Naming Conventions

Names in Ultipa GQL for graphs, graph types, node/edge types, labels, properties, constraints, indexes, and variables share the same basic rules.

Identifier Rules

• Use only English letters (A-Z, a-z), digits (0-9), and underscores (_).
• Must start with a letter. Names that start with __ (two underscores) are reserved for system use; do not use them.
• Other characters (such as Chinese or accented letters) are not allowed.
• Do not use reserved words. For node/edge types, labels, properties, and constraints, you can wrap the name in backticks (for example, `match`) to bypass this restriction. Graph names and graph type names do not support backtick escaping — pick a different name.

Per-Object Rules

Beyond the base rules, each kind of object has its own length limit and uniqueness scope:

Backtick Escaping

Backticks help the parser accept a name that conflicts with a reserved word, but a separate validation step still applies for most identifiers. The result depends on the kind of name:

• Constraint and index names: backticks fully unlock non-standard characters like hyphens or spaces (e.g., `pk-user`, `unique email idx`). These names skip the post-parse identifier check.
• Node/edge type, label, and property names: backticks let you write a reserved word (e.g., `match`), but the post-parse validator still requires the name body to be A-Z, a-z, 0-9, or _. Hyphens, spaces, and non-ASCII characters are rejected even inside backticks.
• Graph names and graph type names: backticks are not supported at all. CREATE GRAPH `match` produces a syntax error. Choose a name that is a valid bare identifier and not a reserved word.

The backticks are not part of the stored name, they are only a parsing aid.

Examples:

GQL
-- ✓ Constraint name with a hyphen
CREATE CONSTRAINT `pk-user` FOR (n:User) REQUIRE n.id IS KEY

-- ✓ Reserved word as a label
MATCH (n:`match`) RETURN n

Not supported:

GQL
-- ✗ Hyphen in a label
CREATE GRAPH g { NODE `my-label` ({name STRING}) }

-- ✗ Backticks not accepted on graph names at all
CREATE GRAPH `match`