Docker-specific operations

You can use the Neo4j tools when running Neo4j in a Docker container.

Use Neo4j Admin

The neo4j-admin CLI can be run locally within a container using the following command:

docker exec --interactive --tty <containerID/name> neo4j-admin <category> <command>

To determine the container ID or name, run docker ps to list the currently running Docker containers.

For more information about the neo4j-admin commands, see Neo4j Admin and Neo4j CLI.

Use Neo4j Import

The Neo4j Import tool can be run locally within a container using the following commands:

docker exec --interactive --tty <containerID/name> neo4j-admin database import full <options>

and

docker exec --interactive --tty <containerID/name> neo4j-admin database import incremental <options>

For more information about the commands' syntax and options, see Full import and Incremental import.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that you have created the folders that you want to mount as volumes to the Neo4j docker container.

  • Verify that the CSV files that you want to load into Neo4j are formatted as per CSV header format.

  • Verify that you have added the CSV files to the folder that will be mounted to /import in your container.

Import CSV files into the Neo4j Docker container using the Neo4j import tool

This is an example of how to start a container with mounted volumes /data and /import, to ensure the persistence of the data in them, and load the CSV files using the neo4j-admin database import full command. You can add the flag --rm to automatically remove the container’s file system when the container exits.

docker run --interactive --tty --rm \
    --publish=7474:7474 --publish=7687:7687 \
    --volume=$HOME/neo4j/data:/data \
    --volume=$HOME/neo4j/import:/import \
    neo4j:2026.08.1 \
neo4j-admin database import full --nodes=Movies=/import/movies_header.csv,/import/movies.csv \
--nodes=Actors=/import/actors_header.csv,/import/actors.csv \
--relationships=ACTED_IN=/import/roles_header.csv,/import/roles.csv databasename

Use Neo4j Admin for memory recommendations

The neo4j-admin server memory-recommendation command with the argument --docker outputs environmental variables that can be passed to a Neo4j docker container. The following example shows how neo4j-admin server memory-recommendation --docker provides a memory recommendation in a docker-friendly format.

Example 1. Invoke neo4j-admin server memory-recommendation --docker
bin/neo4j-admin server memory-recommendation --memory=16g --docker

...
...
...
# Based on the above, the following memory settings are recommended:
NEO4J_server_memory_heap_initial__size='5g'
NEO4J_server_memory_heap_max__size='5g'
NEO4J_server_memory_pagecache_size='7g'
#
# It is also recommended turning out-of-memory errors into full crashes,
# instead of allowing a partially crashed database to continue running:
NEO4J_server_jvm_additional='-XX:+ExitOnOutOfMemoryError'
#
...
...

Use Neo4j Admin report

The Neo4j Admin report tool generates a report of the status of a running Neo4j database.
In a containerized environment, its command neo4j-admin server report must be invoked using the script neo4j-admin-report. This ensures that the reporter is running with all the necessary file permissions required to analyze the running Neo4j processes. This script takes all the arguments of the neo4j-admin server report command.

It is possible to use docker exec to run neo4j-admin server report directly inside the container, but the file permissions required to access running processes and to write files to a mounted folder can be conflicting.

The neo4j-admin-report script is just a wrapper around neo4j-admin server report which automatically handles most permission problems.
Example 2. Example of getting a Neo4j report from a containerised Neo4j database

Start a Neo4j container and mount a folder for storing the reports.

docker run --interactive --tty --rm \
    --name=neo4j \
    --publish=7474:7474 --publish=7687:7687 \
    --volume=$HOME/neo4j/data:/data \
    --volume=$HOME/neo4j/reports:/reports \ (1)
    neo4j:2026.08.1
1 The output folder for the reports.

Then, using docker exec, run the neo4j-admin-report wrapper script, specifying the output directory for the reports.

docker exec --interactive --tty <containerID/name> \
    neo4j-admin-report \
        --to-path=/reports \ (1)
1 If no --to-path option is specified, the reports will be written to /tmp/reports.

The $HOME/neo4j/reports folder should now contain a zip file of reports.

