List databases

You can list your databases using the Cypher command SHOW DATABASES.

Syntax

Command Syntax

Command	Syntax
`SHOW DATABASE`	`SHOW { DATABASE[S] name \| DATABASE[S] \| DEFAULT DATABASE \| HOME DATABASE } [WHERE expression]` `SHOW { DATABASE[S] name \| DATABASE[S] \| DEFAULT DATABASE \| HOME DATABASE } YIELD { * \| field[, ...] } [ORDER BY field[, ...]] [SKIP n] [LIMIT n] [WHERE expression] [RETURN field[, ...] [ORDER BY field[, ...]] [SKIP n] [LIMIT n]]`

SHOW DATABASE

SHOW { DATABASE[S] name | DATABASE[S] | DEFAULT DATABASE | HOME DATABASE }
[WHERE expression]

SHOW { DATABASE[S] name | DATABASE[S] | DEFAULT DATABASE | HOME DATABASE }
YIELD { * | field[, ...] } [ORDER BY field[, ...]] [SKIP n] [LIMIT n]
[WHERE expression]
[RETURN field[, ...] [ORDER BY field[, ...]] [SKIP n] [LIMIT n]]

`SHOW DATABASES` output

Depending on what you want to see, you can list:

All databases.
A particular database.
The DBMS default database.
The home database.

These commands return the following columns:

Table 1. Listing databases output
Column	Description	Type
`name`	The name of the database.	`STRING`
`type`	The type of the database: `system`, `standard`, `graph shard`, `property shard`, or `composite`.	`STRING`
`aliases`	The names of any aliases the database may have.	`LIST<STRING>`
`access`	The database access mode, either `read-write` or `read-only`. A database may be described as `read-only` when using `ALTER DATABASE … SET ACCESS READ ONLY`.	`STRING`
`databaseID`	The database unique ID. Only available for `online` or `deallocating` databases. For other database states the value will be `NULL`.	`STRING`
`serverID`	The server ID.	`STRING`
`address`	Server address in a clustered DBMS. The default for a standalone server is neo4j://localhost:7687.	`STRING`
`role`	The current role of the database (`primary`, `secondary`, `property shard replica`, `unknown`). Not applicable to composite databases (the value is `NULL`).	`STRING`
`writer`	`true` for the copy of the database that accepts writes for this database (this copy is the leader for this database in a cluster or this is a standalone server).	`BOOLEAN`
`requestedStatus`	The expected status of the database. Valid values are `online` or `offline`.	`STRING`
`currentStatus`	The actual status of the database. Possible statuses are: `online` `offline` `starting` `stopping` `store copying` `initial` `deallocating` `dirty` `quarantined` `unknown` `mixed` See Database states for more information.	`STRING`
`statusMessage`	A message explaining the status of the database, often explaining why it is not in the correct state.	`STRING`
`default`	`true` if this is the default database for the DBMS. Not returned by `SHOW HOME DATABASE` or `SHOW DEFAULT DATABASE`.	`BOOLEAN`
`home`	`true` if this is the home database for the current user. Not returned by `SHOW HOME DATABASE` or `SHOW DEFAULT DATABASE`.	`BOOLEAN`
`currentPrimariesCount`	Number of primaries for this database reported as running currently. It is the same as the number of rows where `role=primary` and `name=this database`. Not applicable to composite databases^[1], virtual sharded databases, and property shards. (the value is `NULL`).	`INTEGER`
`currentSecondariesCount`	Number of secondaries for this database reported as running currently. It is the same as the number of rows where `role=secondary` and `name=this database`. Not applicable to composite databases^[1], virtual sharded databases, and property shards (the value is `NULL`).	`INTEGER`
`currentPropertyShardReplicas`	Introduced in 2025.12Enterprise edition Number of property shard replicas for this database reported as running currently. It is the same as the number of rows where `role=property shard replica` and `name=this database`.	`INTEGER`
`requestedPrimariesCount`	The requested number of primaries for this database. May be lower than current if the DBMS is currently reducing the number of copies of the database, or higher if it is currently increasing the number of copies. Not applicable to composite databases^[1], virtual sharded databases, and property shards (the value is `NULL`).]	`INTEGER`
`requestedSecondariesCount`	The requested number of secondaries for this database. May be lower than current if the DBMS is currently reducing the number of copies of the database, or higher if it is currently increasing the number of copies. Not applicable to composite databases^[1], virtual sharded databases, and property shards (the value is `NULL`).]	`INTEGER`
`requestedPropertyShardReplicas`	Introduced in 2025.12Enterprise edition The requested number of property shard replicas for this database. May be lower than current if the DBMS is currently reducing the number of copies of the database, or higher if it is currently increasing the number of copies.	`INTEGER`
`creationTime`	The date and time at which the database was created.	`ZONED DATETIME`
`lastStartTime`	The date and time at which the database was last started.	`ZONED DATETIME`
`lastStopTime`	The date and time at which the database was last stopped.	`ZONED DATETIME`
`store`	Information about the storage engine and the store format. The value is a string formatted as `{storage engine}-{store format}-{major version}.{minor version}`. Only available for `online` or `deallocating` databases. For other database states the value will be `NULL`. Not applicable to composite databases^[1] and virtual sharded databases. (the value is `NULL`).	`STRING`
`lastCommittedTxn§`	The ID of the last transaction received. Only available for `online` or `deallocating` databases. For other database states the value will be `NULL`. Not applicable to composite databases^[1] and virtual sharded databases (the value is `NULL`).	`INTEGER`
`replicationLag`	The number of transactions the current database is behind compared to the most up-to-date allocation of that database. The lag is expressed in negative integers. In standalone environments, the value is always `0`. Only available for `online` or `deallocating` databases. For other database states the value will be `NULL`. Not applicable to composite databases^[1] and property sharded databases (the value is `NULL`).	`INTEGER`
`shardTxnLag`	Introduced in 2025.12Enterprise edition The number of transactions the current shard is behind compared to the most up-to-date shard allocation of the sharded database. The lag is expressed in negative integers.	`INTEGER`
`constituents`	The names of any constituents the database may have. Applicable only for composite databases.	`LIST<STRING>`
`graphShards`	Introduced in 2025.12Enterprise edition The names of any graph shards the database may have. Applicable also for standard databases (non-sharded databases), which have a single graph shard with the same name as the database. Not applicable to composite databases.	`LIST<STRING>`
`propertyShards`	Introduced in 2025.12Enterprise edition The names of any property shards the database may have.	`LIST<STRING>`
`defaultLanguage`	Introduced in Neo4j 2025.06 The default Cypher version for this database. Queries that are not prefixed with a Cypher version will be executed with the Cypher version of the database.	`STRING`
`options`	The map of options applied to the database. Not applicable to composite databases (the value is `NULL`).	`MAP`
1. The change for composite databases applies to versions 2025.04 and later and 5.26.5 and later.

