Release Date: 6 March 2026

Release Note for Neo4j 2026.02.2 (6 March 2026)

 

Server

  • The distributed neo4j.conf explicitly sets: db.query.default_language=CYPHER_25. As a result, deployments using the provided configuration file will default to Cypher 25 for newly created databases.
  • New page cache metrics for MVCC snapshots and async I/O tracking
    • <prefix>.page_cache.pages_snapshot_loaded
    • <prefix>.page_cache.async_submit
    • <prefix>.page_cache.async_complete
    • <prefix>.page_cache.async_failure
           See Operations Manual -> Metrics for details.

Neo4j-admin

Infinigraph

  • add support db.index.fulltext.awaitEventuallyConsistentIndexRefresh for property sharded databases.

Cypher

  • Starting from Neo4j 2026.02,the distributed neo4j.conf explicitly sets: db.query.default_language=CYPHER_25 rather than the previous default of CYPHER_5.  New deployments using the default configuration file will therefore default to Cypher 25 for newly created databases. The Cypher version can still be explicitly specified in the CREATE DATABASE command and can be changed at any time using ALTER DATABASE.
  • Change the type of exception thrown for a NodeByIdSeek when ids argument is not a valid list. Exception is now CypherTypeException, rather than ClassCastException or InternalException.

Deployment Behaviour

  • Upgraded deployments that retain their existing neo4j.conf will keep their current default query language.
  • Docker deployments:
    • The neo4j.conf included with new Docker images will default to db.query.default_language=CYPHER_25.
    • When reusing an existing neo4j.conf file, the existing default query language will be retained.
    • On Aura, Cypher 25 is the new default query language for newly created organisations. The default query language attached to created databases is determined by the organisation setting “Default Cypher Version” and can be manually changed.

Cypher 25 additive features

  • General availability: Vector search with filters (in-index filtering) and the new Cypher SEARCH syntax for vector queries are now GA and supported for production use. Vector indexes can include additional properties for filtering at index creation, and filters are applied via the WHERE subclause in SEARCH. See the Cypher SEARCH documentation and vector index documentation for syntax and supported filter predicates; the v2026.01 preview blog post remains a useful background overview.
  • Introducing GRAPH TYPE (Preview): GRAPH TYPE provides you the ability to declare your data model in a single, unified blueprint. This enforces strict data integrity including validation of relationship connections and label definitions without sacrificing the flexibility of an open schema.  The GRAPH TYPE feature is available in the enterprise version offered AS-IS as described in your agreement with Neo4j and should only be used for internal development purposes.
  • Added GQL-compliant aliases for existing Cypher functions (e.g., ceiling, local_time, local_datetime, zoned_time, zoned_datetime, duration_between, path_length, ln, collect_list, percentile_disc, percentile_cont, stdev_pop, stdev_samp). These aliases redirect to the existing implementations, improving GQL compliance without changing behaviour.
  • Add ai.text.structuredOutput() function to the GenAI Plugin, taking a textual prompt and map schema and outputting the result as a map adhering to the given schema.

Bug fix

Server

  • Support properties function in composite database context when possible.
  • Including composite namespace in privileges targeting remote alias constituents.

Cypher

  • Fixed a bug in pipelined runtime where sometimes queries with multiple SelectOrSemiApply operators in the query plan could fail with error messages like: “Cannot invoke “org.neo4j.cypher.internal.runtime.pipelined.state.AbstractArgumentStateMap$StateController.peek()” because “controller” is null”.
  • Fixed a bug where use of a composite property index in combination with a dynamic node label or dynamic relationship type could result in an incorrect MATCH result being returned. Note: this could also affect the MATCHing portion of a MERGE statement, potentially resulting in the runtime issuing a CREATE that cannot succeed, or an update to the incorrect node.
  • Fixed issue with conditional query WHEN not aggregating null values correctly without a grouping key.
  • Fixed a bug with the new MergeUniqueNode operator.
  • Restored behavior allowing simple node patterns in FOREACH to shadow incoming variables.

Please refer to the changelog for full details of the changes.

Bundled products & plugins

The following products have been included in the distribution – available in /products directory unless stated otherwise – and are fully compatible with this release. 
  • APOC Core 2026.02.2 – The most popular community library developed for the database, is fully supported (included in Labs directory).
  • Bloom 6.x-2.30.1– A beautiful and expressive data visualization tool to quickly explore and interact with Neo4j’s graph data platform – no coding required. Please refer to the release notes for details.  (Requires a License)
  • Browser 2026.03.04+0  – Neo4j Browser is a tool for developers to interact with the graph. It is the default interface for both Enterprise and Community Editions (included in the /libs directory) of the Neo4j database. 
  • Neo4j GenAI Plugin 2026.02.2 -The GenAI plugin delivers integrations with various generative AI services, including support for transforming text data into vector embeddings using VertexAI, OpenAI, or Amazon Bedrock. The resulting vector embeddings can be used together with Neo4j’s vector search indexes.
    • added the function ai.text.structuredCompletion. It is similar to submitting a prompt to an LLM, but with the additional guarantee that the output conforms to the requested schema
  • Neo4j Graph Data Science 2.27.0 is a compatible version of the connected data analytics and machine learning platform that helps you understand the connections in big data to answer critical questions and improve predictions. Please refer to the release notes for further details. (GDS Enterprise requires a License. )
  • Enterprise Fleet Management 1.1.1 allows a self-managed deployment to be registered within the Aura console, providing a fleet-wide view of all Neo4j instances. It supports EE and CE deployments.
  • Neo4j Ops Manager 1.15.0 is a UI-based tool that enables Administrators to operate and observe all of their Neo4j Database Management Servers. Now includes support for Neo4j’s any-to-any upgrade. Please refer to the release notes for details. (Included in Enterprise).