neo4j-cypher-skill

Generates, optimizes, and validates Cypher 25 queries for Neo4j 2025.x and 2026.x. Use when writing new Cypher queries, optimizing slow queries, graph pattern matching, vector or fulltext search, subqueries, or batch writes. Covers MATCH, MERGE, CREATE, WITH, RETURN, CALL, UNWIND, FOREACH, LOAD CSV, SEARCH, expressions, functions, indexes, and subqueries. Does NOT handle driver migration or API changes — use neo4j-migration-skill. Does NOT cover DB administration or server ops — use neo4j-cli-tools-skill.

2.02x

Quality

96%

Does it follow best practices?

Impact

79%

2.02x

Average score across 2 eval scenarios

Securityby

High

Do not use without reviewing

Quality

Content

92%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

The body is a lean, highly actionable reference with strong workflow gating and validation for destructive/batch operations, plus clean progressive disclosure to real bundle files. The only weakness is minor internal redundancy that could be trimmed for token efficiency.

Suggestions

Deduplicate the Version Gates table: 'GROUP BY subclause on WITH/RETURN [2026.07]' and the adjacent 'cardinality()' rows appear twice — merge into single entries.

Consolidate the 'Z ≠ UTC' timezone caveat so it lives in one place (e.g. syntax-traps.md or a single inline note) rather than repeated in both the traps table and Failure Recovery.

Tighten the Defaults list and Version Gates table by cross-linking to references/cypher-syntax.md for items already detailed there, reducing repeated inline detail.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The body is dense and assumes Claude's competence (no basic-concept padding), but contains minor redundancy — the 'GROUP BY subclause on WITH/RETURN [2026.07]' row appears twice in the Version Gates table, and the 'Z ≠ UTC' caveat is repeated across the traps table and Failure Recovery.	4 / 5
Actionability	Abundant copy-paste-ready Cypher examples, concrete curl commands for Query API v2, and specific syntax recipes cover the common cases (MERGE, WITH scope, subqueries, CALL IN TRANSACTIONS, QPE, spatial).	5 / 5
Workflow Clarity	Clear sequenced workflows with explicit validation checkpoints — Pre-flight decision table, Schema-First Protocol priority order, EXPLAIN→LIMIT 1→verify-read-half→PROFILE validation, a write execution gate, a Failure Recovery feedback loop, and a final Checklist. Validation is present for the destructive/batch write operations.	5 / 5
Progressive Disclosure	SKILL.md is a well-organized overview with a References section signaling one-level-deep files (all 8 referenced .md files and 3 scripts exist in references/ and scripts/), each with a one-line description; bulk detail is appropriately split into separate files.	5 / 5
	Total	19 / 20 Passed

Description

100%Weight 40%Scale 1-5

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

The description is exemplary: it states concrete capabilities, gives explicit natural trigger phrases, answers both what and when, and carves out a clear niche with negative boundary guidance. It uses proper third-person voice throughout.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Lists multiple concrete actions ('Generates, optimizes, and validates Cypher 25 queries') plus a comprehensive enumerated coverage of clauses (MATCH, MERGE, CREATE, WITH, RETURN, CALL, UNWIND, FOREACH, LOAD CSV, SEARCH), matching the 'comprehensive coverage' anchor.	5 / 5
Completeness	Explicitly answers both 'what' (generates/optimizes/validates Cypher 25 queries) and 'when' (concrete 'Use when...' trigger phrases), and adds explicit negative boundaries, fitting the top anchor.	5 / 5
Trigger Term Quality	The 'Use when' clause enumerates natural phrases users would say — 'writing new Cypher queries', 'optimizing slow queries', 'graph pattern matching', 'vector or fulltext search', 'subqueries', 'batch writes' — with strong synonym coverage; no common file extension applies to Cypher.	5 / 5
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	Clear niche (Cypher 25 queries for Neo4j 2025.x/2026.x) with explicit 'Does NOT' boundaries redirecting to neo4j-migration-skill and neo4j-cli-tools-skill, minimizing conflict risk.	5 / 5
	Total	20 / 20 Passed

Validation

93%

Warnings & errors only

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation — 15 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
frontmatter_unknown_keys	Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata	Warning

	Total	15 / 16 Passed

Repository: neo4j-contrib/neo4j-skills
Path: neo4j-cypher-skill/SKILL.md
Commit: a9a5e78

Reviewed: 6 days ago

Table of Contents

Discovery Implementation Validation

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