The results of the SHOW DATABASES command are filtered according to the ACCESS privileges of the user. However, some privileges enable users to see additional databases regardless of their ACCESS privileges:

Users with CREATE/DROP/ALTER DATABASE or SET DATABASE ACCESS privileges can see all standard databases.
Users with CREATE/DROP/ALTER COMPOSITE DATABASE or COMPOSITE DATABASE MANAGEMENT privileges can see all composite databases.
Users with DATABASE MANAGEMENT privilege can see all databases.

The SET DATABASE DEFAULT LANGUAGE privilege is intentionally left out and does not affect the returned databases.

If a user has not been granted ACCESS privilege to any databases nor any of the above special cases, the command can still be executed but it will only return the system database, which is always visible.

Database states

A database’s currentStatus can be one of the following:

State Description

State	Description
`online`	The database is running.
`offline`	The database is not running. If the `statusMessage` column is filled, the database is not running because of a problem.
`starting`	The database is not running, but is about to.
`stopping`	The database is not running anymore, but still has not stopped completely. No offline operations (e.g. `load`/`dump`) can be performed yet.
`store copying`	The database is currently being updated from another instance of Neo4j.
`initial`	The database has not yet been created.
`deallocating`	Only applies to databases in a cluster. The database is still online but will eventually be offline due to a transfer of its role in the cluster to a different member. The status is `deallocting` until the transfer is complete, which can take anything from a second to a day or more.
`dirty`	This state implies an error has occurred. The database’s underlying store files may be invalid. For more information, consult the `statusMessage` column or the server’s logs.
`quarantined`	The database is effectively stopped and its state may not be changed until no longer quarantined. For more information, consult the `statusMessage` column or the server’s logs.
`unknown`	This instance of Neo4j does not know the state of this database.
`mixed`	If a database is a sharded database, this status indicates that not all shards have the same `currentStatus`. The `statusMessage` column shows how many shards have a certain status, e.g. online (4), starting(1)

online

The database is running.

offline

The database is not running. If the statusMessage column is filled, the database is not running because of a problem.

starting

The database is not running, but is about to.

stopping

The database is not running anymore, but still has not stopped completely. No offline operations (e.g. load/dump) can be performed yet.

store copying

The database is currently being updated from another instance of Neo4j.

initial

The database has not yet been created.

deallocating

Only applies to databases in a cluster. The database is still online but will eventually be offline due to a transfer of its role in the cluster to a different member. The status is deallocting until the transfer is complete, which can take anything from a second to a day or more.

dirty

This state implies an error has occurred. The database’s underlying store files may be invalid. For more information, consult the statusMessage column or the server’s logs.

quarantined

The database is effectively stopped and its state may not be changed until no longer quarantined. For more information, consult the statusMessage column or the server’s logs.

unknown

This instance of Neo4j does not know the state of this database.

mixed

If a database is a sharded database, this status indicates that not all shards have the same currentStatus. The statusMessage column shows how many shards have a certain status, e.g. online (4), starting(1)

Note that for failed databases, the currentStatus and requestedStatus are different. This often implies an error, but that is not always the case. For example, a database may take a while to transition from offline to online due to a performing recovery. Or, during normal operation, a database’s currentStatus may be transiently different from its requestedStatus due to a necessary automatic process, such as one Neo4j instance copying store files from another.

