups CREATE HASH INDEX user_id ON :User(id) // Hash index for foreign key lookups CREATE HASH INDEX order_user_id ON :Order(user_id) </code></pre></div>When to Use Hash Indexes: <ul> <li>Primary key lookups</li> <li>Foreign key relationships</li> <li>Equality-only queries</li> <li>Maximum lookup speed needed</li> </ul> Query Patterns That Use Hash Indexes: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Exact match (fast) MATCH (u:User {id: 12345}) RETURN u // These will NOT use hash index: // MATCH (u:User) WHERE u.id > 100 RETURN u -- range query // MATCH (u:User) RETURN u ORDER BY u.id -- ordering </code></pre></div> <h4 id="composite-indexes" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Composite Indexes <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="composite-indexes" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Composite Indexes"> Share link </button> </h4>Composite indexes cover multiple properties and are essential for multi-property queries. Syntax: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">CREATE INDEX index_name ON :Label(property1, property2, ...) </code></pre></div>Examples: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Composite index for multi-tenant queries CREATE INDEX user_tenant ON :User(tenant_id, email) // Composite index for location queries CREATE INDEX location_idx ON :Location(country, city, zip_code) // Composite index for time-series data CREATE INDEX event_time ON :Event(type, timestamp) </code></pre></div>Important: Left-Prefix Rule: Composite indexes follow the left-prefix rule. An index on <code>(a, b, c)</code> can be used for queries on: <ul> <li><code>(a)</code></li> <li><code>(a, b)</code></li> <li><code>(a, b, c)</code></li> </ul> But NOT for queries on only <code>(b)</code>, <code>(c)</code>, or <code>(b, c)</code>. <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Index: CREATE INDEX idx ON :User(tenant_id, email, status) // Uses index (full match) MATCH (u:User {tenant_id: 1, email: "[email protected]", status: "active"}) // Uses index (left prefix) MATCH (u:User {tenant_id: 1, email: "[email protected]"}) MATCH (u:User {tenant_id: 1}) // Does NOT use index (skips tenant_id) MATCH (u:User {email: "[email protected]"}) MATCH (u:User {status: "active"}) </code></pre></div><div class="docs-tabs mb-4"> <ul class="nav nav-tabs" id="tabs-1774880883249181116" role="tablist"><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link active" id="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-0-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-0" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-0" aria-selected="true" > Go </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-1-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-1" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-1" aria-selected="false" > Python </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-2-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-2" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-2" aria-selected="false" > Rust </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-3-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-3" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-3" aria-selected="false" > Node.js </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-4-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-4" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-4" aria-selected="false" > Zig </button> </li></ul> <div class="tab-content border border-top-0 rounded-bottom p-3" id="tabs-1774880883249181116-content"><div class="tab-pane fade show active" id="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-0" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-0-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-go" data-lang="go">// Create composite index _, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, ` CREATE INDEX user_tenant_email ON :User(tenant_id, email) `) if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } // Query using composite index rows, err := db.QueryContext(ctx, ` MATCH (u:User {tenant_id: ?, email: ?}) RETURN u.name `, 1, "[email protected]") if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } defer rows.Close() </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-1" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-1-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-python" data-lang="python">async with client.connection() as conn: # Create composite index await conn.execute( "CREATE INDEX user_tenant_email ON :User(tenant_id, email)" ) # Query using composite index page, _ = await conn.query( "MATCH (u:User {tenant_id: $tenant, email: $email}) RETURN u.name", {"tenant": 1, "email": "[email protected]"} ) </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-2" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-2-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-rust" data-lang="rust">// Create composite index conn.query("CREATE INDEX user_tenant_email ON :User(tenant_id, email)") .await?; // Query using composite index let mut params = HashMap::new(); params.insert("tenant".to_string(), Value::int(1)); params.insert("email".to_string(), Value::string("[email protected]")); let (page, _) = conn.query_with_params( "MATCH (u:User {tenant_id: $tenant, email: $email}) RETURN u.name", &params ).await?; </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-3" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-3-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-typescript" data-lang="typescript">// Create composite index await client.exec('CREATE INDEX user_tenant_email ON :User(tenant_id, email)'); // Query using composite index const rows = await client.queryAll( 'MATCH (u:User {tenant_id: $tenant, email: $email}) RETURN u.name', { params: { tenant: 1, email: '[email protected]' } } ); </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-4" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883249181116-tab-4-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-zig" data-lang="zig">// Create composite index try client.sendRunGql(1, "CREATE INDEX user_tenant_email ON :User(tenant_id, email)", null); _ = try client.receiveMessage(30000); // Query using composite index var params = std.json.ObjectMap.init(allocator); defer params.deinit(); try params.put("tenant", .