The Neo4j.rb project is made up of the follow Ruby gems:

• activegraph A Object-Graph-Mapper (OGM) for the Neo4j graph database. It tries to follow API conventions established by ActiveRecord and familiar to most Ruby developers but with a Neo4j flavor.
• neo4j-ruby-driver A low level driver for connecting to Neo4j. Used by the activegraph gem.
• neo4j-rake_tasks) A set of rake tasks for installing and managing a Neo4j database within your project.

Ruby

(software) A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.

Graph
Database

(computer science) A graph database stores data in a graph, the most generic of data structures, capable of elegantly representing any kind of data in a highly accessible way.

Neo4j

(databases) The world's leading graph database

If you're already familiar with ActiveRecord, DataMapper, or Mongoid, you'll find the Object Model features you've come to expect from an O*M:

• Properties
• Indexes / Constraints
• Callbacks
• Validation
• Assocations

Additional features include

• A chainable arel-inspired query builder
• Transactions
• Migration framework

Requirements

• Ruby 2.5+ (tested in MRI and JRuby)
• Neo4j 3.4+

Introduction screencast

Ruby Rogues interview

Brian Underwood, one of the former maintainers of the Neo4j.rb project, gave an interview with the Ruby Rogues. See episode #236.

Modeling

In your Gemfile

gem 'activegraph'
gem 'neo4j-ruby-driver'

A sample ActiveNode model

 class User
    include ActiveGraph::Node

    property :name
    property :age, type: Integer

    has_many :out, :friends, type: :friends_with, model_class: 'User'
    has_one :in,   :github_profile, type: :linked_to  # model_class: 'GithubProfile' assumed
  end

Using query chaining to get the github profiles for a user's friends

  user.friends.github_profile

If you're the sort who likes to watch a video, check out our intro screencast.
If you like to read, check out our documentation's setup page.

Simple queries

If you just want to execute some raw cypher queries you can do the following.

  ActiveGraph::Base.driver =
    Neo4j::Driver::GraphDatabase.driver('neo4j::/localhost:7687')

  me = ActiveGraph::Base.query('MATCH (found:User) WHERE found.name = {aName} RETURN found', aName: 'Andreas').first.found

There is also a query-building API which allows you to build cypher queries with method chaining:

  user = ActiveGraph::Base.query.match(found: :User)
                                .where(found: {name: 'Andreas'})
                                .return(:user)
                                .first.found

At each step in the chain a query object is returned which is also Enumerable. See the documentation for more info.

Also note that with the query chaining there is no need to use params (which are important for efficient neo4j queries). They will be used in the background in this case.

Install in Ruby on Rails

In your config/application.rb

  config.neo4j.driver.url = ENV['NEO4J_URL'] || 'neo4j://localhost:7687'
  config.neo4j.driver.username = 'user'
  config.neo4j.driver.password = 'password'

Like any open source project we happily welcome:

• New Issue
• Start a pull request!
• Improvements to our documentation

You can also join us on our mailing list

Need help using the gem? Think you've found a bug? There are a few ways to get help.

• StackOverflow
• Github issues
• Neo4j.rb on Twitter

If you notice anything wrong with this page, feel free to submit a pull request on the repository