# opencypher/openCypher

Specification of the Cypher property graph query language

Repository: https://github.com/opencypher/openCypher
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/opencypher
Homepage: http://www.opencypher.org
Language: Gherkin
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: declarative, property, graph, query, language, standard, tck, grammar, cypher, database, specification
Last push: 2026-03-20T10:24:14+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 71/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 73, release rhythm 51, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4226, "days_push": 166, "days_rel": 166, "gap_med": 172.5, "n_releases_24m": 3}
- flags: no_readme
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1022, forks 165 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:15.938436+00:00)

## What it is
openCypher is an open-source specification of the Cypher property graph query language, including grammar, TCK test suites, and language resources for implementers. It is evolving incrementally toward ISO/IEC 39075 GQL, the ISO property graph query language standard.

## Use cases
- implement Cypher query language support in a graph database
- run the Cypher technology compatibility kit against my graph engine
- learn the Cypher grammar and language semantics
- prepare my graph database for the ISO GQL standard
- find the official openCypher specification documents
- report issues or propose changes to the Cypher language spec

## When to choose
- you are building a graph database or graph processing tool that supports Cypher
- you need the authoritative grammar, TCK, and language resources for Cypher
- you want to track the convergence of Cypher toward ISO GQL

## When to avoid
- you need a runnable query engine or driver rather than a specification
- you want a general-purpose graph analytics library
- you need a fully GQL-conformant implementation today, since openCypher only converges incrementally

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: active
- function: parser, documentation, database
- domain: databases, programming-languages
- platform: cross-platform
- tags: cypher, graph-query-language, tck, grammar, gql, specification, property-graph

## Member repositories
- opencypher/openCypher (main) score 71

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:15.938436+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:08:45.575549+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - homepage: http://www.opencypher.org (fetched 2026-08-29T13:08:56.915785+00:00, sha 0da20510e7da)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.