Overview

The INSERT statement allows you to add new nodes and edges into the graph using path patterns. Before inserting data, ensure that the required node and edge schemas (labels) and properties are already defined.

Example Graph

The following examples rely on a graph of the above structure. To create a graph with this structure:

CREATE GRAPH myGraph { 
  NODE User ({name string, gender string}),
  NODE Club (),
  EDGE Follows ()-[{createdOn datetime}]->(),
  EDGE Joins ()-[{memberNo uint32}]->()
} PARTITION BY HASH(Crc32) SHARDS [1]

Inserting Nodes

Nodes can be inserted using node patterns:

• Each node must be assigned a label and may optionally include property specification. Missing property values default to null.
• Node _id values will be generated by the system if not provided, though custom unique values can be assigned if desired.
• Node _uuid values are always generated by the system and cannot be manually assigned.

To insert three nodes, one User node with _id and name specified, one Club node with only _id specified, and one Club node with no property specified:

INSERT (:User {_id: "U01", name: 'Quasar92'}), (:Club {_id: "C01"}), (:Club)

To insert and return one node:

INSERT (mochaeach:User {_id: "U02", name: 'mochaeach', gender: 'female'})
RETURN mochaeach

Result: mochaeach

Inserting Edges

Edges can be inserted using path patterns where the edge pattern has node patterns on both sides and must include a direction to indicate its source and destination nodes:

• Each edge must be assigned a label and may optionally include property specification. Missing property values default to null.
• Edge _uuid values are always generated by the system and cannot be manually assigned.
• Edge _from, _to, _from_uuid, and _to_uuid values are automatically derived from the specified source and destination nodes. They cannot be manually assigned.

When inserting edges, you must either connect them to existing nodes in the graph or insert the source and destination nodes along with the edges.

Inserting Nodes Along with Edges

To insert three User nodes and two Follows edges between them:

INSERT (:User {name: 'rowlock'})-[:Follows {createdOn: '2024-1-5'}]->(:User {name: 'Brainy', gender: 'male'})<-[:Follows {createdOn: '2024-2-1'}]-(:User {name: 'purplechalk', gender: 'female'})

Connecting to Existing Nodes

To insert and return a Joins edge, with its source and destination nodes being found by the preceding MATCH statement and bound to variables n1 and n2:

MATCH (n1:User {_id: 'U04'}), (n2:Club {_id: 'C01'})
INSERT (n1)-[e:Joins {memberNo: 1}]->(n2)
RETURN e

Result: e

Inserting Connected Paths

To insert two paths that intersect at a node by reusing the variable c02:

INSERT (:User {_id: 'U06', name: 'waveBliss'})-[:Joins {memberNo: 1}]->(c02:Club {_id: 'C02'})<-[:Joins {memberNo: 2}]-(:User {_id: 'U07', name: 'bella', gender: 'female'}), 
       (:User {_id: 'U08', name: 'Roose'})-[:Joins {memberNo: 3}]->(c02)