`percentilecont`

Generic Description

percentilecont returns an interpolated continuous percentile value over the rows currently grouped by Cypher. Documenting it separately matters because aggregate placement changes row grain, grouping behavior, and whether state/merge forms are valid.

Simple example:

MATCH (d:Document)
RETURN percentilecont(properties(d).prize, 0.5) AS value

Consumer-Level Explanation

Use percentilecont when the graph pattern has already selected the row grain and the next step is a trustworthy metric, not another traversal. Keep the aggregate in Cypher when planner visibility, grouped execution, materialized aggregate views, or assistant-authored query validation matter.

More Detailed Explanation

percentilecont operates after MATCH, WHERE, WITH, procedure output, or document/map projection has shaped rows. For planner tooling the important distinction is whether this page documents a final aggregate, a state producer, or a state merger. Final aggregates return business-facing values; state functions return execution-facing summaries; merge functions combine those summaries and should not be treated as ordinary scalar math.

Advanced Example

This example puts percentilecont after graph matching and time bucketing so the aggregate summarizes an explicit business grain rather than an accidental stream of rows.

MATCH (u:User)-[e:VIEWED]->(d:Document)
TIME e.ts BETWEEN datetime('2025-01-01T00:00:00Z') AND datetime('2025-02-01T00:00:00Z')
WITH date_trunc('day', e.ts) AS day_bucket, d
RETURN day_bucket,
       percentilecont(properties(d).prize, 0.5) AS metric_value
ORDER BY day_bucket

Real Use Cases

Real Limitations And Tradeoffs