Skill

Neo4j CLI Tools skill

Guides Neo4j CLI tools for database admin (neo4j-admin backups/restores/imports), query execution/scripting (cypher-shell), cloud provisioning (aura-cli), and AI agent setup (neo4j-mcp/cli).

Neo4j

database

cli-tools

npx claudepluginhub neo4j-contrib/neo4j-skills

Tool Access

This skill uses the workspace's default tool permissions.

Preview

This skill provides comprehensive guidance on Neo4j command-line tools for database administration, query execution, cloud management, and AI agent integration.

Supporting Assets

README.mdreferences/aura-cli-reference.mdreferences/cypher-shell-reference.mdreferences/neo4j-admin-reference.mdreferences/neo4j-mcp-reference.md

SKILL.md

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Neo4j CLI Tools skill

This skill provides comprehensive guidance on Neo4j command-line tools for database administration, query execution, cloud management, and AI agent integration.

When to Use

Admin tasks: backup, restore, import, memory sizing → neo4j-admin
Ad-hoc queries, scripting, CI/CD → cypher-shell
Aura cloud provisioning → aura-cli
MCP server install → neo4j-mcp
Cypher via HTTP, Aura management, agent skill install → neo4j-cli (preview)

When NOT to Use

Writing or optimizing Cypher queries → neo4j-cypher-skill
Upgrading Neo4j drivers or migrating Cypher syntax → neo4j-migration-skill
Starting a new Neo4j project from scratch → neo4j-getting-started-skill

Available CLI Tools

1. neo4j-admin

Purpose: Comprehensive database administration tool

Categories:

dbms - System-wide administration for single and clustered environments
server - Server-level management tasks
database - Database-specific operations (backup, restore, import, migrate)
backup - Backup and restore operations

Common Use Cases:

Database backup and restore
Data import and export
Server memory recommendations
Initial password setup
Database health checks

Included with Neo4j installation.

Reference: neo4j-admin-reference.md

2. cypher-shell

Purpose: Interactive command-line tool for executing Cypher queries

Key Features:

Interactive REPL for ad-hoc queries
Script execution from files
Parameterized query support
Multiple output formats (verbose, plain, auto)
Remote database connections

Common Use Cases:

Running Cypher queries from terminal
Batch processing with query files
Database exploration and debugging
CI/CD pipeline integration
Scripted data operations

Requirements: Java 21. Included with Neo4j installation.

Reference: cypher-shell-reference.md

3. aura-cli

Purpose: Command-line interface for managing Neo4j Aura cloud resources

Key Features:

Instance provisioning and management
Tenant administration
Credential management
Graph Analytics operations
Customer-managed keys

Common Use Cases:

Automating Aura instance creation
Managing cloud database lifecycles
CI/CD integration for cloud deployments
Programmatic resource provisioning

Prerequisites: Aura API credentials configured (aura-cli auth login or env vars).

Reference: aura-cli-reference.md

4. neo4j-mcp

Purpose: Model Context Protocol server for Neo4j integration with AI agents

For full installation and editor configuration guidance, use neo4j-mcp-skill — it covers all editors (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, Kiro), stdio vs HTTP transport, and troubleshooting.

Quick install:

pip install neo4j-mcp-server
neo4j-mcp --version  # verify

Reference: neo4j-mcp-reference.md

Backup and Recovery

Edition gate

Online backup requires Enterprise Edition. Community Edition users must use dump/load only (database must be offline).

Backup (Enterprise — database stays online)

# Full online backup — database stays online during backup
neo4j-admin database backup \
  --to-path=/backups/ \
  --database=neo4j \
  --compress

# Differential backup — only changes since last full backup (faster)
neo4j-admin database backup \
  --to-path=/backups/ \
  --database=neo4j \
  --type=DIFF \
  --compress

# Backup to cloud storage (S3, GCS, or HTTPS)
neo4j-admin database backup \
  --to-path=s3://my-bucket/neo4j-backups/ \
  --database=neo4j

Restore (Enterprise)

AGENT GATE — destructive operation: Before running restore, show the user the exact command and target database name, and wait for explicit confirmation. A restore overwrites the existing database.

# Restore from a full or differential backup
# Requires DB to be stopped, or use --force-offline for a running instance
neo4j-admin database restore \
  --from-path=/backups/neo4j-2026-01-15T10-00-00/ \
  --database=neo4j \
  --overwrite-destination=true

# Restore to a new database name (non-destructive path)
neo4j-admin database restore \
  --from-path=/backups/neo4j-2026-01-15T10-00-00/ \
  --database=neo4j-restored

Dump / Load (all editions — database must be offline)

Use for migrations, dev/test data transfers, and Community Edition backups.

# Dump — stop the database first, or pass --force-offline
neo4j-admin database dump --to-path=/exports/ neo4j

# Load — overwrites if target DB exists
neo4j-admin database load \
  --from-path=/exports/neo4j.dump \
  --database=neo4j \
  --overwrite-destination=true

AGENT GATE — destructive operation: Before running load with --overwrite-destination=true, confirm target database name and path with the user.