{ .integer = 1 }); try params.put("email", .{ .string = "[email protected]" }); try client.sendRunGql(2, "MATCH (u:User {tenant_id: $tenant, email: $email}) RETURN u.name", .{ .object = params }); _ = try client.receiveMessage(30000); try client.sendPull(2, 1000); const result = try client.receiveMessage(30000); defer allocator.free(result); </code></pre></div> </div></div> </div> <h3 id="vector-indexes" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Vector Indexes <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="vector-indexes" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Vector Indexes"> Share link </button> </h3>Vector indexes enable similarity search on high-dimensional vector embeddings, essential for AI/ML applications. <h4 id="creating-vector-indexes" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Creating Vector Indexes <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="creating-vector-indexes" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Creating Vector Indexes"> Share link </button> </h4>Syntax: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">CREATE VECTOR INDEX index_name ON :Label(property) OPTIONS { dimensions: 1536, similarity: "cosine" // or "euclidean", "dot_product" } </code></pre></div>Examples: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// OpenAI embedding index (1536 dimensions) CREATE VECTOR INDEX document_embedding ON :Document(embedding) OPTIONS { dimensions: 1536, similarity: "cosine" } // Image feature vector (512 dimensions, euclidean distance) CREATE VECTOR INDEX image_features ON :Image(features) OPTIONS { dimensions: 512, similarity: "euclidean" } // Sentence embedding with dot product similarity CREATE VECTOR INDEX sentence_embed ON :Sentence(vector) OPTIONS { dimensions: 768, similarity: "dot_product" } </code></pre></div> <h4 id="similarity-search-queries" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Similarity Search Queries <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="similarity-search-queries" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Similarity Search Queries"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Find similar documents MATCH (d:Document) WHERE d.embedding <-> $query_vector < 0.5 RETURN d.title, d.embedding <-> $query_vector AS distance ORDER BY distance LIMIT 10 // K-nearest neighbors MATCH (d:Document) RETURN d.title ORDER BY d.embedding <-> $query_vector LIMIT 5 // Hybrid search: filter + similarity MATCH (d:Document {category: "science"}) WHERE d.embedding <-> $query_vector < 0.3 RETURN d.title, d.content LIMIT 20 </code></pre></div><div class="docs-tabs mb-4"> <ul class="nav nav-tabs" id="tabs-1774880883265149807" role="tablist"><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link active" id="tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-0-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-0" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-0" aria-selected="true" > Go </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button 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data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-4" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-4" aria-selected="false" > Zig </button> </li></ul> <div class="tab-content border border-top-0 rounded-bottom p-3" id="tabs-1774880883265149807-content"><div class="tab-pane fade show active" id="tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-0" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-0-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-go" data-lang="go">// Create vector index _, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, ` CREATE VECTOR INDEX doc_embedding ON :Document(embedding) OPTIONS { dimensions: 1536, similarity: "cosine" } `) if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } // Search similar documents queryVector := generateEmbedding("search query") rows, err := db.QueryContext(ctx, ` MATCH (d:Document) WHERE d.embedding <-> ? < 0.5 RETURN d.title, d.embedding <-> ? AS distance ORDER BY distance LIMIT 10 `, queryVector, queryVector) if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } defer rows.Close() for rows.Next() { var title string var distance float64 rows.Scan(&title, &distance) fmt.Printf("%s (distance: %.4f)\n", title, distance) } </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-1" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-1-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-python" data-lang="python">import numpy as np async with client.connection() as conn: # Create vector index await conn.execute(""" CREATE VECTOR INDEX doc_embedding ON :Document(embedding) OPTIONS { dimensions: 1536, similarity: "cosine" } """) # Generate query embedding (using your ML model) query_vector = generate_embedding("search query") # Search similar documents page, _ = await conn.query(""" MATCH (d:Document) WHERE d.embedding <-> $vector < 0.5 RETURN d.title, d.embedding <-> $vector AS distance ORDER BY distance LIMIT 10 """, {"vector": query_vector.tolist()}) for row in page.rows: print(f"{row['d.title'].as_string} (distance: {row['distance'].as_float:.4f})") </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-2" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-2-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-rust" data-lang="rust">// Create vector index conn.query(r#" CREATE VECTOR INDEX doc_embedding ON :Document(embedding) OPTIONS { dimensions: 1536, similarity: "cosine" } "#).await?; // Generate query embedding let query_vector = generate_embedding("search query"); // Search similar documents let mut params = HashMap::new(); params.insert("vector".to_string(), Value::float_array(query_vector)); let (page, _) = conn.query_with_params(r#" MATCH (d:Document) WHERE d.embedding <-> $vector < 0.5 RETURN d.title, d.embedding <-> $vector AS distance ORDER BY distance LIMIT 10 "#, &params).await?; for row in &page.rows { let title = row.get("d.title").unwrap().as_string()?; let distance = row.get("distance").unwrap().as_float()?; println!