Use Cypher Shell

The Cypher Shell can be run locally within a container using the following command:

docker exec --interactive --tty <containerID/name> cypher-shell <options>

For more information about the cypher-shell syntax and options, see Cypher Shell#cypher-shell-syntax[Syntax].

Retrieve data from a database in a Neo4j Docker container

The following is an example of how to use the cypher-shell command to retrieve data from the neo4j database.

  1. Run a new container, mounting the same volume /data as in the import example.

    docker run --interactive --tty --name <containerID/name> \
    --publish=7474:7474 --publish=7687:7687 \
    --volume=$HOME/neo4j/data:/data \
    neo4j:2026.08.1

  2. Use the container ID or name to get into the container, and then, run the cypher-shell command and authenticate.

    docker exec --interactive --tty <containerID/name> cypher-shell -u neo4j -p <password>

  3. Retrieve some data.

    neo4j@neo4j> match (n:Actors)-[r]->(m:Movies) return n.name AS Actors, m.title AS Movies, m.year AS MovieYear;
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Actors               | Movies                   | MovieYear |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| "Keanu Reeves"       | "The Matrix Revolutions" | 2003      |
| "Keanu Reeves"       | "The Matrix Reloaded"    | 2003      |
| "Keanu Reeves"       | "The Matrix"             | 1999      |
| "Laurence Fishburne" | "The Matrix Revolutions" | 2003      |
| "Laurence Fishburne" | "The Matrix Reloaded"    | 2003      |
| "Laurence Fishburne" | "The Matrix"             | 1999      |
| "Carrie-Anne Moss"   | "The Matrix Revolutions" | 2003      |
| "Carrie-Anne Moss"   | "The Matrix Reloaded"    | 2003      |
| "Carrie-Anne Moss"   | "The Matrix"             | 1999      |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+

9 rows available after 61 ms, consumed after another 7 ms

Pass a Cypher script file to a Neo4j Docker container

There are different ways to pass a Cypher script file to a Neo4j Docker container, all of them using the Cypher Shell tool.

  • Using the --file option of the cypher-shell command followed by the file name. After the statements are executed cypher-shell shuts down.

  • Using the :source command followed by the file name when in the Cypher interactive shell.

  • Using the commands cat or curl with cypher-shell to pipe the contents of your script file into your container.

To use the --file option or the :source command of Cypher Shell, the Cypher script file must be readable from inside the container, otherwise cypher-shell will not be able to open the file. The folder containing the examples must be mounted to the container when the container is started.

The following are syntax examples of how to use these commands:

example.cypher script
match (n:Actors)-[r]->(m:Movies) return n.name AS Actors, m.title AS Movies, m.year AS MovieYear;
Invoke cypher-shell with the --file option
# Put the example.cypher file in the local folder ./examples.

# Start a Neo4j container and mount the ./examples folder inside the container:

docker run --rm \
--volume /path/to/local/examples:/examples \
--publish=7474:7474 \
--publish=7687:7687 \
--env NEO4J_AUTH=neo4j/your_password \
neo4j:2026.08.1

# Run the Cypher Shell tool with the --file option passing the example.cypher file:

docker exec --interactive --tty  cypher-shell -u neo4j -p  --file /examples/example.cypher
Use the :source command to run a Cypher script file
# Put the example.cypher file in the local folder ./examples.

# Start a Neo4j container and mount the ./examples folder inside the container:

docker run --rm \
--volume /path/to/local/examples:/examples \
--publish=7474:7474 \
--publish=7687:7687 \
--env NEO4J_AUTH=neo4j/your_password \
neo4j:2026.08.1

