nanograph-cli-0.8.0 is not a library.

nanograph

On-device property graph database. No server, no cloud, no connection strings. Think DuckDB, but for graphs.

Schema-as-code, compile-time validated, Arrow-native.

Use cases

Local first context graph
Memory layer for AI agents
Dependency & lineage graph
Personal knowledge graph (PKM)
Indexing & ontology layer for Obsidian
Analytics & domain exploration

Key benefits

Schema-as-code -- schema files live in your repo, version with git, review in PRs. No "property not found" at runtime. Ever.
Local-first -- no server. A library you link or a CLI you run. Works offline, works in CI, works on a plane.
CLI workflow -- nanograph init / load / check / run. DB as a build artifact, not a service.
Graph-native operators -- traversal, neighbor expansion, and path primitives are first-class, not bolted onto relational joins.
Columnar execution -- batch/vectorized through Arrow RecordBatches. Results integrate naturally with the Arrow ecosystem.
Built-in CDC -- every mutation is logged to a commit-gated journal. Replay decision traces, sync downstream, or audit changes from any version.
Fast -- Rust, Arrow columnar execution, Lance storage with scalar indexes. Sub-millisecond opens, vectorized scans, zero cold-start.

Install

Requirements:

Rust (1.85+)
protoc (brew install protobuf)

cargo install nanograph-cli

Built on Arrow, Lance, and DataFusion — first build may take a few minutes.

Quick start

# Initialize a database from a schema
nanograph init my.nano --schema schema.pg

# Load data
nanograph load my.nano --data data.jsonl --mode overwrite

# Typecheck queries
nanograph check --db my.nano --query queries.gq

# Run a query
nanograph run --db my.nano --query queries.gq --name my_query

See examples/starwars/ for a ready-to-run demo (66 nodes, 146 edges, 30 queries).

Schema language

Schema files are source code — version them with git, review them in PRs, catch relationship bugs at compile time.

node Character {
    slug: String @key
    name: String
    alignment: enum(hero, villain, neutral)
    era: enum(prequel, original, sequel)
    tags: [String]?
}

node Film {
    slug: String @key
    name: String
    release_date: Date
}

edge DebutsIn: Character -> Film

Query language

Typed Datalog with GraphQL-shaped syntax. Edge traversal as predicates, compile-time type checking.

query friends_of($name: String) {
    match {
        $p: Person { name: $name }
        $p knows $f
    }
    return { $f.name, $f.age }
}

Mutations are first-class:

query add_person($name: String, $age: I32) {
    insert Person { name: $name, age: $age }
}

query update_age($name: String, $age: I32) {
    update Person set { age: $age } where name = $name
}

query remove_person($name: String) {
    delete Person where name = $name
}

Change tracking

Every mutation is logged to a commit-gated CDC journal. Replay changes since any version:

nanograph changes my.nano --since 3 --format jsonl
nanograph changes my.nano --from 1 --to 5 --format json

Testing

# Engine + library tests
cargo test -p nanograph
cargo test -p nanograph-cli

# CLI end-to-end scenarios
bash tests/cli/run-cli-e2e.sh

Origin

Inspired by using DuckDB as a ledger for Claude Code projects -- the same instant-open, zero-infra experience, applied to property graphs and agentic memory.

nanograph-cli 0.8.0