MCPInstall

neo4j-driver-go-skill

Covers the Neo4j Go Driver v6 — driver lifecycle, ExecuteQuery, managed and explicit transactions, session config, error handling, data type mapping, and connection tuning. Use when writing Go code that connects to Neo4j, setting up NewDriver or ExecuteQuery, debugging sessions/transactions/result handling, or working with neo4j-go-driver v5→v6 migration. Triggers on NewDriver, ExecuteQuery, SessionConfig, ManagedTransaction, neo4j-go-driver. Does NOT handle Cypher query authoring — use neo4j-cypher-skill. Does NOT cover driver version migration steps — use neo4j-migration-skill.

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Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/neo4j-contrib/neo4j-skills --skill neo4j-driver-go-skill
  1. 01

    Install

    Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.

  2. 02

    Describe the task

    Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads neo4j-driver-go-skill automatically when relevant.

  3. 03

    Review the result

    The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

When to Use

  • Writing Go code that connects to Neo4j
  • Setting up neo4j.NewDriver(), ExecuteQuery(), or session/transaction patterns
  • Debugging connection errors, result iteration, type assertions, causal consistency

When NOT to Use

  • Writing/optimizing Cypher → neo4j-cypher-skill
  • v5→v6 migration steps → neo4j-migration-skill

Installation

go get github.com/neo4j/neo4j-go-driver/v6

Import: github.com/neo4j/neo4j-go-driver/v6/neo4j

v5→v6 rename (deprecated aliases still compile, remove before v7):

v5v6
neo4j.NewDriverWithContext(...)neo4j.NewDriver(...)
neo4j.DriverWithContextneo4j.Driver

Environment Variables

import "os"

uri      := getEnv("NEO4J_URI",      "neo4j://localhost:7687")
user     := getEnv("NEO4J_USERNAME", "neo4j")
password := getEnv("NEO4J_PASSWORD", "")
database := getEnv("NEO4J_DATABASE", "neo4j")

func getEnv(key, fallback string) string {
    if v := os.Getenv(key); v != "" { return v }
    return fallback
}

Use godotenv to load .env in dev: godotenv.Load(). .env in .gitignore.


Driver Lifecycle

One Driver per application. Goroutine-safe, connection-pooled, expensive to create.

func NewNeo4jDriver(uri, user, password string) (neo4j.Driver, error) {
    driver, err := neo4j.NewDriver(
        uri, // "neo4j+s://xxx.databases.neo4j.io" for Aura
        neo4j.BasicAuth(user, password, ""),
    )
    if err != nil {
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("create driver: %w", err)
    }
    ctx := context.Background()
    if err := driver.VerifyConnectivity(ctx); err != nil {
        driver.Close(ctx)
        return nil, fmt.Errorf("verify connectivity: %w", err)
    }
    return driver, nil
}

// In main / app teardown:
defer driver.Close(ctx)

❌ Never create driver per-request. Create once at startup; share across goroutines.

URI schemes: neo4j+s:// (Aura/TLS+routing), neo4j:// (plain+routing), bolt+s:// (TLS+single), bolt:// (plain+single).


Choosing the Right API

APIUse whenAuto-retryLazy results
neo4j.ExecuteQuery()Most queries — simple default✅❌ eager
session.ExecuteRead/Write()Large result sets / streaming✅✅
session.BeginTransaction()Spans multiple functions / ext coordination❌✅
session.Run()CALL IN TRANSACTIONS / auto-commit only❌✅

CALL { … } IN TRANSACTIONS and USING PERIODIC COMMIT manage their own transactions — use session.Run(). They fail inside managed transactions.


ExecuteQuery (Recommended Default)

Manages sessions, transactions, retries, and bookmarks automatically.

result, err := neo4j.ExecuteQuery(ctx, driver,
    `MATCH (p:Person {name: $name})-[:KNOWS]->(friend)
     RETURN friend.name AS name`,
    map[string]any{"name": "Alice"},
    neo4j.EagerResultTransformer,
    neo4j.ExecuteQueryWithDatabase("neo4j"),       // always specify
    neo4j.ExecuteQueryWithReadersRouting(),         // for read queries
)
if err != nil {
    return fmt.Errorf("query people: %w", err)
}

for _, record := range result.Records {
    name, _ := record.Get("name")
    fmt.Println(name)
}
fmt.Println(result.Summary.Counters().NodesCreated())

Key options:

neo4j.ExecuteQueryWithDatabase("mydb")          // required for performance
neo4j.ExecuteQueryWithReadersRouting()           // route reads to replicas
neo4j.ExecuteQueryWithImpersonatedUser("jane")  // impersonate
neo4j.ExecuteQueryWithoutBookmarkManager()       // opt out of causal consistency

❌ Never concatenate user input into query strings. Always use map[string]any parameters.

