Support for ISO/IEC 39075:2024 (GQL) in Dgraph

Hi there,

I’ve been working a lot with graph data lately and tried out different solutions like Neo4j and Apache AGE for Postgres. Currently, I’m building a Go-based project to process large-scale graph data for mapping Dutch addresses. That’s how I came across Dgraph — I followed the quickstart guide and was impressed with the setup and performance.

One thing I noticed: mutations rely on RDF N-Quads (spec), while queries are done using GraphQL. It works fine in practice, but the split between input and query formats adds a bit of cognitive overhead when working at scale.

In my current role at a larger enterprise organization in the Netherlands, there’s a strong focus on aligning with international standards, especially ISO standards. With the recent publication of ISO/IEC 39075:2024 (Information technology — Database languages — GQL), I see a significant opportunity for Dgraph to appeal more directly to enterprise use cases. Supporting GQL could help adoption in organizations where ISO compliance, interoperability, and vendor neutrality are key decision factors.

I’m aware there have been some discussions in the Dgraph community about GQL support. For example, in a forum thread from April 2024, a team member mentioned being aware of GQL and noted that community priorities would play a big role in whether it gets implemented.

Just wondering if there are any plans to explore ISO GQL support more concretely — and if it might be considered for the roadmap?

Thanks for all your work on Dgraph — it’s a great project and I’m excited to see where it goes.

• Discuss Dgraph. (2024, April 17). Will Dgraph support GQL, the ISO standard for Graph Query Language?
  Retrieved March 30, 2025, from https://discuss.hypermode.com/t/will-dgraph-support-gql-the-iso-standard-for-graph-query-language/19282.
  Archived at Wayback Machine

• Hypermode. (n.d.). Quickstart - Dgraph.
  Retrieved March 30, 2025, from https://docs.hypermode.com/dgraph/quickstart

• International Organization for Standardization. (2023). ISO/IEC 39075:2023 — Information technology — Database languages — GQL (Graph Query Language).
  https://www.iso.org/standard/76120.html

• Neo4j. (2024, April 17a). Cypher & GQL - The ISO Standard for Graphs Has Arrived.
  Retrieved March 30, 2025, from https://neo4j.com/blog/cypher-and-gql/cypher-path-gql/.
  Archived at Wayback Machine

• Neo4j. (2024, April 17b). ISO GQL: A Defining Moment in Database Innovation.
  Retrieved March 30, 2025, from https://neo4j.com/blog/cypher-and-gql/gql-international-standard/

• New Stack, The. (2024, April 25). GQL: A New ISO Standard for Querying Graph Databases.
  Retrieved March 30, 2025, from https://thenewstack.io/gql-a-new-iso-standard-for-querying-graph-databases/.
  Archived at Wayback Machine

• W3C. (2014, February 25). RDF 1.1 N-Quads.
  Retrieved March 30, 2025, from https://www.w3.org/TR/n-quads/.
  Archived at Wayback Machine

Start by reviewing Dgraph’s existing query and mutation interfaces, then read the linked community discussion about GQL support. The issue does not name implementation files, tests, or a defined compatibility scope; done would require an agreed roadmap and implementation plan for ISO/IEC 39075:2024 support.