dbprint skills - install guide
This directory contains a markdown skill that teaches an AI agent to open a committed print before it queries a database: which tool answers which question, and what the number it gets back does and does not cover. It names the MCP tools, and falls back to dbprint context in a shell where no server is connected.
When to use this vs. the MCP server
| Surface | Use when |
|---|---|
| Skill (this directory) | The client supports markdown rules / skills / custom instructions. It states when to read the print before querying the database, and how to read a scoped or inferred number — guidance no tool description can carry. |
MCP server (dbprint serve) | The client supports MCP and you want the tools themselves: native tool / resource primitives, multi-connection routing, and the token-budgeted get_table_context. |
They are complements rather than alternatives — the skill tells an agent which tool to call, the server provides the tools. Installed together, the skill's tool names resolve; installed alone, its shell route still works.
Installing in Claude Code
- Copy the file to
.claude/skills/dbprint/SKILL.mdin the project root, or to~/.claude/skills/dbprint/SKILL.mdto install it for every project. - Claude Code surfaces it as a discoverable skill when the user asks database-related questions.
Installing in Cursor
- Add the contents of
dbprint.mdto your project's.cursor/rules/directory (Cursor reads rules per project). - Alternatively, paste it into the global Cursor rules under Settings -> Rules for AI.
Installing in Cline
- Open Cline settings and locate the Custom Instructions section.
- Paste the contents of
dbprint.md. Cline applies it on every session.
The annotation skill
dbprint-annotate.md is a second skill, for writing a print rather than reading it: it has an agent write description.md and the annotation files from the code that writes each table and read-only queries, put every checkable statement into claims, and finish by running dbprint annotate <table> --check until no annotation finding remains. dbprint annotate <table> prints the same steps with one table's context and open questions attached, ready to pipe into an agent CLI. Install it the same way as the reading skill, in a dbprint-annotate skill directory of its own in Claude Code, or beside dbprint.md in any other client. It needs read-only database access, which the reading skill does not.
Installing in any other client
Most agent clients accept markdown instructions in some shape (system prompt, custom instructions, project rules). The skill file is small and self-contained, and names nothing outside a print and the commands that read one, so it works in any client unchanged.
The tools it points at are specified in ../../MCP.md; serve them with dbprint serve.