CREATE vs MERGE

CREATE always inserts. MERGE upserts. The wrong choice = silent duplicates.

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The single most expensive mistake

CREATE vs MERGE

CREATE always inserts new nodes / relationships. Two runs = two copies.
MERGE runs MATCH-or-CREATE in a single atomic operation. Two runs = one copy.

MERGE supports two side blocks:

ON CREATE SET — only when this is the first time we see it.
ON MATCH SET — only when it already existed.

Rule of thumb: any seeding / loading / sync code should use MERGE. CREATE is for one-shot facts you know don't exist yet (e.g. an audit log entry).

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