Show all available databases

A summary of all available databases can be displayed using the command SHOW DATABASES.

Query

SHOW DATABASES

Result

+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| name     | type       | aliases                      | access       | address          | role      | writer | requestedStatus | currentStatus | statusMessage | default | home  | constituents |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| "movies" | "standard" | ["films", "motion pictures"] | "read-write" | "localhost:7687" | "primary" | TRUE   | "online"        | "online"      | ""            | FALSE   | FALSE | []           |
| "neo4j"  | "standard" | []                           | "read-write" | "localhost:7687" | "primary" | TRUE   | "online"        | "online"      | ""            | TRUE    | TRUE  | []           |
| "system" | "system"   | []                           | "read-write" | "localhost:7687" | "primary" | TRUE   | "online"        | "online"      | ""            | FALSE   | FALSE | []           |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Databases hosted on servers that are offline are also returned by the SHOW DATABASES command. For such databases, the address column displays NULL, the currentStatus column displays unknown, and the statusMessage displays Server is unavailable.

Show detailed information for a particular database

In this example, the detailed information for a particular database can be displayed using the command SHOW DATABASE name YIELD *. When a YIELD clause is provided, the full set of columns is returned.

Query

SHOW DATABASE movies YIELD *

Result

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| name     | type       | aliases                      | access       | databaseID                                                         | serverID                               | address          | role      | writer | requestedStatus | currentStatus | statusMessage | default | home  | currentPrimariesCount | currentSecondariesCount | requestedPrimariesCount | requestedSecondariesCount | creationTime             | lastStartTime            | lastStopTime | store                | lastCommittedTxn | replicationLag | constituents | defaultLanguage | options |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| "movies" | "standard" | ["films", "motion pictures"] | "read-write" | "C066801F54B44EA1520F0FE392B4005AABF42D8DD0A5FD09969B955575D287D5" | "e3063985-e2f4-4728-824b-a7d53779667a" | "localhost:7687" | "primary" | TRUE   | "online"        | "online"      | ""            | FALSE   | FALSE | 1                     | 0                       | 1                       | 0                         | 2023-08-14T10:01:29.074Z | 2023-08-14T10:01:29.074Z | NULL         | "record-aligned-1.1" | 3                | 0              | []           | "CYPHER 5"      | {}      |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Show the number of databases

The number of distinct databases can be seen using YIELD and a count() function in the RETURN clause.

Query

SHOW DATABASES YIELD name
RETURN count(DISTINCT name) AS count

Result

+-------+
| count |
+-------+
| 3     |
+-------+

By specifying the name column and sorting the results by distinct name, only the number of distinct databases are counted, not the number of allocations of databases in a clustered environment.

Show the default database

The default database can be seen using the command SHOW DEFAULT DATABASE.

Query

SHOW DEFAULT DATABASE

Result

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| name    | type       | aliases | access       | address          | role      | writer | requestedStatus | currentStatus | statusMessage | constituents |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| "neo4j" | "standard" | []      | "read-write" | "localhost:7687" | "primary" | TRUE   | "online"        | "online"      | ""            | []           |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Show the home database

The home database for the current user can be seen using the command SHOW HOME DATABASE.

Query

SHOW HOME DATABASE

Result

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| name    | type       | aliases | access       | address          | role      | writer | requestedStatus | currentStatus | statusMessage | constituents |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| "neo4j" | "standard" | []      | "read-write" | "localhost:7687" | "primary" | TRUE   | "online"        | "online"      | ""            | []           |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Filter the listed databases

It is also possible to filter and sort the results by using YIELD, ORDER BY, and WHERE.

Query

SHOW DATABASES YIELD name, currentStatus, requestedStatus
ORDER BY currentStatus
WHERE name CONTAINS 'o'

In this example:

The number of columns returned has been reduced with the YIELD clause.
The order of the returned columns has been changed.
The results are ordered by the currentStatus column using ORDER BY.
The results have been filtered to only show database names containing 'o'.

It is also possible to use SKIP and LIMIT to paginate the results.

Result

+--------------------------------------------+
| name     | currentStatus | requestedStatus |
+--------------------------------------------+
| "movies" | "online"      | "online"        |
| "neo4j"  | "online"      | "online"        |
+--------------------------------------------+

Show the default Cypher version of a database
Introduced in 2025.06

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 2. Result
name	defaultLanguage
`"movies"`	`"CYPHER 5"`
`"neo4j"`	`"CYPHER 25"`
`"system"`	`"CYPHER 25"`
Rows: 3

List databases

Syntax

SHOW DATABASES output

Database states

Show all available databases

Show detailed information for a particular database

Show the number of databases

Show the default database

Show the home database

Filter the listed databases

Show the default Cypher version of a databaseIntroduced in 2025.06

`SHOW DATABASES` output

Show the default Cypher version of a database
Introduced in 2025.06