graphdblite

Embedded graph database with Cypher support, built on SQLite.

Embedded. Single file, no server, no configuration. Open it, query it, close it — like SQLite.

Graph-first. Cypher queries, adjacency-list storage, graph-aware query planning. Traversals are direct key lookups, not JOINs.

Multi-process safe. Multiple processes can read and write concurrently. Crash recovery is automatic.

graphdblite uses SQLite strictly as a crash-safe key-value store; graph data, query planning, and execution all live in a graph-native layer above it. See Architecture for the full rationale.

openCypher TCK conformance: 100% (3895/3895 scenarios).

Quick start

cargo install builds the standalone graphdblite CLI. For the Rust library, see Language bindings below — cargo add graphdblite.

cargo install graphdblite

graphdblite my.db -q "CREATE (a:Person {name:'Alice'})-[:KNOWS]->(b:Person {name:'Bob'})"
graphdblite my.db -q "MATCH (a)-[:KNOWS]->(b) RETURN a.name, b.name"
graphdblite my.db                  # interactive REPL (.help for commands)

Language bindings

The canonical embedded use case in Rust:

use graphdblite::Database;

let mut db = Database::open("my.db")?;
let tx = db.write_tx()?;
tx.query("CREATE (a:Person {name: 'Alice'})-[:KNOWS]->(b:Person {name: 'Bob'})")?;
tx.commit()?;

let tx = db.read_tx()?;
let results = tx.query("MATCH (a)-[:KNOWS]->(b) RETURN a.name, b.name")?;
tx.commit()?;

Cypher

MATCH (a:Person)-[:KNOWS]->(b:Person) WHERE a.age > 25 RETURN a.name, b.name
MATCH (a)-[:KNOWS*1..3]->(b) RETURN b                  // variable-length paths
MATCH p = shortestPath((a)-[:KNOWS*]->(b)) RETURN p    // shortest path
MERGE (n:Person {name: 'Alice'}) ON CREATE SET n.created = true

Full reference (clauses, expressions, 50+ functions): Cypher reference.

Build & test

cargo build --release
cargo test --tests
cargo test --test tck --features tck-support

Reproducible release builds, benchmarks, and the audit workflow: Build guide.

Design

Architecture, layering, and the rationale behind the storage and execution model: Specification.

Stability

Pre-1.0.0. Public API surface and stability guarantees are documented in Stability; binding authors should also read Binding conformance.

License

MIT