# Use the container ID or name to get into the container, and then, run the cypher-shell command and authenticate.

docker exec --interactive --tty  cypher-shell -u neo4j -p 

# Invoke the :source command followed by the file name.

neo4j@neo4j> :source example.cypher
Invoke curl with Cypher Shell
curl http://mysite.com/config/example.cypher | sudo docker exec --interactive <containerID/name> cypher-shell -u neo4j -p <password>
Invoke cat with Cypher Shell
cat example.cypher | sudo  docker exec --interactive  <containerID/name> cypher-shell -u neo4j -p <password>
Example output
Actors, Movies, MovieYear
"Keanu Reeves", "The Matrix Revolutions", 2003
"Keanu Reeves", "The Matrix Reloaded", 2003
"Keanu Reeves", "The Matrix", 1999
"Laurence Fishburne", "The Matrix Revolutions", 2003
"Laurence Fishburne", "The Matrix Reloaded", 2003
"Laurence Fishburne", "The Matrix", 1999
"Carrie-Anne Moss", "The Matrix Revolutions", 2003
"Carrie-Anne Moss", "The Matrix Reloaded", 2003
"Carrie-Anne Moss", "The Matrix", 1999

These commands take the contents of the script file and pass it into the Docker container using Cypher Shell. Then, they run a Cypher example, LOAD CSV dataset, which might be hosted somewhere on a server (with curl), create indexes, constraints, or do other administrative operations.

Glossary

allocator

A component in the cluster that allocates databases to servers according to the topology constraints specified and an allocation strategy.

asynchronous replication

Asynchronous replication is used by secondary copies to poll for new transactions, which means they cannot be guaranteed to have received the most recent transactions. This enables efficient scale-out of read-performance.

Aura instance

A fully-managed DBMS represented by a single instance ID, that is running in the Neo4j Aura cloud.

auto-commit transaction

An automatically committed transaction that contains a single query.

Bolt protocol

Bolt is a protocol used for interaction between Neo4j instances and drivers.

bookmark

A marker the client can request from the cluster to ensure that it is able to read its own writes so that the application’s state is consistent and only databases that have a copy of the bookmark are permitted to respond.

category (Bloom)

A category is based on a node label and is defined in a Perspective as a way of visually distinguishing nodes with the same label(s).

causal consistency

All servers in a cluster agree on the order in which transactions take place. The position of a server on the causal chain can be guaranteed using a bookmark.

cluster

A Neo4j DBMS that spans multiple servers working together to increase fault tolerance and/or read scalability. Databases on a cluster may be configured to replicate across servers in the cluster thus achieving read scalability or high availability.

client application

Software that interacts with a Neo4j server.

commit

A commit is the successful completion of a transaction, which ensures durability of any changes made. For more details, visit Operations Manual → Transaction management.

composite database

Composite databases are the means to access partitioned graph data with a single Cypher query.

constraint

Constraints are sets of data modeling rules that ensure the data is consistent and reliable.

Cypher®

Neo4j’s graph query language.

data model

A data model defines how information is organized in a database. A good data model will make querying and understanding your data easier. In Neo4j, the data models have a graph structure.

database

A database is a container used by the DBMS to manage and store graph data. The physical structure of data is controlled by the database.

database vs graph

Databases are the physical containers of graph data. Graphs are the logical structure of data in Neo4j.

Database Management System

Database Management System, or DBMS, capable of managing multiple databases. A DBMS may run on a single server, or span several servers configured as a cluster.

database schema

The prescribed property existence and datatypes for nodes and relationships.

deallocate

An act of removing a database from a server or a server from a cluster without loss of data or reduced fault tolerance.

degree (of a node)

The number of relationships of a specific node; loops are counted twice.

disaster recovery

A manual intervention to restore availability of a cluster, or databases within a cluster.

driver

A software library that provides access to Neo4j from a particular programming language.

election

In the event that the Raft leader becomes unresponsive, followers automatically trigger an election and vote for a new leader.

entity

A node or a relationship.

expression (Cypher)

A component of a Cypher query which produces values. It may be used in projections, as a predicate, or when setting properties on graph elements.

fabric

Fabric is the architectural design of a unified system that provides a single access point to local or distributed graph data.

fault tolerance

A guarantee that a cluster can maintain a database’s persistence and availability in the event of one or more servers failing.

follower

A primary copy of a database acting as a follower, receives and acknowledges synchronous writes from the leader.

