GraphAcademy

Cypher

pattern matching

Finding every part of the graph that fits a given pattern.

Example

Tom Hanks acted in two of these films and Tim Allen in one.

cypher
MATCH path = (:Person)-[:ACTED_IN]->(:Movie)
RETURN path

The pattern fits three times: Tom Hanks with each of his two films, and Tim Allen with Toy Story. Each fit comes back as a row of its own.

Lessons that use this term

The lesson and course links below open in a new tab.

4 lessons use this term. Results are ordered by term density.

Context Graphs: Agent Memory with Neo4j1 mention

  • Why Graphs for Agent MemoryIntroduction to Agent Memorywhat) Temporal reasoning (who owned this account in Q3 2025?) Structural pattern matching across node1 mention

Path Finding with GDS1 mention

  • Shortest Paths with CypherFinding Shortest Paths using Cypheroutput is a Path object — the same shape you already know from regular pattern matching1 mention

Neo4j Management, Optimization, and Refactoring Workshop1 mention

  • IndexesQuery Performancenodes are the starting points for graph pattern matching in Cypher1 mention

Introduction to Neo4j & GraphQL1 mention

  • The @cypher DirectiveConfigure The APIyou all the power of Cypher, with the ability to express complex traversals, pattern matching, even leveraging Cypher procedures like1 mention

Related terms

traversal
Following relationships from one node to the next to reach other parts of a graph.4 shared lessons
path
A sequence of nodes joined by relationships.1 shared lesson
vector
An ordered list of numbers. Distance between two vectors measures how alike the things they represent are.1 shared lesson
knowledge graph
A graph of entities and the relationships between them, used as a source of facts.1 shared lesson
transaction
A unit of work that either succeeds in full or leaves no trace.1 shared lesson
embedding
Information represented as a numerical vector, positioned so that similar information sits close together.1 shared lesson
pattern
A graph structure written in Cypher, such as a node joined to another node by a relationship.2 shared lessons
relationship
A named, directed connection between two nodes. Every relationship has a type, a start node and an end node.4 shared lessons

All glossary terms