infra-clickhouse

Files (5)

• README.md
• SKILL.md
• metadata.json
• cloud.md · ref/
• local.md · ref/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# ClickHouse with clickhousectl

`clickhousectl` manages ClickHouse in two environments:

- **Local** — ClickHouse installed and running on the user's machine, for development.
- **Cloud** — managed ClickHouse Cloud services, for production: fully managed, automatic scaling, backups, and upgrades.

This file routes to the right reference. The step-by-step workflows live in `ref/local.md` and `ref/cloud.md` — read the one that matches the user's situation before running commands.

## Which reference to use

| The user wants to... | Read |
|----------------------|------|
| Build an app with ClickHouse, develop or prototype locally, no cloud account needed | [ref/local.md](ref/local.md) |
| Go to production, host a managed ClickHouse, or use ClickHouse Cloud explicitly | [ref/cloud.md](ref/cloud.md) |
| Operate an existing cloud service (schemas, users, queries against it) | [ref/cloud.md](ref/cloud.md) |
| Develop locally now, ship to production later | Start with [ref/local.md](ref/local.md); it points to [ref/cloud.md](ref/cloud.md) when it's time to go to prod |

If it's genuinely ambiguous (e.g. "set up ClickHouse for my app"), default to local for development tasks and ask before creating anything in the cloud — cloud services cost money.

## Prerequisites (both workflows)

Check that `clickhousectl` is installed:

```bash
which clickhousectl
```

If not found, install it:

```bash
curl -fsSL https://clickhouse.com/cli | sh
```

This installs to `~/.local/bin/clickhousectl` (with a `chctl` alias). If the command is still not found, suggest `export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"` or a new terminal.

All commands accept `--json` for machine-readable output. Exit codes follow `gh` conventions: 0 success, 1 error, 2 cancelled, 4 auth required.

## Related

- When designing schemas, consult the `clickhouse-best-practices` skill for ORDER BY selection, data types, and partitioning.
- For Postgres (local development or managed ClickHouse Cloud Postgres), use the `infra-postgres` skill.

From ClickHouse/agent-skills, Apache-2.0.

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