Add Node Type

add-node-type

Add a new CartographyNodeSchema (and its CartographyNodeProperties) to a Cartography module. This skill assumes the surrounding module already exists; for end-to-end module creation, see the create-module skill.

Critical rules

1. @dataclass(frozen=True) everywhere, with type annotations on every field (x: PropertyRef = PropertyRef("x")). A missing annotation triggers PropertyRef validation failed.
2. Only the standard schema fields are recognised. Custom fields on CartographyNodeSchema / CartographyRelSchema subclasses are silently ignored — see "Standard fields" below.
3. sub_resource_relationship always points to a tenant-like node (AWSAccount, AzureSubscription, GCPProject, GitHubOrganization, your <Service>Tenant).
4. scoped_cleanup defaults to True. Override to False only for genuinely global data (CVE feeds, public threat intel, public DNS).

Instructions

Step 1 — Required properties

Every node type needs at least:

@dataclass(frozen=True)
class YourNodeProperties(CartographyNodeProperties):
    id: PropertyRef = PropertyRef("id")                                       # REQUIRED
    lastupdated: PropertyRef = PropertyRef("lastupdated", set_in_kwargs=True) # REQUIRED
    # business properties...

PropertyRef parameters:

• First arg: per-record dict key, or kwarg name when set_in_kwargs=True.
• extra_index=True — add a database index for query performance.
• set_in_kwargs=True — value comes from load(..., KWARG=...), not the per-record dict.
• one_to_many=True — value is a list; expand to many edges (see "One-to-many" below).

Step 2 — Schema with sub-resource relationship

@dataclass(frozen=True)
class YourServiceUserSchema(CartographyNodeSchema):
    label: str = "YourServiceUser"
    properties: YourServiceUserNodeProperties = YourServiceUserNodeProperties()
    sub_resource_relationship: YourServiceTenantToUserRel = YourServiceTenantToUserRel()
    other_relationships: OtherRelationships = OtherRelationships([
        YourServiceUserToHumanRel(),
    ])

Step 3 — Pick the right standard fields

CartographyNodeSchema standard fields:

CartographyRelSchema standard fields: target_node_label, target_node_matcher, direction, rel_label, properties. Custom fields do nothing — handle conditional behaviour in transform() by setting fields to None or filtering before load().

Step 4 — Extra labels

Add additional Neo4j labels by importing reusable uppercase constants and wrapping them in ExtraNodeLabels:

from cartography.models.core.nodes import ExtraNodeLabels
from cartography.models.ontology.labels import USER_ACCOUNT

extra_node_labels: ExtraNodeLabels = ExtraNodeLabels([USER_ACCOUNT])

Produces (:YourServiceUser:UserAccount). ExtraNodeLabel is one immutable value type, not a base class for one subclass per label. Label definitions are exported uppercase constants; their description fields are metadata for introspection and generated documentation. Do not rely on class docstrings. ExtraNodeLabels stores the supplied labels as an immutable tuple.

For ontology-driven labels (UserAccount, Tenant, Database, ...) see the enrich-ontology skill.

Step 5 — Decide on scoped_cleanup

Default behaviour scoped_cleanup=True is correct for almost everything: user accounts, infrastructure resources, application assets — anything scoped to a tenant.

Override to False only for genuinely global data with no tenant:

@dataclass(frozen=True)
class VulnerabilitySchema(CartographyNodeSchema):
    label: str = "Vulnerability"
    properties: VulnerabilityNodeProperties = VulnerabilityNodeProperties()
    sub_resource_relationship: None = None
    scoped_cleanup: bool = False

Examples that justify scoped_cleanup=False: CVE databases, threat intel feeds, public certificate transparency logs, global DNS / domain info.

Step 6 — One-to-many

When one source record points to many targets, flatten the IDs in transform() and use one_to_many=True on the relationship matcher:

# transform
def transform_route_tables(route_tables):
    out = []
    for rt in route_tables:
        out.append({
            "id": rt["RouteTableId"],
            "subnet_ids": [a["SubnetId"] for a in rt.get("Associations", []) if "SubnetId" in a],
        })
    return out


# relationship
@dataclass(frozen=True)
class RouteTableToSubnetRel(CartographyRelSchema):
    target_node_label: str = "AWSEC2Subnet"
    target_node_matcher: TargetNodeMatcher = make_target_node_matcher({
        "subnet_id": PropertyRef("subnet_ids",
    })
    direction: LinkDirection = LinkDirection.OUTWARD
    rel_label: str = "ASSOCIATED_WITH"
    properties: RouteTableToSubnetRelProperties = RouteTableToSubnetRelProperties()

Step 7 — Date handling

Neo4j 4+ supports native datetimes and ISO 8601 strings. Pass values through directly — do not convert to epoch milliseconds.

# DO
"created_at": user_data.get("created_at")

# DON'T
"created_at": int(dt_parse.parse(user_data["created_at"]).timestamp() * 1000)

Step 8 — Loading

from cartography.client.core.tx import load

load(neo4j_session, YourServiceTenantSchema(), [{"id": tenant_id}], lastupdated=update_tag)
load(
    neo4j_session,
    YourServiceUserSchema(),
    data,
    lastupdated=update_tag,
    TENANT_ID=tenant_id,
)

Common issues

• PropertyRef validation failed — missing frozen=True or missing type annotation.
• Custom field on a Schema is "ignored" — only standard fields are recognised.
• Cleanup deleting too much / too little — verify scoped_cleanup and common_job_parameters["TENANT_ID"].

For the full troubleshooting list, see the troubleshooting skill.

References (load on demand)

• references/advanced-properties.md — conditional labels (ECR images / attestations), MatchLink targets, deeper sub-resource rationale, ECS example.