Struct parameters [v6.2.0+, Object Mapping preview] — a struct (or pointer) in params is sent as a Cypher map; same rules in Session.Run, ManagedTransaction.Run, ExplicitTransaction.Run:

type Person struct {
    Name     string `neo4j:"name"`
    Age      int    `neo4j:"age,omitempty"`  // zero value dropped
    Internal string `neo4j:"-"`              // never sent
}
_, err := neo4j.ExecuteQuery(ctx, driver,
    "MERGE (p:Person {name: $person.name}) SET p += $person",
    map[string]any{"person": Person{Name: "Alice", Age: 30}},
    neo4j.EagerResultTransformer,
    neo4j.ExecuteQueryWithDatabase("neo4j"),
)

Managed Transactions (Session-Based)

Use for lazy streaming (large result sets) or callback-level control.

session := driver.NewSession(ctx, neo4j.SessionConfig{
    DatabaseName: "neo4j", // always specify
    AccessMode:   neo4j.AccessModeRead,
})
defer session.Close(ctx)

result, err := session.ExecuteRead(ctx,
    func(tx neo4j.ManagedTransaction) (any, error) {
        res, err := tx.Run(ctx,
            `MATCH (p:Person) RETURN p.name AS name LIMIT $limit`,
            map[string]any{"limit": 100},
        )
        if err != nil {
            return nil, err
        }
        var names []string
        for res.Next(ctx) { // lazy — don't Collect() on large sets
            name, _ := res.Record().Get("name")
            names = append(names, name.(string))
        }
        return names, res.Err()
    },
)

❌ No side effects in callback — retried on transient failures. ExecuteRead → replicas. ExecuteWrite → cluster leader.


Explicit Transactions

Use when transaction work spans multiple functions or requires external coordination.

session := driver.NewSession(ctx, neo4j.SessionConfig{DatabaseName: "neo4j"})
defer session.Close(ctx)

tx, err := session.BeginTransaction(ctx)
if err != nil {
    return err
}
if err := doPartA(ctx, tx); err != nil {
    tx.Rollback(ctx)
    return err
}
if err := doPartB(ctx, tx); err != nil {
    tx.Rollback(ctx)
    return err
}
return tx.Commit(ctx)

❌ Not auto-retried. Caller handles retry. Prefer managed transactions unless you need explicit control.


Error Handling

result, err := neo4j.ExecuteQuery(...)
if err != nil {
    var neo4jErr *neo4j.Neo4jError
    if errors.As(err, &neo4jErr) {
        slog.Error("database error", "code", neo4jErr.Code, "msg", neo4jErr.Msg)
    }
    var connErr *neo4j.ConnectivityError
    if errors.As(err, &connErr) {
        slog.Error("connectivity error", "err", connErr)
    }
    return fmt.Errorf("execute query: %w", err)
}

Helpers:

neo4j.IsNeo4jError(err)                // server-side Cypher/database error
neo4j.IsTransactionExecutionLimit(err) // managed tx retries exhausted

In managed tx callback: return error → driver retries if transient. ConnectivityError at startup: check URI scheme, credentials, firewall.


Data Types

CypherGo
Integerint64
Floatfloat64
Stringstring
Booleanbool
List[]any
Mapmap[string]any
Nodeneo4j.Node
Relationshipneo4j.Relationship
Pathneo4j.Path
Dateneo4j.Date
DateTimeneo4j.Time
Durationneo4j.Duration
UUIDneo4j.UUID (= dbtype.UUID, [16]byte RFC 9562) — v6.2.0+, Bolt 6.1; parse with dbtype.ParseUUID(s), render with .String()
nullnil
// Typed extraction (v6+, preferred):
neo4j.GetRecordValue[string](record, "name")

// Manual extraction:
rawAge, ok := record.Get("age")
if !ok { return errors.New("missing 'age' field") }
age := rawAge.(int64) // Neo4j integers → int64

// Node access:
rawNode, _ := record.Get("p")
node := rawNode.(neo4j.Node)
name := node.Props["name"].(string)
labels := node.Labels // []string

❌ Always check ok from record.Get() before type-asserting — panics on missing key. ❌ After lazy for res.Next(ctx) loop, always check res.Err().