("{} (distance: {:.4})", title, distance); } </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-3" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-3-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-typescript" data-lang="typescript">// Create vector index await client.exec(` CREATE VECTOR INDEX doc_embedding ON :Document(embedding) OPTIONS { dimensions: 1536, similarity: "cosine" } `); // Generate query embedding const queryVector = await generateEmbedding('search query'); // Search similar documents const rows = await client.queryAll(` MATCH (d:Document) WHERE d.embedding <-> $vector < 0.5 RETURN d.title, d.embedding <-> $vector AS distance ORDER BY distance LIMIT 10 `, { params: { vector: queryVector } }); for (const row of rows) { console.log(`${row.get('d.title')?.asString} (distance: ${row.get('distance')?.asNumber.toFixed(4)})`); } </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-4" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883265149807-tab-4-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-zig" data-lang="zig">// Create vector index try client.sendRunGql(1, \\CREATE VECTOR INDEX doc_embedding ON :Document(embedding) \\OPTIONS { dimensions: 1536, similarity: "cosine" } , null); _ = try client.receiveMessage(30000); // Generate query embedding (using your ML model) const query_vector = try generateEmbedding(allocator, "search query"); defer allocator.free(query_vector); // Convert to JSON array var vector_json = std.ArrayList(u8).init(allocator); defer vector_json.deinit(); try std.json.stringify(query_vector, .{}, vector_json.writer()); var params = std.json.ObjectMap.init(allocator); defer params.deinit(); // Parse vector JSON and add to params const parsed = try std.json.parseFromSlice(std.json.Value, allocator, vector_json.items, .{}); defer parsed.deinit(); try params.put("vector", parsed.value); try client.sendRunGql(2, \\MATCH (d:Document) \\WHERE d.embedding <-> $vector < 0.5 \\RETURN d.title, d.embedding <-> $vector AS distance \\ORDER BY distance \\LIMIT 10 , .{ .object = params }); _ = try client.receiveMessage(30000); try client.sendPull(2, 1000); const result = try client.receiveMessage(30000); defer allocator.free(result); </code></pre></div> </div></div> </div> <h4 id="vector-index-options" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Vector Index Options <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="vector-index-options" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Vector Index Options"> Share link </button> </h4><table> <thead> <tr> <th>Option</th> <th>Description</th> <th>Values</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><code>dimensions</code></td> <td>Vector dimensionality</td> <td>1-4096</td> </tr> <tr> <td><code>similarity</code></td> <td>Distance metric</td> <td><code>cosine</code>, <code>euclidean</code>, <code>dot_product</code></td> </tr> <tr> <td><code>ef_construction</code></td> <td>Build-time accuracy</td> <td>16-512 (default: 200)</td> </tr> <tr> <td><code>m</code></td> <td>Max connections per node</td> <td>4-64 (default: 16)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Choosing Similarity Metrics: <ul> <li>Cosine: Best for normalized embeddings (text, semantic search)</li> <li>Euclidean: Best for spatial/geometric data</li> <li>Dot Product: Best for maximum inner product search</li> </ul> <h3 id="full-text-indexes" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Full-Text Indexes <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="full-text-indexes" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Full-Text Indexes"> Share link </button> </h3>Full-text indexes enable efficient text search with tokenization, stemming, and relevance ranking. <h4 id="creating-full-text-indexes" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Creating Full-Text Indexes <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="creating-full-text-indexes" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Creating Full-Text Indexes"> Share link </button> </h4>Syntax: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX index_name ON :Label(property, ...) OPTIONS { analyzer: "english", // or "standard", "simple", language codes min_word_length: 3 } </code></pre></div>Examples: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Basic full-text index CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX article_content ON :Article(title, content) // Multi-property full-text index with options CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX product_search ON :Product(name, description, tags) OPTIONS { analyzer: "english", min_word_length: 2 } // Multi-language support CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX doc_multilang ON :Document(content) OPTIONS { analyzer: "standard" } </code></pre></div> <h4 id="full-text-search-queries" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Full-Text Search Queries <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="full-text-search-queries" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Full-Text Search Queries"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Simple text search MATCH (a:Article) WHERE a.content CONTAINS "graph database" RETURN a.title // Phrase search MATCH (a:Article) WHERE a.content CONTAINS '"exact phrase"' RETURN a.title // Boolean search MATCH (a:Article) WHERE a.content CONTAINS "graph AND (database OR query)" RETURN a.title // Wildcard search MATCH (p:Product) WHERE p.name CONTAINS "laptop*" RETURN p.name // Fuzzy search MATCH (p:Product) WHERE