Node-Neo4j

This is a client library for accessing [Neo4j][], a graph database, from
[Node.js][]. It uses Neo4j's [REST API][neo4j-rest-api], and supports
Neo4j 1.5 through Neo4j 2.1.

(Note that new 2.0 features like labels and constraints are only accessible
through Cypher for now -- but Cypher is the recommended interface for Neo4j
anyway. This driver might change to wrap Cypher entirely.)

Update: [node-neo4j v2][] is under development and almost finished!
[Read the full spec here][v2 spec], and follow the progress in [pull #145][].
If you're comfortable using pre-release code, alpha versions are available on
npm; we at [FiftyThree][] are running them in production. =)

[node-neo4j v2]: https://github.com/thingdom/node-neo4j/tree/v2#readme
[v2 spec]: https://github.com/thingdom/node-neo4j/blob/v2/API_v2.md
[pull #145]: https://github.com/thingdom/node-neo4j/pull/145
[FiftyThree]: http://www.fiftythree.com/

Installation

npm install neo4j@1.x --save

Usage

To start, create a new instance of the GraphDatabase class pointing to your
Neo4j instance:

``js
var neo4j = require('neo4j');
var db = new neo4j.GraphDatabase('http://localhost:7474');
`

Node.js is asynchronous, which means this library is too: most functions take
callbacks and return immediately, with the callbacks being invoked when the
corresponding HTTP requests and responses finish.

Here's a simple example:

`js
var node = db.createNode({hello: 'world'}); // instantaneous, but...
node.save(function (err, node) { // ...this is what actually persists.
if (err) {
console.error('Error saving new node to database:', err);
} else {
console.log('Node saved to database with id:', node.id);
}
});
`

Because async flow in Node.js can be quite tricky to handle, we
strongly recommend using a flow control tool or library to help.
Our personal favorite is [Streamline.js][], but other popular choices are
async,
Step,
Seq, TameJS and
IcedCoffeeScript.

Once you've gotten the basics down, skim through the full
[API documentation][api-docs] to see what this library can do, and take a
look at [@aseemk][aseemk]'s [node-neo4j-template][] app for a complete usage
example. (The models/User.js file in particular is the one that interacts
with this library.)

This library is officially stable at "v1", but "v2" will almost certainly have
breaking changes to support only Neo4j 2.0 and generally improve the API
([roadmap][]). You can be sheltered from these changes if you simply specify
your package.json dependency as e.g. 1.x or ^1.0 instead of *.

[Roadmap]: https://github.com/thingdom/node-neo4j/wiki/Roadmap

Development

git clone git@github.com:thingdom/node-neo4j.git
cd node-neo4j
npm install && npm run clean

You'll need a local installation of Neo4j (links),
and it should be running on the default port of 7474 (neo4j start).

To run the tests:

npm test

This library is written in [CoffeeScript][], using [Streamline.js][] syntax.
The tests automatically compile the code on-the-fly, but you can also generate
compiled .js files from the source ._coffee files manually:

npm run build

This is in fact what's run each time this library is published to npm.
But please don't check the generated .js files in; to remove:

npm run clean

When compiled .js files exist, changes to the source ._coffee files will
not be picked up automatically; you'll need to rebuild.

If you npm link this module into another app (like [node-neo4j-template][])
and you want the code compiled on-the-fly during development, you can create
an index.js file under lib/ with the following:

`js
require('coffee-script/register');
require('streamline/register');
module.exports = require('./index._coffee');
``

But don't check this in! That would cause all clients to compile the code
on-the-fly every time, which isn't desirable in production.

Changes

See the [Changelog][changelog] for the full history of changes and releases.

License

This library is licensed under the [Apache License, Version 2.0][license].

Feedback

If you encounter any bugs or other issues, please file them in the
[issue tracker][issue-tracker].

We also now have a [Google Group][google-group]!
Post questions and participate in general discussions there.

[neo4j]: http://neo4j.org/
[node.js]: http://nodejs.org/
[neo4j-rest-api]: http://docs.neo4j.org/chunked/stable/rest-api.html

[api-docs]: http://coffeedoc.info/github/thingdom/node-neo4j/master/
[aseemk]: https://github.com/aseemk
[node-neo4j-template]: https://github.com/aseemk/node-neo4j-template
[semver]: http://semver.org/

[neo4j-getting-started]: http://wiki.neo4j.org/content/Getting_Started_With_Neo4j_Server
[coffeescript]: http://coffeescript.org/
[streamline.js]: https://github.com/Sage/streamlinejs

[changelog]: CHANGELOG.md
[issue-tracker]: https://github.com/thingdom/node-neo4j/issues
[license]: http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html
[google-group]: https://groups.google.com/group/node-neo4j