Read privileges

There are three separate read privileges:

  • TRAVERSE - enables the specified entities to be found.

  • READ - enables the specified properties on the found entities to be read.

  • MATCH - combines both TRAVERSE and READ, enabling an entity to be found and its properties read.

The TRAVERSE privilege

Users can be granted the right to find nodes and relationships using the GRANT TRAVERSE privilege.

Command syntax
GRANT TRAVERSE
    ON GRAPH[S] { * | name[, ...] }
        [
            ELEMENT[S] { * | label-or-rel-type[, ...] }
            | NODE[S] { * | label[, ...] }
            | RELATIONSHIP[S] { * | rel-type[, ...] }
        ]
    TO role[, ...]

For example, we can enable the user jake, who has role 'regularUsers' to find all nodes with the label Post.

Query
GRANT TRAVERSE ON GRAPH neo4j NODES Post TO regularUsers

0 rows, System updates: 1

The TRAVERSE privilege can also be denied.

Command syntax
DENY TRAVERSE
    ON GRAPH[S] { * | name[, ...] }
        [
            ELEMENT[S] { * | label-or-rel-type[, ...] }
            | NODE[S] { * | label[, ...] }
            | RELATIONSHIP[S] { * | rel-type[, ...] }
        ]
    TO role[, ...]

For example, we can disable the user jake, who has role 'regularUsers' from finding all nodes with the label Payments.

Query
DENY TRAVERSE ON GRAPH neo4j NODES Payments TO regularUsers

0 rows, System updates: 1

The READ privilege

Users can be granted the right to do property reads on nodes and relationships using the GRANT READ privilege. It is very important to note that users can only read properties on entities that they are enabled to find in the first place.

Command syntax
GRANT READ
    "{" { * | property[, ...] } "}"
    ON GRAPH[S] {{ * | name[, ...] }
        [
            ELEMENT[S] { * | label-or-rel-type[, ...] }
            | NODE[S] { * | label[, ...] }
            | RELATIONSHIP[S] { * | rel-type[, ...] }
        ]
    TO role[, ...]

For example, we can enable the user jake, who has role 'regularUsers' to read all properties on nodes with the label Post. The * implies that the ability to read all properties also extends to properties that might be added in the future.

Query
GRANT READ { * } ON GRAPH neo4j NODES Post TO regularUsers

0 rows, System updates: 1

Granting property READ access does not imply that the entities with that property can be found. For example, if there is also a DENY TRAVERSE present on the same entity as a GRANT READ, the entity will not be found by a Cypher® MATCH statement.

The READ privilege can also be denied.

Command syntax
DENY READ
    "{" { * | property[, ...] } "}"
    ON GRAPH[S] { * | name[, ...] }
        [
            ELEMENT[S] { * | label-or-rel-type[, ...] }
            | NODE[S] { * | label[, ...] }
            | RELATIONSHIP[S] { * | rel-type[, ...] }
        ]
    TO role[, ...]

Although we just granted the user 'jake' the right to read all properties, we may want to hide the secret property. The following example shows how to do that.

Query
DENY READ { secret } ON GRAPH neo4j NODES Post TO regularUsers

0 rows, System updates: 1

The MATCH privilege

Users can be granted the right to find and do property reads on nodes and relationships using the GRANT MATCH privilege. This is semantically the same as having both TRAVERSE and READ privileges.

Command syntax
GRANT MATCH
    "{" { * | property[, ...] } "}"
    ON GRAPH[S] { * | name[, ...] }
        [
            ELEMENT[S] { * | label-or-rel-type[, ...] }
            | NODE[S] { * | label[, ...] }
            | RELATIONSHIP[S] { * | rel-type[, ...] }
        ]
    TO role[, ...]

For example if you want to grant the ability to read the properties language and length for nodes with the label Message, as well as the ability to find these nodes, to a role regularUsers you can use the following GRANT MATCH query.

Query
GRANT MATCH { language, length } ON GRAPH neo4j NODES Message TO regularUsers

0 rows, System updates: 2

Like all other privileges, the MATCH privilege can also be denied.

Command syntax
DENY MATCH
    "{" { * | property[, ...] } "}"
    ON GRAPH[S] { * | name[, ...] }
        [
            ELEMENT[S] { * | label-or-rel-type[, ...] }
            | NODE[S] { * | label[, ...] }
            | RELATIONSHIP[S] { * | rel-type[, ...] }
        ]
    TO role[, ...]

Please note that the effect of denying a MATCH privilege depends on whether concrete property keys are specified or a *. If you specify concrete property keys then DENY MATCH will only deny reading those properties. Finding the elements to traverse would still be enabled. If you specify * instead then both traversal of the element and all property reads will be disabled. The following queries will show examples for this.

Denying to read the property ´content´ on nodes with the label Message for the role regularUsers would look like the following query. Although not being able to read this specific property, nodes with that label can still be traversed (and, depending on other grants, other properties on it could still be read).

Query
DENY MATCH { content } ON GRAPH neo4j NODES Message TO regularUsers

0 rows, System updates: 1

The following query exemplifies how it would look like if you want to deny both reading all properties and traversing nodes labeled with Account.

Query
DENY MATCH { * } ON GRAPH neo4j NODES Account TO regularUsers

0 rows, System updates: 1