p.name CONTAINS "laptob~" // matches "laptop" RETURN p.name // Relevance ranking MATCH (a:Article) WHERE a.content CONTAINS $search_term RETURN a.title, score(a) AS relevance ORDER BY relevance DESC LIMIT 20 </code></pre></div><div class="docs-tabs mb-4"> <ul class="nav nav-tabs" id="tabs-1774880883287098004" role="tablist"><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link active" id="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-0-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-0" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-0" aria-selected="true" > Go </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-1-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-1" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-1" aria-selected="false" > Python </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-2-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-2" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-2" aria-selected="false" > Rust </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-3-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-3" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-3" aria-selected="false" > Node.js </button> </li><li class="nav-item" role="presentation"> <button class="nav-link" id="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-4-tab" data-bs-toggle="tab" data-bs-target="#tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-4" type="button" role="tab" aria-controls="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-4" aria-selected="false" > Zig </button> </li></ul> <div class="tab-content border border-top-0 rounded-bottom p-3" id="tabs-1774880883287098004-content"><div class="tab-pane fade show active" id="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-0" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-0-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-go" data-lang="go">// Create full-text index _, err := db.ExecContext(ctx, ` CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX article_search ON :Article(title, content) OPTIONS { analyzer: "english" } `) if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } // Search articles rows, err := db.QueryContext(ctx, ` MATCH (a:Article) WHERE a.content CONTAINS ? RETURN a.title, score(a) AS relevance ORDER BY relevance DESC LIMIT 10 `, "graph database performance") if err != nil { log.Fatal(err) } defer rows.Close() for rows.Next() { var title string var relevance float64 rows.Scan(&title, &relevance) fmt.Printf("%.2f: %s\n", relevance, title) } </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-1" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-1-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-python" data-lang="python">async with client.connection() as conn: # Create full-text index await conn.execute(""" CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX article_search ON :Article(title, content) OPTIONS { analyzer: "english" } """) # Search articles page, _ = await conn.query(""" MATCH (a:Article) WHERE a.content CONTAINS $search RETURN a.title, score(a) AS relevance ORDER BY relevance DESC LIMIT 10 """, {"search": "graph database performance"}) for row in page.rows: print(f"{row['relevance'].as_float:.2f}: {row['a.title'].as_string}") </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-2" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-2-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-rust" data-lang="rust">// Create full-text index conn.query(r#" CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX article_search ON :Article(title, content) OPTIONS { analyzer: "english" } "#).await?; // Search articles let mut params = HashMap::new(); params.insert("search".to_string(), Value::string("graph database performance")); let (page, _) = conn.query_with_params(r#" MATCH (a:Article) WHERE a.content CONTAINS $search RETURN a.title, score(a) AS relevance ORDER BY relevance DESC LIMIT 10 "#, &params).await?; for row in &page.rows { let title = row.get("a.title").unwrap().as_string()?; let relevance = row.get("relevance").unwrap().as_float()?; println!("{:.2}: {}", relevance, title); } </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-3" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-3-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-typescript" data-lang="typescript">// Create full-text index await client.exec(` CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX article_search ON :Article(title, content) OPTIONS { analyzer: "english" } `); // Search articles const rows = await client.queryAll(` MATCH (a:Article) WHERE a.content CONTAINS $search RETURN a.title, score(a) AS relevance ORDER BY relevance DESC LIMIT 10 `, { params: { search: 'graph database performance' } }); for (const row of rows) { console.log(`${row.get('relevance')?.asNumber.toFixed(2)}: ${row.get('a.title')?.asString}`); } </code></pre></div> </div><div class="tab-pane fade" id="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-4" role="tabpanel" aria-labelledby="tabs-1774880883287098004-tab-4-tab" > <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-zig" data-lang="zig">// Create full-text index try client.sendRunGql(1, \\CREATE FULLTEXT INDEX article_search ON :Article(title, content) \\OPTIONS { analyzer: "english" } , null); _ = try client.receiveMessage(30000); // Search articles var params = std.json.ObjectMap.init(allocator); defer params.deinit(); try params.put("search", .{ .string = "graph database performance" }); try client.sendRunGql(2, \\MATCH (a:Article) \\WHERE a.content CONTAINS $search \\RETURN a.title, score(a) AS relevance \\ORDER BY relevance DESC \\LIMIT 10 , .