Tutorial: Visualize your graph with G.V()

Audience

Developers who have completed the Java or Python basics tutorial.

Duration

This tutorial should take between 15 and 20 minutes.

Objectives

By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to:

• Connect G.V() to a running Aerospike Graph Service instance.
• Execute Gremlin queries and visualize results as interactive graph diagrams.
• Inspect vertex and edge properties through the G.V() interface.
• Apply visual styling to distinguish between vertex types and transaction amounts.
• Use interactive exploration features to discover graph relationships.

This tutorial shows you how to use G.V(), a dedicated Gremlin IDE, to visualize and explore graph data stored in Aerospike Graph Service (AGS). You will connect G.V() to your running AGS instance, execute Gremlin queries, and explore the relationships between users, accounts, and transactions visually.

Prerequisites

This tutorial builds on either the Graph and Java basics or the Graph and Python basics tutorial. Both tutorials create the same transaction graph data model, so you can follow this visualization tutorial after completing either one.

If you’re starting fresh, complete one of those tutorials first, or follow the data loading instructions in this tutorial to set up a sample dataset.

Visualizing graph data with G.V()

G.V() is an interactive graph visualization tool that connects directly to AGS over WebSocket. Unlike command-line query output, G.V() displays vertices and edges as an interactive network diagram. You can click nodes to expand relationships, hover to view properties, and run queries to explore specific patterns.

Graph visualization helps you:

• Understand the structure of your data at a glance
• Identify patterns and anomalies that are difficult to spot in tabular output
• Debug and refine Gremlin queries by seeing results rendered in real time
• Communicate data relationships to stakeholders who are not familiar with query languages

Exploring your transaction graph

Building on the Java or Python basics tutorial, you will connect G.V() to the same AGS instance running in Docker. The graph contains users, accounts, and transaction relationships.

With G.V(), you can:

• View the entire graph or filter to specific vertex types
• Execute the same Gremlin queries from the Java or Python example and see results as a visual network
• Expand nodes to discover connected vertices without writing additional queries
• Inspect vertex and edge properties through the G.V() interface
• Apply visual styling to distinguish between vertex types (users versus accounts) and transaction amounts

Checklist

• I’m ready to get started!