Tutorial: Create your first graphs in Kusto Query Language

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Applies to: ✅ Microsoft Fabric ✅ Azure Data Explorer ✅ Azure Monitor ✅ Microsoft Sentinel

Graph semantics in Kusto enables you to model and query data as interconnected networks, making it intuitive to analyze complex relationships like organizational hierarchies, social networks, and attack paths. Unlike traditional relational queries that rely on joins, graphs use direct relationships between entities to traverse connections efficiently.

In this tutorial, you:

• Create a transient graph using the make-graph operator
• Query graphs to find relationships using graph-match
• Build persistent graph models for reusable analysis
• Compare transient versus persistent graph approaches

If you don't have an Azure Data Explorer cluster, create a free cluster before you begin.

Prerequisites

• A Microsoft account or Microsoft Entra user identity to sign in to the help cluster

• A Fabric workspace with a Microsoft Fabric-enabled capacity

Access your query environment

Navigate to your Microsoft Fabric workspace and open a KQL database to run the queries.

Create a transient graph with organizational data

Create your first graph using sample organizational data. Transient graphs are created dynamically during query execution using the make-graph operator, which makes them ideal for ad-hoc analysis and exploration.

You'll work with a simple company structure where employees report to managers. This organizational hierarchy provides an intuitive example for understanding graph relationships:

Create the organizational graph structure using employee and reporting relationship data:

// Create sample employee data
let employees = datatable(name:string, role:string, age:long) 
[ 
  "Alice", "CEO", 45,  
  "Bob", "Engineering Manager", 35,  
  "Carol", "Marketing Manager", 38,  
  "Dave", "Developer", 28,  
  "Eve", "Developer", 26,
  "Frank", "Marketing Specialist", 30
]; 
// Create reporting relationships
let reports = datatable(employee:string, manager:string) 
[ 
  "Bob", "Alice",  
  "Carol", "Alice",  
  "Dave", "Bob",
  "Eve", "Bob",
  "Frank", "Carol"
]; 
// Build the graph and explore it
reports 
| make-graph employee --> manager with employees on name 
| graph-to-table nodes 

Output

name	role	age
Alice	CEO	45
Bob	Engineering Manager	35
Carol	Marketing Manager	38
Dave	Developer	28
Eve	Developer	26
Frank	Marketing Specialist	30

Query relationships with graph-match patterns

Use the graph-match operator to find specific patterns in your organizational graph. The graph-match operator searches for relationships and connections within the graph structure.

Find all employees who directly report to Alice by matching the immediate reporting relationship pattern:

let employees = datatable(name:string, role:string, age:long) 
[ 
  "Alice", "CEO", 45,  
  "Bob", "Engineering Manager", 35,  
  "Carol", "Marketing Manager", 38,  
  "Dave", "Developer", 28,  
  "Eve", "Developer", 26,
  "Frank", "Marketing Specialist", 30
]; 
let reports = datatable(employee:string, manager:string) 
[ 
  "Bob", "Alice",  
  "Carol", "Alice",  
  "Dave", "Bob",
  "Eve", "Bob",
  "Frank", "Carol"
]; 
reports 
| make-graph employee --> manager with employees on name 
| graph-match (alice)<-[reports]-(employee)
  where alice.name == "Alice"  
  project employee = employee.name, role = employee.role, age = employee.age

Direct reports output

employee	role	age
Bob	Engineering Manager	35
Carol	Marketing Manager	38

Next, find all employees in Alice's entire organization, including indirect reports, using variable length edges with *1..3 to traverse multiple levels of the hierarchy:

let employees = datatable(name:string, role:string, age:long) 
[ 
  "Alice", "CEO", 45,  
  "Bob", "Engineering Manager", 35,  
  "Carol", "Marketing Manager", 38,  
  "Dave", "Developer", 28,  
  "Eve", "Developer", 26,
  "Frank", "Marketing Specialist", 30
]; 
let reports = datatable(employee:string, manager:string) 
[ 
  "Bob", "Alice",  
  "Carol", "Alice",  
  "Dave", "Bob",
  "Eve", "Bob",
  "Frank", "Carol"
]; 
reports 
| make-graph employee --> manager with employees on name 
| graph-match (alice)<-[reports*1..3]-(employee)
  where alice.name == "Alice"
  project employee = employee.name, role = employee.role, reportingLevels = array_length(reports)

All organization members output

employee	role	reportingLevels
Bob	Engineering Manager	1
Carol	Marketing Manager	1
Dave	Developer	2
Eve	Developer	2
Frank	Marketing Specialist	2

Create a persistent graph model

Note

This feature is currently in public preview. Functionality and syntax are subject to change before General Availability.

