Skip to main content

Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.helix-db.com/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

HelixQL is deprecated in HelixDB v2. Queries are now written with the Rust DSL and dispatched as JSON — see the Querying guide. This section is kept as a reference for legacy HelixQL projects.
For the complete documentation index optimized for AI agents, see llms.txt.

​
Update Nodes using UPDATE  

Modify properties on existing elements. 
::UPDATE({<properties_list>})

​
Example 1: Updating a person’s profile

QUERY UpdateUser(user_id: ID, new_name: String, new_age: U32) =>
    updated <- N<Person>(user_id)::UPDATE({
        name: new_name,
        age: new_age
    })
    RETURN updated

QUERY CreatePerson(name: String, age: U32) =>
    person <- AddN<Person>({
        name: name,
        age: age,
    })
    RETURN person
You only need to include the fields you want to change. Any omitted properties stay the same.
Here’s how to run the query using the SDKs or curl 
from helix.client import Client

client = Client(local=True, port=6969)

alice = client.query("CreatePerson", {
    "name": "Alice",
    "age": 25,
})[0]["person"]

updated = client.query("UpdateUser", {
    "user_id": alice["id"],
    "new_name": "Alice Johnson",
    "new_age": 26,
})[0]["updated"]

print("Updated user:", updated)
The following examples would not work as the types don’t match
QUERY UpdateUser(userID: ID) =>
    // No email field in Person node
    updatedUsers <- N<Person>(userID)::UPDATE({ email: "john@example.com" })

    // Age as string instead of U32
    updatedUsers <- N<Person>(userID)::UPDATE({ age: "Hello" })

    RETURN updatedUsers