explore
Explore MotherDuck Data
Use this skill when you need to discover what databases, tables, and columns exist in a MotherDuck account; preview and sample data; understand schemas and data types; find shared databases; or search the data catalog.
Prerequisites
- Establish a MotherDuck connection first via
connect.
Default Posture
- Explore top-down: databases, then tables/views, then columns, then statistics, then sample rows.
- Use fully qualified table names once more than one database is attached.
- Check shared databases before concluding that data is unavailable.
- Use MCP exploration tools when available because they return structured results faster than ad hoc SQL.
Workflow
- List databases in scope.
- List tables and views in the target database.
- Inspect columns, types, nullability, and comments before writing queries.
- Run
SUMMARIZEon important tables to understand ranges, cardinality, and null rates. - Preview rows and only then move into analytical SQL or modeling work.
Open Next
references/EXPLORATION_PLAYBOOK.mdfor the full SQL workflow, share discovery patterns, MCP tool guidance, and common exploration mistakes
Related Skills
connectfor session setup and authenticationqueryfor analytical SQL after the schema is understoodduckdb-sqlfor DuckDB syntax patterns during explorationshare-datafor creating and consuming shares once shared datasets become part of the workflow
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