Generative AI (GenAI)

A type of artificial intelligence (AI) system that generates text, images, or other media in response to prompts.

graph

A logical representation of a set of nodes where some pairs are connected by relationships.

index

Data structure that improves read performance of a database.

knowledge graph

A specific type of graph that has an organizing principle so that a user (or a computer system) can reason about the underlying data. The organizing principle provides an additional layer of structure that adds context to support knowledge discovery.

label

Marks a node as a member of a named and indexed subset. A node may be assigned zero or more labels.

leader

A single primary copy of a database is designated as the leader. It receives all write transactions from clients and replicates writes synchronously to followers and asynchronously to secondary copies of the database.

main database

In terms of Neo4j Enterprise Studio, the database(s) containing the user’s data. Can exist in the same Neo4j deployment as the tool asset database.

motif

A description of a specific pattern within a graph.

node

A node represents an entity or discrete object in your graph data model. Nodes can be connected by relationships, hold data in properties, and are classified by labels.

operator

A symbol representing a mathematical or logical operation.

parameter

Named value provided when running a Cypher statement.

path

A sequence of nodes and the relationships connecting them, that does not contain duplicate relationships. Several paths can match a pattern.

pattern

A specific arrangement of nodes and relationships that can be matched in a graph. A pattern follows a motif.

perspective (Bloom)

A Perspective defines a certain business view or domain that can be found in the target Neo4j graph. A single Neo4j graph can be viewed through different Perspectives, each tailored for a different business purpose.

primary

A copy of the database that is able to process write transactions and is eligible to be elected as a leader. It participates in fault tolerant writes as it is part of the majority required to acknowledge and commit write transactions.

primary vs secondary

In a cluster, databases can operate in either primary or secondary mode. Primary databases are able to process write and read transactions, ensuring fault tolerance. Secondary databases are replicated asynchronously from primaries, and their main purpose is to provide read scaling within the cluster.

project (Aura)

An isolated environment in the unified Aura console that contains its own database instances, configurations, and resources. Preceded by tenant in the classic Aura console.

property

Properties are key-value pairs that are used for storing data on nodes and relationships.

query (Cypher)

A statement that retrieves or writes information to a database.

Raft group

A group of servers that are participating in hosting a particular database in primary mode.

Raft group member

A server that is participating in a Raft group. A server can be a member of one or more groups.

Raft log

A shared log between all Raft group members that is guaranteed to be consistently updated and viewed by those members. The log contains both database data and operational state of the Raft group.

Raft protocol

The networking mechanism that enables a database to replicate its data across multiple servers to give high availability for accessing the data and high durability to the data stored.

read scaling

Distributing query load by creating additional database copies hosted in secondary mode (read-only).

relationship

A relationship represents a connection between nodes in your graph data model. Relationships connect a source node to a target node, hold data in properties, and are classified by type.

secondary

An asynchronously replicated copy of the database that provides read scaling within the cluster.

seed

A seed is a database dump or a full backup used to create a database on a cluster. This is sometimes called seeding.

server

A physical machine, a virtual machine, or a container running an instance of Neo4j. Servers can be standalone or part of a cluster.

session

A causally linked sequence of transactions.

session consistency

An alternative name for Neo4j’s causal consistency.

standalone

A single server running Neo4j and not part of a cluster.

synchronous replication

Synchronous replication requires the leader primary to replicate a transaction and block the commit until a quorum of the follower primaries acknowledges that the transaction is successfully replicated. Once the transaction is replicated, the commit is allowed to proceed. This ensures data durability and consistency within the cluster.

system database

A database used by Neo4j to store system information.

tenant (Aura)

An isolated environment in the classic Aura console that contains its own database instances, configurations, and resources. Replaced by project in the unified Aura console.

tool asset database

In terms of Neo4j Enterprise Studio, the database where tools' assets are stored. This can be in the same Neo4j deployment as the main database(s) or in a separate deployment.

topology

A configuration that describes how the copies of a database should be spread across the servers in a cluster, see primary mode and secondary mode.

transaction

A transaction comprises a unit of work performed against a database. It is treated in a coherent and reliable way, independent of other transactions. Transactions comply with the ACID consistency model (atomic, consistent, isolated, and durable).