{ .object = params }); _ = try client.receiveMessage(30000); try client.sendPull(2, 1000); const result = try client.receiveMessage(30000); defer allocator.free(result); </code></pre></div> </div></div> </div> <h3 id="choosing-the-right-index-type" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Choosing the Right Index Type <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="choosing-the-right-index-type" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Choosing the Right Index Type"> Share link </button> </h3><table> <thead> <tr> <th>Query Pattern</th> <th>Best Index Type</th> <th>Why</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>Exact match on ID</td> <td>Hash</td> <td>Fastest O(1) lookup</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Exact match on multiple properties</td> <td>Composite B-tree</td> <td>Single index scan</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Range queries (age > 25)</td> <td>B-tree</td> <td>Supports ordering</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Prefix search (STARTS WITH)</td> <td>B-tree</td> <td>Ordered structure</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Full-text search</td> <td>Full-text</td> <td>Tokenization, stemming</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Similarity search (ML embeddings)</td> <td>Vector</td> <td>ANN algorithms</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ordering (ORDER BY)</td> <td>B-tree</td> <td>Maintains order</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Unique enforcement</td> <td>Unique constraint</td> <td>Automatic index</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <h4 id="decision-flowchart" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Decision Flowchart <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="decision-flowchart" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Decision Flowchart"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-fallback" data-lang="fallback">Is it a text search across content? Yes -> Full-text index No -> Continue Is it similarity search on vectors? Yes -> Vector index No -> Continue Do you need range queries or ordering? Yes -> B-tree index No -> Continue Is it exact-match only? Yes -> Hash index (fastest) No -> B-tree index (most versatile) Multiple properties in WHERE clause? Yes -> Composite index No -> Single-property index </code></pre></div> <h3 id="performance-considerations" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Performance Considerations <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="performance-considerations" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Performance Considerations"> Share link </button> </h3> <h4 id="index-overhead" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Index Overhead <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="index-overhead" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Index Overhead"> Share link </button> </h4>Every index: <ul> <li>Increases write latency: Updates must maintain index</li> <li>Uses disk space: Index structures require storage</li> <li>Uses memory: Hot indexes are cached</li> </ul> Rule of Thumb: Only create indexes for properties you query frequently. <h4 id="measuring-index-usage" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Measuring Index Usage <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="measuring-index-usage" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Measuring Index Usage"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Check if query uses index EXPLAIN MATCH (u:User {email: "[email protected]"}) RETURN u // Profile query performance PROFILE MATCH (u:User {email: "[email protected]"}) RETURN u </code></pre></div>Interpret EXPLAIN Output: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-fallback" data-lang="fallback">NodeIndexSeek <- Using index NodeByLabelScan <- Full label scan (slow) AllNodesScan <- Full database scan (very slow) </code></pre></div> <h4 id="index-selectivity" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Index Selectivity <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="index-selectivity" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Index Selectivity"> Share link </button> </h4>High selectivity = Few matching rows = Good index candidate Low selectivity = Many matching rows = Poor index candidate <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Good: Email is unique CREATE INDEX user_email ON :User(email) // Bad: Boolean has only 2 values // CREATE INDEX user_active ON :User(is_active) -- Don't do this // Good for boolean: Composite index CREATE INDEX user_active_created ON :User(is_active, created_at) </code></pre></div> <h4 id="composite-index-ordering" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Composite Index Ordering <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="composite-index-ordering" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Composite Index Ordering"> Share link </button> </h4>Order properties in composite indexes by: <ol> <li>Equality predicates first</li> <li>Then range predicates</li> <li>Highest selectivity first</li> </ol> <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Query: WHERE status = 'active' AND created_at > date() // Good order: (status, created_at) CREATE INDEX idx ON :User(status, created_at) // Bad order: (created_at, status) // Cannot use range + equality efficiently </code></pre></div> <h3 id="managing-indexes" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Managing Indexes <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="managing-indexes" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Managing Indexes"> Share link </button> </h3> <h4 id="view-all-indexes" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> View All Indexes <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="view-all-indexes" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: View All Indexes"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">SHOW INDEXES </code></pre></div> <h4 id="view-specific-index" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> View Specific Index <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="view-specific-index" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: View Specific