Persistent graphs are stored in the database and can be queried repeatedly without rebuilding the graph structure. Create the same organizational structure as a persistent graph for better performance and reusability.

Create functions that return your sample data, and then define a graph model structure:

// Create a function that returns employee data
.create function Employees() {
    datatable(name: string, role: string, age: long)
    [
        "Alice", "CEO", 45,
        "Bob", "Engineering Manager", 35,
        "Carol", "Marketing Manager", 38,
        "Dave", "Developer", 28,
        "Eve", "Developer", 26,
        "Frank", "Marketing Specialist", 30
    ]
}

// Create a function that returns reporting relationships
.create function Reports() {
    datatable(employee: string, manager: string)
    [
        "Bob", "Alice",
        "Carol", "Alice",
        "Dave", "Bob",
        "Eve", "Bob",
        "Frank", "Carol"
    ]
}

Define the graph model with node and edge schemas:

.create-or-alter graph_model OrganizationGraph ```
{
    "Schema": {
        "Nodes": {
            "Employee": {
                "name": "string",
                "role": "string",
                "age": "long"
            }
        },
        "Edges": {
            "ReportsTo": {
            }
        }
    },
    "Definition": {
        "Steps": [
            {
                "Kind": "AddNodes",
                "Query": "Employees()",
                "NodeIdColumn": "name",
                "Labels": ["Employee"]
            },
            {
                "Kind": "AddEdges",
                "Query": "Reports()",
                "SourceColumn": "employee",
                "TargetColumn": "manager",
                "Labels": ["ReportsTo"]
            }
        ]
    }
}
```

Create a graph snapshot to materialize the model into a queryable structure:

.make graph_snapshot OrganizationGraph_v1 from OrganizationGraph

Query your persistent graph

Query the persistent graph using the same patterns as transient graphs. Find all employees who report to Alice:

graph("OrganizationGraph")
| graph-match (alice)<-[reports]-(employee)
  where alice.name == "Alice"
  project employee = employee.name, role = employee.role, age = employee.age

Find all employees in Alice's organization, including indirect reports:

graph("OrganizationGraph")
| graph-match (alice)<-[reports*1..3]-(employee)
  where alice.name == "Alice"
  project employee = employee.name, role = employee.role, reportingLevels = array_length(reports)

Query a specific snapshot version if needed:

graph("OrganizationGraph", "OrganizationGraph_v1")
| graph-match (alice)<-[reports*1..3]-(employee)
  where alice.name == "Alice"
  project employee = employee.name, role = employee.role

Compare transient and persistent graphs

Understanding when to use each approach helps you choose the right method for your analysis needs:

Aspect	Transient Graphs	Persistent Graphs
Creation	make-graph operator during query	.create-or-alter graph_model + .make graph_snapshot
Storage	In-memory during query execution	Stored in database
Reusability	Must rebuild for each query	Query repeatedly without rebuilding
Performance	Good for smaller datasets	Optimized for large, complex graphs
Use cases	Ad-hoc analysis, exploration	Production analytics, repeated queries
Memory limits	Limited by node memory	Handles larger datasets

Clean up resources

If you don't plan to continue using the persistent graph models, delete them with the following commands:

1. Drop the graph model:

   .drop graph_model OrganizationGraph
   

2. Drop the helper functions:

   .drop function Employees
   .drop function Reports
   

The transient graphs are automatically cleaned up when the query completes, so no additional cleanup is needed for those examples.

Next steps

Now that you understand the basics of graph semantics in Kusto, advance to more complex scenarios and optimizations:

Graph best practices

You can also explore these related articles:

• Graph operators reference - Complete guide to all available graph operators
• Graph model management - Deep dive into persistent graph models
• Graph shortest paths - Find optimal paths between entities
• Advanced graph queries - Complex analysis patterns and use cases