Docs / Migrate

Migrating from Neo4j

Tetra implements the Bolt protocol and openCypher. Your existing Neo4j drivers, Cypher queries, and tooling work against Tetra unchanged, so migrating is two things: repoint your app, then bring your data over.

Before you start

• A running Tetra database (free DEMO MODE works) and your connection string + API key.
• Access to your Neo4j instance, ideally with the APOC plugin for export.
• cypher-shell installed locally (ships with Neo4j) to replay the export.

Steps

1. Repoint your app

   Swap your Neo4j URI for your Tetra connection. The driver and your queries stay the same. Auth is your API key.

   # Same Bolt driver, just point it at Tetra:
   NEO4J_URI=bolt://tetra-ca.com?db=YOUR_DB
   NEO4J_USERNAME=apikey
   NEO4J_PASSWORD=<YOUR_API_KEY>

2. Export from Neo4j

   Dump your existing graph as a Cypher script with APOC:

   CALL apoc.export.cypher.all('tetra-migration.cypher', { format: 'cypher-shell' });

   No APOC? A full database dump works too: neo4j-admin database dump neo4j --to-path=.

3. Load into Tetra

   Replay the script over Bolt. No schema setup needed, Tetra is schema-optional like Neo4j.

   cypher-shell -a bolt://tetra-ca.com?db=YOUR_DB \
     -u apikey -p <YOUR_API_KEY> \
     -f tetra-migration.cypher

4. Verify

   Compare node and relationship counts against your source. They should match.

   MATCH (n) RETURN count(n) AS nodes;
   MATCH ()-->() RETURN count(*) AS relationships;

Known differences

Tetra is a drop-in for the vast majority of Neo4j workloads. A few things to be aware of:

• Cypher: full openCypher support. Neo4j-specific procedures (some apoc.*, db.*, GDS) may differ or not be available, so check the Cypher reference.
• Auth: Tetra authenticates with an API key (username apikey, password = the key), not a username/password pair.
• Indexes & constraints: recreate them after import; the APOC Cypher export includes schema statements when you enable them.
• Usage: Tetra meters in credits against your tier ceiling rather than memory/instance sizing.

Next steps

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