Key flags

Flag	Notes
`--compress`	Zstd compression on backup archives
`--type=DIFF`	Differential: only changes since last full backup
`--to-path`	Local path or `s3://`, `gs://`, `https://`
`--overwrite-destination=true`	Required if target database already exists
`--force-offline`	Allow backup/restore of a running database in some scenarios

Point-in-time restore strategy

Full backup: weekly (e.g. every Sunday)
Differential backup: daily (captures only changes since last full)
Naming convention: include timestamp in path — e.g. /backups/neo4j-2026-01-19T02-00-00/
Restore sequence: apply full backup first, then each differential in chronological order

# Example: restore Sunday full + Monday + Tuesday differentials
neo4j-admin database restore \
  --from-path=/backups/neo4j-2026-01-19T02-00-00/ \
  --database=neo4j --overwrite-destination=true

neo4j-admin database restore \
  --from-path=/backups/neo4j-2026-01-20T02-00-00/ \
  --database=neo4j --overwrite-destination=true

neo4j-admin database restore \
  --from-path=/backups/neo4j-2026-01-21T02-00-00/ \
  --database=neo4j --overwrite-destination=true

Reference: neo4j-admin-reference.md

Important Notes

Configuration priority: CLI flags > environment variables > config files
Neo4j 2026.01 is the current version (as of documentation date)
Always execute neo4j-admin commands as the Neo4j system user

Environment Variables

Common environment variables across tools:

NEO4J_URI / NEO4J_ADDRESS - Database connection URI
NEO4J_USERNAME - Database username
NEO4J_PASSWORD - Database password
NEO4J_DATABASE - Target database name
NEO4J_CONF - Path to neo4j.conf directory
NEO4J_HOME - Neo4j installation directory

Resources

neo4j-cli (Preview)

Unified CLI for Cypher querying (HTTP API — no driver), Aura management, and agent skill install. Intended to consolidate existing tools over time; existing tools remain valid.

Install:

npm install -g @neo4j-labs/cli@alpha
brew install neo4j-labs/tap/neo4j-cli   # Homebrew
neo4j-cli -v

Self-installs its own agent skill (always in sync with the binary):

neo4j-cli skill install              # all detected agents
neo4j-cli skill install claude-code  # single agent
neo4j-cli skill check                # detect drift after upgrades

Subcommands:

Subcommand	Purpose
`neo4j-cli query [cypher]`	Run Cypher via HTTP Query API — no driver needed
`neo4j-cli query :schema`	Introspect labels, rel types, indexes, constraints
`neo4j-cli aura instance ...`	Provision and manage Aura instances
`neo4j-cli aura graph-analytics ...`	Manage Graph Analytics sessions
`neo4j-cli aura tenant/customermanagedkey`	Tenant and CMK management
`neo4j-cli credential aura-client ...`	Store Aura API credentials (not DB credentials — DB auth via env/flags only)
`neo4j-cli config get/set/list`	Global CLI config
`neo4j-cli skill install/list/check`	Agent skill management

Key patterns:

# Run a Cypher query (bolt URIs auto-rewritten to HTTPS)
neo4j-cli query "MATCH (n:Person) RETURN n.name LIMIT 5" \
  --uri neo4j+s://xxx.databases.neo4j.io \
  --username neo4j --password $PASS

# Introspect schema
neo4j-cli query :schema --uri $NEO4J_URI -u $USER -p $PASS

# Store Aura API credentials
neo4j-cli credential aura-client add \
  --name prod --client-id $ID --client-secret $SECRET

# Create Aura instance and block until ready
neo4j-cli aura instance create --name myapp --cloud-provider aws \
  --region us-east-1 --type free-db --await

Agent output: Use -f toon — ~40% fewer tokens than JSON. Set as default: neo4j-cli config set format toon.

URI rewrite: Bolt-style URIs (neo4j+s://host:7687) auto-rewritten to https://host:7473.

Async operations: instance create/resize/destroy return immediately — add --await to block until terminal state.

Credentials for query: flags, env vars (NEO4J_URI, NEO4J_USERNAME, NEO4J_PASSWORD, NEO4J_DATABASE, NEO4J_INSECURE), or .env file (auto-discovered walking up from cwd; --env <path> to override). Precedence: .env < env vars < flags.

Full flag reference: run neo4j-cli skill install — the self-installed skill stays in sync with the binary.

Checklist

Correct tool selected: neo4j-admin / cypher-shell / aura-cli / neo4j-mcp / neo4j-cli
If using neo4j-cli: neo4j-cli skill install run after install or upgrade
Credentials via env (NEO4J_USERNAME, NEO4J_PASSWORD); not hardcoded
Destructive ops confirmed before execution
Post-op verify: connect + SHOW INDEXES + count
Backup taken before restore or schema change