UNWIND

The UNWIND clause transforms a list into individual rows, creating one row for each element in the list.

Behavior

  • Each element in the list becomes a separate row
  • The order of rows preserves the original list order
  • Useful for processing lists, creating multiple entities, or parameter expansion

Basic Example

Create a node with an array property:

GRAPH.QUERY DEMO_GRAPH "CREATE (p {array:[1,2,3]})"

Unwind the array into individual rows:

GRAPH.QUERY DEMO_GRAPH "MATCH (p) UNWIND p.array AS y RETURN y"

Result:

y
1
2
3

Practical Examples

Create Multiple Nodes from a List 

GRAPH.QUERY DEMO_GRAPH
"UNWIND ['Alice', 'Bob', 'Charlie'] AS name
CREATE (:Person {name: name})"

Process Nested Data 

GRAPH.QUERY DEMO_GRAPH
"WITH [{name: 'Alice', age: 30}, {name: 'Bob', age: 25}] AS people
UNWIND people AS person
CREATE (:Person {name: person.name, age: person.age})"

Combine with Other Clauses 

GRAPH.QUERY DEMO_GRAPH
"MATCH (p:Person)
WITH collect(p.name) AS names
UNWIND names AS name
RETURN name ORDER BY name"