Alter composite databases

You can modify composite databases using the Cypher command ALTER DATABASE.

Syntax

Command Syntax

ALTER DATABASE

 
ALTER DATABASE name [IF EXISTS]
SET DEFAULT LANGUAGE CYPHER {5|25}
[WAIT [n [SEC[OND[S]]]]|NOWAIT]

Alter the default Cypher version of a composite database

You can change the default Cypher version of an existing composite database using the ALTER DATABASE command with the SET DEFAULT LANGUAGE clause. For example:

ALTER DATABASE inventory SET DEFAULT LANGUAGE CYPHER 25

This command will change the default Cypher version of the composite database inventory to Cypher 25.

To view the default Cypher version of each database in the DBMS, run the command SHOW DATABASES with the YIELD clause and specify the defaultLanguage column. For example:

Query
SHOW DATABASES YIELD name, defaultLanguage
Table 1. Result
name defaultLanguage

"neo4j"

"CYPHER 25"

"library"

"CYPHER 5"

"inventory"

"CYPHER 25"

"sci-fi"

"CYPHER 5"

"system"

"CYPHER 25"

Rows: 5

Setting the default language to CYPHER 25 ensures that all queries run on that database will use the version of Cypher 25 that the database is currently running (unless you prepend your queries with CYPHER 5, which overrides this default). For example, a Neo4j 2025.08 database with default language Cypher 25 will use Cypher 25 as it exists in Neo4j 2025.08, including any changes introduced in Neo4j 2025.06, 2025.07, and 2025.08.