Key Patterns

Context — always propagate

ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(parentCtx, 5*time.Second)
defer cancel()
// pass ctx to all driver calls

context.Background() has no deadline — slow queries block indefinitely.

Batching Writes

// Bad: one transaction per record
for _, item := range items {
    neo4j.ExecuteQuery(ctx, driver, writeQuery, item, ...)
}

// Good: UNWIND batch in one transaction
neo4j.ExecuteQuery(ctx, driver,
    `UNWIND $items AS item
     MERGE (n:Node {id: item.id})
     SET n += item`,
    map[string]any{"items": items},
    neo4j.EagerResultTransformer,
    neo4j.ExecuteQueryWithDatabase("neo4j"),
)

Generic Helpers (v6+)

Prefer type-safe helpers over manual assertions:

// GetRecordValue[T] — extract + cast in one call
name, isNil, err := neo4j.GetRecordValue[string](record, "name")
// isNil=true when OPTIONAL MATCH returned null; err != nil when key absent or wrong type

// CollectTWithContext — map all records to a slice
people, err := neo4j.CollectTWithContext(ctx, result, func(record *neo4j.Record) (Person, error) {
    name, _, err := neo4j.GetRecordValue[string](record, "name")
    age, _, _   := neo4j.GetRecordValue[int64](record, "age")
    return Person{Name: name, Age: int(age)}, err
})

// SingleTWithContext — expect exactly one record (error if 0 or 2+)
person, err := neo4j.SingleTWithContext(ctx, result, func(record *neo4j.Record) (Person, error) {
    name, _, _ := neo4j.GetRecordValue[string](record, "name")
    return Person{Name: name}, nil
})

// GetProperty — typed property from Node or Relationship
node, _, _ := neo4j.GetRecordValue[neo4j.Node](record, "p")
nameVal, err := neo4j.GetProperty[string](node, "name")

Result mapping [v6.3.0+, Object Mapping preview] — map records onto neo4j-tagged structs (same tags as struct parameters):

type Person struct {
    Name string `neo4j:"name"`
    Age  int    `neo4j:"age"`   // INTEGER converted; lossy conversion → error, not truncation
}

// EagerResult from ExecuteQuery
res, err := neo4j.ExecuteQuery(ctx, driver,
    "MATCH (p:Person) RETURN p.name AS name, p.age AS age LIMIT 25",
    nil, neo4j.EagerResultTransformer, neo4j.ExecuteQueryWithDatabase("neo4j"))
people, err := neo4j.CollectRecordsAs[Person](res.Records)

// Streaming Result inside a transaction
all, err := neo4j.CollectAs[Person](ctx, result)      // all records
person, err := neo4j.SingleAs[Person](ctx, result)    // exactly one record
p, err := neo4j.As[Person](record)                    // single record

Mapping rules: one column holding a node, relationship, or map → its properties map to fields; otherwise columns map by name. Missing/null → zero value; extra columns ignored.

Spatial Types

// 2D Cartesian (SRID 7203), 3D Cartesian (SRID 9157)
pt2d := neo4j.Point2D{X: 1.23, Y: 4.56, SpatialRefId: 7203}
pt3d := neo4j.Point3D{X: 1.23, Y: 4.56, Z: 7.89, SpatialRefId: 9157}

// 2D WGS-84 (SRID 4326), 3D WGS-84 (SRID 4979)
london := neo4j.Point2D{X: -0.118092, Y: 51.509865, SpatialRefId: 4326}
shard  := neo4j.Point3D{X: -0.0865, Y: 51.5045, Z: 310, SpatialRefId: 4979}

// Pass as parameter
result, err := neo4j.ExecuteQuery(ctx, driver,
    "CREATE (p:Place {location: $loc})",
    map[string]any{"loc": london},
    neo4j.EagerResultTransformer,
    neo4j.ExecuteQueryWithDatabase("neo4j"),
)