Index"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">SHOW INDEX user_email </code></pre></div> <h4 id="drop-index" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Drop Index <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="drop-index" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Drop Index"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">DROP INDEX user_email </code></pre></div> <h4 id="rebuild-index" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Rebuild Index <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="rebuild-index" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Rebuild Index"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Useful after bulk imports REBUILD INDEX user_email </code></pre></div> <h4 id="index-statistics" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Index Statistics <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="index-statistics" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Index Statistics"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Get index cardinality and usage stats SHOW INDEX user_email STATS </code></pre></div> <h3 id="best-practices" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Best Practices <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="best-practices" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Best Practices"> Share link </button> </h3> <h4 id="1-start-with-constraints" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> 1. Start with Constraints <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="1-start-with-constraints" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: 1. Start with Constraints"> Share link </button> </h4>Unique and existence constraints automatically create indexes: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// This creates an index AND enforces uniqueness CREATE CONSTRAINT user_email_unique ON :User(email) ASSERT UNIQUE </code></pre></div> <h4 id="2-index-foreign-keys" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> 2. Index Foreign Keys <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="2-index-foreign-keys" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: 2. Index Foreign Keys"> Share link </button> </h4>Always index properties used for relationship lookups: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">CREATE INDEX order_user_id ON :Order(user_id) CREATE INDEX review_product_id ON :Review(product_id) </code></pre></div> <h4 id="3-monitor-and-iterate" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> 3. Monitor and Iterate <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="3-monitor-and-iterate" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: 3. Monitor and Iterate"> Share link </button> </h4><div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Check slow queries SHOW SLOW QUERIES // Check index usage SHOW INDEX STATS // Drop unused indexes DROP INDEX unused_index </code></pre></div> <h4 id="4-bulk-loading" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> 4. Bulk Loading <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="4-bulk-loading" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: 4. Bulk Loading"> Share link </button> </h4>Disable indexes during bulk imports, then rebuild: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-gql" data-lang="gql">// Before import DROP INDEX user_email // Perform bulk import LOAD CSV ... // After import CREATE INDEX user_email ON :User(email) </code></pre></div> <h4 id="5-document-your-indexes" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> 5. Document Your Indexes <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="5-document-your-indexes" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: 5. Document Your Indexes"> Share link </button> </h4>Maintain a schema document listing all indexes and their purposes: <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" class="chroma"><code class="language-markdown" data-lang="markdown">## Index Documentation ### User Indexes - `user_email_unique`: Unique constraint + lookup by email - `user_tenant_id`: Multi-tenant isolation - `user_created_at`: Date range queries ### Product Indexes - `product_sku_unique`: Unique SKU enforcement - `product_search`: Full-text search on name/description - `product_embedding`: Vector similarity search </code></pre></div> <h3 id="conclusion" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Conclusion <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="conclusion" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Conclusion"> Share link </button> </h3>Effective use of constraints and indexes is crucial for: <ul> <li>Data Integrity: Constraints ensure valid data</li> <li>Query Performance: Indexes accelerate lookups</li> <li>Scalability: Proper indexing enables growth</li> </ul> Key takeaways: <ul> <li>Use constraints for data integrity rules</li> <li>Choose index types based on query patterns</li> <li>Create composite indexes for multi-property queries</li> <li>Monitor and optimize based on actual usage</li> <li>Document your schema decisions</li> </ul> <h3 id="resources" class="position-relative d-flex align-items-center group"> Resources <button type="button" class="h-share btn btn-link p-0 text-decoration-none link-secondary opacity-50 hover-opacity-100 transition-all ms-1" data-share-target="resources" aria-haspopup="dialog" aria-label="Share link: Resources"> Share link </button> </h3><ul> <li><a href="/docs/gql-reference/" >GQL Reference</a> </li> <li><a href="/guides/query-performance/" >Query Optimization Guide</a> </li> <li><a href="/guides/graph-modeling/" >Graph Modeling Guide</a> </li> <li><a href="/docs/performance/" >Performance Tuning</a> </li> </ul> <hr> Questions? Discuss indexing strategies in our <a href="https://forum.geodedb.com" aria-label="forum – opens in new window" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" >forum ↗ </a> .

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