Creating a single node is done by issuing the following query.

Query

CREATE n

Nothing is returned from this query, except the count of affected nodes.

Try this query live. (1) {} create n

The values for the properties can be any scalar expressions.

Query

CREATE n = {name : 'Andres', title : 'Developer'}

Nothing is returned from this query.

Try this query live. (1) {"name":"Andres","title":"Developer"} create n = {name : 'Andres', title : 'Developer'}

Creating a single node is done by issuing the following query.

Query

CREATE (a {name : 'Andres'})
RETURN a

The newly created node is returned. This query uses the alternative syntax for single node creation.

Try this query live. (1) {"name":"Andres"} create (a {name : 'Andres'}) return a

To create a relationship between two nodes, we first get the two nodes. Once the nodes are loaded, we simply create a relationship between them.

Query

START a=node(1), b=node(2)
CREATE a-[r:RELTYPE]->b
RETURN r

The created relationship is returned by the query.

Try this query live. (1) {} (2) {} (1)-[:RELTYPE]->(2) {} start a=node(1), b=node(2) create a-[r:RELTYPE]->b return r

Setting properties on relationships is done in a similar manner to how it’s done when creating nodes. Note that the values can be any expression.

Query

START a=node(1), b=node(2)
CREATE a-[r:RELTYPE {name : a.name + '<->' + b.name }]->b
RETURN r

The newly created relationship is returned by the example query.

Try this query live. (1) {"name":"Andres"} (2) {"name":"Michael"} (1)-[:RELTYPE]->(2) {"name":"Andres\u003c-\u003eMichael"} start a=node(1), b=node(2) create a-[r:RELTYPE {name : a.name + '<->' + b.name }]->b return r

When you use CREATE and a pattern, all parts of the pattern that are not already in scope at this time will be created.

Query

CREATE p = (andres {name:'Andres'})-[:WORKS_AT]->neo<-[:WORKS_AT]-(michael {name:'Michael'})
RETURN p

This query creates three nodes and two relationships in one go, assigns it to a path identifier, and returns it

Try this query live. (1) {"name":"Andres"} (2) {} (3) {"name":"Michael"} (1)-[:WORKS_AT]->(2) {} (3)-[:WORKS_AT]->(2) {} create p = (andres {name:'Andres'})-[:WORKS_AT]->neo<-[:WORKS_AT]-(michael {name:'Michael'}) return p

You can also create a graph entity from a Map<String,Object> map. All the key/value pairs in the map will be set as properties on the created relationship or node.

Query

create ({props})

This query can be used in the following fashion:

Map<String, Object> props = new HashMap<String, Object>();
props.put( "name", "Andres" );
props.put( "position", "Developer" );

Map<String, Object> params = new HashMap<String, Object>();
params.put( "props", props );
engine.execute( "create ({props})", params );

By providing an iterable of maps (Iterable<Map<String,Object>>), Cypher will create a node for each map in the iterable. When you do this, you can’t create anything else in the same create statement.

Query

create (n {props}) return n

This query can be used in the following fashion:

Map<String, Object> n1 = new HashMap<String, Object>();
n1.put( "name", "Andres" );
n1.put( "position", "Developer" );

Map<String, Object> n2 = new HashMap<String, Object>();
n2.put( "name", "Michael" );
n2.put( "position", "Developer" );

Map<String, Object> params = new HashMap<String, Object>();
List<Map<String, Object>> maps = Arrays.asList(n1, n2);
params.put( "props", maps);
engine.execute("create (n {props}) return n", params);