# Install neo4j with Homebrew, apk, Nix

Robust (fully ACID) transactional property graph database. Version 2026.05.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-14.

## Install

```sh
sudo av install brew:neo4j
```

Additional install commands:

### macOS

- Homebrew (100%):

```sh
brew install neo4j
```

  Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata

### Linux

- apk (92%):

```sh
sudo apk add cypher-shell
```

  Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: cypher-shell from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz

- Nix (92%):

```sh
nix profile install nixpkgs#neo4j
```

  Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ne/neo4j/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1

## Package facts

- **Package key:** brew:neo4j
- **Package manager:** Homebrew
- **Package manager page:** <https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/neo4j>
- **Version:** 2026.05.0
- **Source summary:** Robust (fully ACID) transactional property graph database
- **Homepage:** <https://neo4j.com/>
- **Repository:** <https://github.com/neo4j/neo4j>
- **Upstream docs:** <https://neo4j.com/docs>
- **License:** GPL-3.0-or-later
- **Source archive:** <https://neo4j.com/artifact.php?name=neo4j-community-2026.05.0-unix.tar.gz>
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-14T14:47:55+02:00
- **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00

## Executables

- neo4j (cli)
- neo4j-admin (cli)
- neo4j (alias)
- neo4j-admin (alias)

## Dependencies

- cypher-shell
- openjdk@21

## Install behavior

- Post-install hook: not defined
- Service: declared
- Bottle: available on all

## Freshness

- Page generated: 2026-07-08
- Package-manager version: 2026.05.0
- Package-manager updated: 2026-06-14
- Local data: ok
- Upstream repository: https://neo4j.com/
- info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.
## Project history and usage

Neo4j is a transactional property graph database centered on nodes, relationships, properties, and the Cypher query language. The Homebrew package installs the self-managed Community Edition tooling, including the neo4j and neo4j-admin executables, and defines a Homebrew service that runs neo4j console from the package prefix.

### Project history

Neo4j's official open-source history says development began in 2000 while the founders were building a content management system and needed a relationship-first data model that relational databases did not handle well. The same timeline says the property graph model was invented in 2000, a graph database entered 24/7 production in 2003, and Neo4j 1.0 shipped in 2007 as open-source and commercial packages.

### Adoption history

Neo4j helped define the graph database category for package managers and application developers. Neo4j's milestone list connects the project to the NoSQL wave in 2009, Cypher in 2011, the O'Reilly Graph Databases book and GraphConnect conferences in 2012, labeled property graphs in Neo4j 2.0 in 2013, openCypher in 2015, and Bolt/native drivers in Neo4j 3.0 in 2016.

### How it is used

Package users tend to install Neo4j locally for development, demos, integration tests, graph modeling, and Cypher experimentation before moving to a managed Aura instance or a production self-managed deployment. Homebrew's formula depends on cypher-shell and OpenJDK 21, exposes neo4j and neo4j-admin, and wires a service for launching the database under the Homebrew var directories.

### Why package nerds care

For package history, Neo4j is the major graph database in this batch: a long-lived Java server, a query-language ecosystem, dedicated CLI/admin tools, and many downstream integrations. The Homebrew formula API snapshot generated on 2026-06-30 reported 12,248 installs over 365 days and 720 installs over 30 days, far above the smaller neighboring packages in this batch.

### Timeline

- 2000: Neo4j development begins and the property graph model is invented, according to Neo4j.
- 2003: First graph database in 24/7 production, according to Neo4j.
- 2007: Neo4j 1.0 released as open-source and commercial packages.
- 2011: Cypher launched.
- 2015: openCypher standards project launched.
- 2016: Neo4j 3.0 added APOC procedures, Bolt, native drivers, and a cost-based optimizer.
- 2026-06-30: Homebrew API snapshot listed stable version 2026.05.0.

### Related projects

- Cypher
- openCypher
- APOC
- Bolt
- cypher-shell
- Neo4j Aura
- Neo4j Graph Data Science

### Sources

- <https://formulae.brew.sh/api/formula/neo4j.json>
- <https://github.com/neo4j/neo4j>
- <https://neo4j.com/docs/getting-started/graph-database/>
- <https://neo4j.com/open-source-project/>


## Security Notes

broad file, network, media, or database tool signal. formula declares a Homebrew service.

- **Geiger risk:** orange / medium
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal
- formula declares a Homebrew service


## Configuration and credential file locations

These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval.


## Configuration files

- Unix: <NEO4J_HOME>/conf/neo4j.conf, <NEO4J_HOME>/conf/neo4j-admin.conf, /etc/neo4j/neo4j.conf, /etc/neo4j/neo4j-admin.conf
- Windows: <NEO4J_HOME>\conf\neo4j.conf, <NEO4J_HOME>\conf\neo4j-admin.conf
## Source Database Details

- **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API
- **Tap:** homebrew/core
- **Full Name:** neo4j
- **Version Scheme:** 0
- **Revision:** 0
- **Bottle Stable Root URL:** <https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core>
- **Deprecated:** no
- **Disabled:** no
- **Keg Only:** no
- **URL Keys:** stable

## Other Package-Manager Records

- Nix - neo4j: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/ne/neo4j/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1
- apk - cypher-shell - 4.4.41-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: cypher-shell from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Cypher Shell - CLI for Neo4j | https://neo4j.com
- apk - neo4j - 4.4.41-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: neo4j from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Neo4j Community Edition LTS | https://neo4j.com
- apk - neo4j-doc - 4.4.41-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: neo4j-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Neo4j Community Edition LTS (documentation) | https://neo4j.com
- apk - neo4j-openrc - 4.4.41-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: neo4j-openrc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Neo4j Community Edition LTS (OpenRC init scripts) | https://neo4j.com


## Related links

- [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Has protected-tool coverage, approval-gate, or non-low Geiger security signals.
- [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata.
- [Text processing packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/text-processing-tools/) - Matched text, document, or structured-data processing metadata.
- [Language runtime packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/language-runtime-packages/) - Matched language runtime, compiler, or interpreter metadata.
- [cypher-shell](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cypher-shell/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [openjdk@21](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/openjdk-21/) - Runtime dependency declared by Homebrew.
- [hbase](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/hbase/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, database, databases, java.
- [cassandra](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/cassandra/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, database, databases, nosql.
- [garnet](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/garnet/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, database, databases, server.
- [h2](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/h2/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, database, databases, java.
- [keydb](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/keydb/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, database, databases, server.
- [orientdb](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/orientdb/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, database, graph-database, java.
- [ssdb](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/ssdb/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, database, databases, nosql.
- [apache-geode](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/apache-geode/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, data, database, databases.
- [neo4j-mcp](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/neo4j-mcp/) - Package names and metadata indicate a similar tool family. Shared terms: cli, cypher, database, graph, graph-database.

## Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/neo4j.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/neo4j.yml)


## Sources

- Nucleus package database
- Geiger risk classifier
- package-page enrichment
- curated configuration and credential file locations
- curated package history
- package version freshness
- av.db category and tag curation
- package relationship graph
- external package-manager database matches
- cross-ecosystem install command graph