diff --git a/helix-db/src/grammar.pest b/helix-db/src/grammar.pest
index 342f0f71..800943e2 100644
--- a/helix-db/src/grammar.pest
+++ b/helix-db/src/grammar.pest
@@ -18,8 +18,7 @@ field_defs = { (field_def ~ ",")* ~ (field_def ~ ","?)? }
 field_def  = { index? ~ identifier ~ ":" ~ param_type ~ (default)? }
 index= { "INDEX" }
 default = { "DEFAULT" ~  (now | float | integer | boolean | string_literal | none) } 
-// optional = { "OPTIONAL" }
-properties = { "Properties" ~ ":" ~ "{" ~ field_defs? ~ "}" }
+properties = { "Properties" ~ optional_param? ~ ":" ~ "{" ~ field_defs? ~ "}" }
 schema_version = { "schema::" ~ integer }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -231,11 +230,18 @@ mapping_field = { (identifier ~ (":" ~ (anonymous_traversal | evaluates_to_anyth
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 built_in_macro = { mcp_macro | model_macro }
 mcp_macro = { "#[mcp]" }
-
 model_macro = { "#[" ~ "model" ~ "(" ~ model_name ~ ")" ~ "]" }
 model_name = { identifier | string_literal }
 
-
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Match steps
+// ---------------------------------------------------------------------
+match_step = { "MATCH" ~ match_variable? ~ "{" ~ match_statements ~ "}" }
+match_variable = { "|" ~ (identifier | traversal | "_") ~ "|" }
+match_statements = { (match_statement ~ ",")* ~ match_statement ~ ","? }
+match_statement = { match_type ~ "=>" ~ match_value }
+match_type = { identifier_upper ~ "::" ~ identifier_upper  ~ ("(" ~ identifier ~ ")")?}
+match_value = { "{" ~ query_body ~ "}" | traversal | id_traversal | anonymous_traversal | none | identifier  }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Types
@@ -267,4 +273,3 @@ now              = { "NOW" }
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 WHITESPACE = _{ " " | "\t" | "\n" | "\r" }
 COMMENT    = _{ "//" ~ (!"\n" ~ ANY)* }
-
diff --git a/helix-db/src/helix_engine/traversal_core/ops/util/update.rs b/helix-db/src/helix_engine/traversal_core/ops/util/update.rs
index e79d5188..806bf1d3 100644
--- a/helix-db/src/helix_engine/traversal_core/ops/util/update.rs
+++ b/helix-db/src/helix_engine/traversal_core/ops/util/update.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 use heed3::PutFlags;
-
 use crate::{
     helix_engine::{
         traversal_core::{traversal_iter::RwTraversalIterator, traversal_value::TraversalValue},
diff --git a/hql-tests/tests/adding_chunk_to_memory/schema.hx b/hql-tests/tests/adding_chunk_to_memory/schema.hx
index 585d8641..6faefc8a 100644
--- a/hql-tests/tests/adding_chunk_to_memory/schema.hx
+++ b/hql-tests/tests/adding_chunk_to_memory/schema.hx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 // User node - represents users of the memory system with email indexing
 N::User {
-    email: String,
+    email?: String,
     name: String,
     created_at: String,
     updated_at: String,