// Read from result — assert to Point2D or Point3D
raw, _ := record.Get("location")
if p2d, ok := raw.(neo4j.Point2D); ok {
    fmt.Printf("lon=%f lat=%f srid=%d\n", p2d.X, p2d.Y, p2d.SpatialRefId)
}

// Distance (same SRID only)
result, _ = neo4j.ExecuteQuery(ctx, driver,
    "RETURN point.distance($p1, $p2) AS distance",
    map[string]any{"p1": pt2d, "p2": neo4j.Point2D{X: 10, Y: 10, SpatialRefId: 7203}},
    neo4j.EagerResultTransformer, neo4j.ExecuteQueryWithDatabase("neo4j"),
)
dist, _ := result.Records[0].Get("distance")
fmt.Println(dist.(float64))

Always Specify Database

neo4j.ExecuteQueryWithDatabase("neo4j")    // in ExecuteQuery
neo4j.SessionConfig{DatabaseName: "neo4j"} // in sessions

Omitting costs a network round-trip per call to resolve home database.

Causal Consistency

ExecuteQuery manages bookmarks automatically — no action needed for sequential calls. Cross-session (parallel workers): combine bookmarks explicitly — see references/repository-pattern.md.


Common Errors

Error / SymptomCauseFix
ConnectivityError at startupURI wrong / TLS mismatch / firewallCheck scheme (neo4j+s:// for Aura), credentials, port 7687
ConnectivityError mid-runPool exhaustedIncrease MaxConnectionPoolSize; check for leaked sessions
Panic on type assertionrecord.Get() returned nil/wrong typeUse neo4j.GetRecordValue[T]() or check ok first
res.Err() non-nil after loopNetwork error mid-streamHandle error; re-run transaction
Callback retried unexpectedlySide effect inside managed txMove side effects outside callback
Context deadline exceededNo timeout on contextUse context.WithTimeout
0 results, query looks correctWrong DatabaseNameAlways set DatabaseName in config
CALL IN TRANSACTIONS failsRun inside managed txUse session.Run() (auto-commit)

References

Load on demand:

  • references/advanced-config.md — connection pool tuning, custom address resolver, notification config, Bolt logging, auth options, URI scheme table, deprecated result-summary accessors (Profile() → QueryProfile())
  • references/repository-pattern.md — repository wrapper pattern, cross-session causal consistency with bookmarks

WebFetch

NeedURL
Go driver manualhttps://neo4j.com/docs/go-manual/current/
API referencehttps://pkg.go.dev/github.com/neo4j/neo4j-go-driver/v6/neo4j

Checklist

  • One driver created at startup; shared across goroutines; defer driver.Close(ctx)
  • driver.VerifyConnectivity(ctx) called at startup
  • DatabaseName set in all SessionConfig / ExecuteQueryWithDatabase
  • context.WithTimeout used for production queries
  • map[string]any parameters used — no string interpolation
  • ExecuteQueryWithReadersRouting() on read-only ExecuteQuery calls
  • res.Err() checked after lazy for result.Next(ctx) loop
  • Type assertions guarded (use GetRecordValue[T] or check ok)
  • No side effects inside managed transaction callbacks
  • session.Run() used for CALL IN TRANSACTIONS / auto-commit queries
  • Sessions closed with defer session.Close(ctx)

FAQ

What does the neo4j-driver-go-skill skill do?

Covers the Neo4j Go Driver v6 — driver lifecycle, ExecuteQuery, managed and explicit transactions, session config, error handling, data type mapping, and connection tuning. Use when writing Go code that connects to Neo4j, setting up NewDriver or ExecuteQuery, debugging sessions/transactions/result handling, or working with neo4j-go-driver v5→v6 migration. Triggers on NewDriver, ExecuteQuery, SessionConfig, ManagedTransaction, neo4j-go-driver. Does NOT handle Cypher query authoring — use neo4j-cypher-skill. Does NOT cover driver version migration steps — use neo4j-migration-skill.

How do I install neo4j-driver-go-skill?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/neo4j-contrib/neo4j-skills --skill neo4j-driver-go-skill in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/neo4j-driver-go-skill/ (personal) or .claude/skills/neo4j-driver-go-skill/ (project).

Which AI agents can use neo4j-driver-go-skill?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is neo4j-driver-go-skill safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains neo4j-driver-go-skill?

It is published by neo4j-contrib in neo4j-contrib/neo4j-skills. It has 776 recorded installs.

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