motherduckdb-agent-skills

22 skills for coding agents working with MotherDuck: connect applications, query real data with DuckDB SQL, build Dives and Flights, and deliver analytics pipelines and apps.

Each skill includes focused instructions and, where useful, detailed references and runnable examples. Installing the skills does not configure a MotherDuck connection or MCP server.

Install

Choose one route for your agent. Run commands beginning with / inside the agent; run the others in your terminal.

Agent	Install
Claude Code / GitHub Copilot CLI	/plugin marketplace add motherduckdb/agent-skills, then /plugin install motherduck-skills@motherduck-skills
Codex	codex plugin marketplace add motherduckdb/agent-skills, then open /plugins and install MotherDuck Skills
Gemini CLI	gemini extensions install https://github.com/motherduckdb/agent-skills
Cursor / VS Code / other supported agents	Use the Skills CLI below

The Skills CLI needs Git and Node.js 22.20+ (package requirements). No global CLI installation is needed:

npx -y skills add motherduckdb/agent-skills

Select the skills and agents interactively. To install the whole catalog for Cursor:

npx -y skills add motherduckdb/agent-skills --agent cursor --skill '*' --yes --global

Use --agent github-copilot for VS Code/GitHub Copilot, or another supported agent name. Omit --global for a project-scoped install.

See the install matrix for alternatives, updates, verification, and manual installation. Harness support documents the discovery paths and plugin manifests.

Use the Skills

Ask for the task directly, or name a skill from the catalog:

Use motherduck-connect to choose the connection path for this app.

Explore my MotherDuck workspace and build a sales dashboard as a Dive.

Plan a migration to MotherDuck with validation and rollback steps.

For live work, configure MotherDuck MCP or an authenticated database client. Supply credentials through your normal secret or environment setup, never in prompts or committed files.

Start with the skill that matches the task. Reuse established connection and schema context; load supporting references only when needed. The skills favor DuckDB SQL, live schema discovery, native MotherDuck storage by default, and backend credentials for customer-facing apps.

Skills Overview

Utility skills handle individual operations; workflow skills cover specific MotherDuck capabilities; use-case skills combine them for end-to-end work.

Skill	Layer	Use it for
motherduck-connect	Utility	Connections, authentication, client selection, and read scaling
motherduck-cli	Utility	Terminal queries and file-based Dive/Flight workflows
motherduck-explore	Utility	Databases, schemas, shares, and sample data
motherduck-query	Utility	Writing, executing, and optimizing analytical SQL
motherduck-duckdb-sql	Utility	DuckDB syntax and MotherDuck feature support
motherduck-rest-api	Utility	Service accounts, tokens, Ducklings, and embed sessions
motherduck-load-data	Workflow	Bulk ingestion from files, storage, or external systems
motherduck-model-data	Workflow	Analytical schemas and transformation models
motherduck-manage-guides	Workflow	Business definitions and reusable warehouse context
motherduck-share-data	Workflow	Share audiences, grants, table filters, and refresh policy
motherduck-create-dive	Workflow	Creating, editing, publishing, sharing, or embedding Dives
motherduck-create-flight	Workflow	Running and scheduling Python jobs on MotherDuck
motherduck-design-dive	Workflow	Dive layout, responsive behavior, themes, and accessibility
motherduck-ducklake	Workflow	DuckLake storage choices and operations
motherduck-security-governance	Workflow	Permissions, isolation, residency, and compliance
motherduck-pricing-roi	Workflow	Costs, plan fit, and ROI
motherduck-build-cfa-app	Use-case	Customer-facing analytics with tenant isolation
motherduck-build-dashboard	Use-case	A dashboard's analytical story, metrics, and section queries
motherduck-build-data-pipeline	Use-case	Ingestion-to-serving pipelines
motherduck-migrate-to-motherduck	Use-case	Migration, reconciliation, cutover, and rollback
motherduck-enable-self-serve-analytics	Use-case	Governed analytics for internal teams
motherduck-partner-delivery	Use-case	Repeatable delivery across client engagements

Browse the source skills or the machine-readable catalog.

Troubleshooting

• Skill not discovered: check that it is installed for the agent you are using, reload the agent, and name the skill explicitly.
• Live queries fail: verify the MCP server or database connection and its credentials. Skills provide guidance, not account access.
• PostgreSQL-only syntax: use motherduck-duckdb-sql. PostgreSQL wire compatibility does not change the SQL dialect.

Contributing

Edit source skills under skills/; the plugins/ directories contain generated packages. See CONTRIBUTING.md for checks and package synchronization, skill authoring for conventions, and ARCHITECTURE.md for catalog rules.

Releases use the release process and scripts/bump_version.py; do not edit version numbers by hand.

Resources

• MotherDuck documentation
• DuckDB documentation
• Agent Skills specification

License

MIT.