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gitbuda merged 4 commits into from
Mar 11, 2026
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SHOW TRANSACTIONS update #1545

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andrejtonev Feb 27, 2026
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update show transaction
andrejtonev Mar 10, 2026
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Update transaction table example in documentation
andrejtonev Mar 11, 2026
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snapshot tremination warning
andrejtonev Mar 11, 2026
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108 changes: 89 additions & 19 deletions pages/fundamentals/transactions.mdx
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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -83,25 +83,96 @@ constraints upon the execution of the final query in the transaction.
Memgraph can return information about running transactions and allow you to
terminate them.

### Show running transactions
### Show transactions

To get information about running transaction execute the following query:
To get information about all active transactions execute:

```cypher
SHOW TRANSACTIONS;
```

Each row in the result represents one transaction (or one in-progress snapshot
creation) and contains five columns:

| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `username` | `String` | The user who started the transaction, or `""` if authentication is disabled. |
| `transaction_id` | `String` | Unique numeric identifier of the transaction. Use this value with `TERMINATE TRANSACTIONS`. |
| `query` | `List[String]` | Queries executed within the transaction so far. |
| `status` | `String` | Lifecycle phase of the transaction: `running`, `committing`, or `aborting`. Snapshot rows always show `running`. |
| `metadata` | `Map` | Metadata supplied by the client when the transaction was opened. For in-progress snapshots this contains progress details (see below). |

```copy=false
memgraph> SHOW TRANSACTIONS;
+----------+------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+--------------+----------+
| username | transaction_id | query | status | metadata |
+----------+------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+--------------+----------+
| "" | "9223372036854794885" | ["UNWIND range(1,100) AS i CREATE(:L{p:i});"] | "committing" | {} |
| "" | "9223372036854794896" | ["SHOW TRANSACTIONS"] | "running" | {} |
+----------+------------------------+-----------------------------------------------+--------------+----------+
```

#### Filter by status

You can limit the output to transactions in a specific lifecycle phase by
naming one or more statuses before the `TRANSACTIONS` keyword:

```cypher
SHOW RUNNING TRANSACTIONS;
SHOW COMMITTING TRANSACTIONS;
SHOW ABORTING TRANSACTIONS;
SHOW RUNNING, COMMITTING TRANSACTIONS;
```

When multiple statuses are listed (comma-separated) the result is their union —
rows matching any of the requested statuses are returned.
Omitting the status list is equivalent to requesting all three statuses.

#### Snapshot progress rows

While a snapshot is being created (triggered periodically, on exit, or
manually with `CREATE SNAPSHOT`) a synthetic row is included in the result
with `transaction_id` set to `"snapshot"`. The `metadata` map for these
rows contains:

| Key | Description |
|---|---|
| `phase` | Current phase of snapshot creation: `EDGES`, `VERTICES`, `INDICES`, `CONSTRAINTS`, or `FINALIZING`. |
| `items_done` | Number of objects serialized in the current phase so far. |
| `items_total` | Total number of objects expected in the current phase. |
| `elapsed_ms` | Milliseconds elapsed since the snapshot started. |
| `db_name` | Name of the database whose snapshot is being created. |

```copy=false
memgraph> SHOW TRANSACTIONS;
+---------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------------------+----------------+
| username | transaction_id | query | metadata |
+---------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------------------+----------------+
| "" | "9223372036854794885" | ["CALL infinite.get() YIELD * RETURN *;"] | {} |
| "" | "9223372036854794896" | ["SHOW TRANSACTIONS"] | {} |
+---------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------------------+----------------+
+----------+----------------+-----------------------------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| username | transaction_id | query | status | metadata |
+----------+----------------+-----------------------------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| "" | "snapshot" | ["CREATE SNAPSHOT"] | "running" | {phase: "VERTICES", items_done: 142000, items_total: 500000, ... |
+----------+----------------+-----------------------------+-----------+------------------------------------------------------------------+
```

By default, the users can see and terminate only the transactions they have
<Callout type="info">
Snapshot progress values are read from independent atomic counters and are not
captured as a single consistent snapshot. `items_done`, `items_total`, and
`phase` may reflect slightly different points in time, so treat them as
best-effort estimates rather than exact figures. In particular, `items_done`
may briefly read as `0` when the phase transitions, and `elapsed_ms` may be
absent if the snapshot started between the phase check and the time read.
</Callout>

<Callout type="warning">
Snapshot rows cannot be terminated. Passing `"snapshot"` to `TERMINATE
TRANSACTIONS` will have no effect — background snapshot creation runs outside
the normal transaction lifecycle and cannot be interrupted via Cypher.
</Callout>

Because snapshot rows always have `status` `"running"`, they are suppressed
when you use `SHOW COMMITTING TRANSACTIONS` or `SHOW ABORTING TRANSACTIONS`.

#### Permissions

By default, users can see and terminate only the transactions they have
started. For all other transactions, the user must have the
[**TRANSACTION_MANAGEMENT** privilege](/database-management/authentication-and-authorization/role-based-access-control) which the admin
assigns with the following query:
Expand All @@ -117,11 +188,11 @@ using the following query:
REVOKE TRANSACTION_MANAGEMENT FROM user;
```

<Callout type="info">
<Callout type="info">
When Memgraph is first started there is only one explicit
super-admin user that has all the privileges, including the
**TRANSACTION_MANAGEMENT** privilege. The super-admin user is able to see all
transactions.
transactions.
</Callout>

If you are connecting to Memgraph using a client, you can pass additional
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -213,18 +284,17 @@ Managing transactions is done by establishing a new connection to the database.

**Show and terminate transactions**

The output of the `SHOW TRANSACTIONS` command shows that a query is
The output of the `SHOW TRANSACTIONS` command shows that a query is
currently being run as part of the transaction ID "9223372036854794885".

```copy=false

memgraph> SHOW TRANSACTIONS;
+---------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------------------+----------------+
| username | transaction_id | query | metadata |
+---------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------------------+----------------+
| "" | "9223372036854794885" | ["CALL infinite.get() YIELD * RETURN *;"] | {} |
| "" | "9223372036854794896" | ["SHOW TRANSACTIONS"] | {} |
+---------------+-----------------------------+-------------------------------------------+----------------+
+----------+------------------------+-------------------------------------------+-----------+----------+
| username | transaction_id | query | status | metadata |
+----------+------------------------+-------------------------------------------+-----------+----------+
| "" | "9223372036854794885" | ["CALL infinite.get() YIELD * RETURN *;"] | "running" | {} |
| "" | "9223372036854794896" | ["SHOW TRANSACTIONS"] | "running" | {} |
+----------+------------------------+-------------------------------------------+-----------+----------+
```

To terminate the transaction, run the following query:
Expand Down