Graphify-Labs/graphify · error · ImportError

neo4j driver not installed. Run: pip install neo4j

Error message

neo4j driver not installed. Run: pip install neo4j

What it means

Raised by graphify's Neo4j exporter when the `neo4j` Python package cannot be imported. The exporter is optional infrastructure tooling: it pushes the built graph to a running Neo4j instance via the Bolt driver using MERGE upserts, so the driver is imported lazily inside the function and a missing install is reported with a pip hint.

Source

Thrown at graphify/exporters/graphdb.py:26

def push_to_neo4j(
    G: nx.Graph,
    uri: str,
    user: str,
    password: str,
    communities: dict[int, list[str]] | None = None,
) -> dict[str, int]:
    """Push graph directly to a running Neo4j instance via the Python driver.

    Requires: pip install neo4j

    Uses MERGE so re-running is safe - nodes and edges are upserted, not duplicated.
    Returns a dict with counts of nodes and edges pushed.
    """
    try:
        from neo4j import GraphDatabase
    except ImportError as e:
        raise ImportError(
            "neo4j driver not installed. Run: pip install neo4j"
        ) from e

    node_community = _node_community_map(communities) if communities else {}

    def _safe_rel(relation: str) -> str:
        return re.sub(r"[^A-Z0-9_]", "_", relation.upper().replace(" ", "_").replace("-", "_")) or "RELATED_TO"

    def _safe_label(label: str) -> str:
        """Sanitize a Neo4j node label to prevent Cypher injection."""
        sanitized = re.sub(r"[^A-Za-z0-9_]", "", label)
        return sanitized if sanitized else "Entity"

    driver = GraphDatabase.driver(uri, auth=(user, password))
    nodes_pushed = 0
    edges_pushed = 0

    with driver.session() as session:

View on GitHub (pinned to 7fe58b0b0f)

Solutions

1. pip install neo4j
2. If you installed the legacy package, uninstall it first: `pip uninstall neo4j-driver && pip install neo4j`
3. Verify with `python -c "from neo4j import GraphDatabase"` in the same interpreter/venv that runs graphify
4. Confirm a Neo4j server is reachable afterwards; the driver install only fixes the import, connection errors come next

Example fix

# before
from graphify.exporters.graphdb import push_to_neo4j
push_to_neo4j(G, uri="bolt://localhost:7687")  # ImportError

# after
pip install neo4j
push_to_neo4j(G, uri="bolt://localhost:7687")

import importlib.util

if importlib.util.find_spec("neo4j") is None:
    raise SystemExit("Install the neo4j driver first: pip install neo4j")

from graphify.exporters.graphdb import push_to_neo4j
push_to_neo4j(G, uri="bolt://localhost:7687")

try:
    push_to_neo4j(G, uri=uri)
except ImportError as e:
    if "neo4j" in str(e):
        log.warning("neo4j export skipped: %s", e)
    else:
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: Calling the push-to-Neo4j export function (graphdb exporter entry point, e.g. `graphify export --neo4j ...`) in an environment where `from neo4j import GraphDatabase` raises ImportError.

Common situations: Using the graphdb exporter from the base pip install without the graphdb extra; running in a locked-down CI image; a typo'd manual install (`pip install neo4j-driver`, which is the legacy package name).

Related errors

• falkordb SDK not installed. Run: pip install falkordb
• matplotlib not installed. Run: pip install matplotlib
• tree-sitter is not installed. Run: pip install 'tree-sitter>
• the '{pkg}' package is required for this backend but is not
• the 'anthropic' package is required for this backend but is

AI-assisted analysis of Graphify-Labs/graphify@7fe58b0b0f (2026-08-14). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f60a6be8cfe4792e. Report an issue: GitHub.