Database design principles and decision-making. Schema design, indexing strategy, ORM selection, serverless databases.

Database Design Learn to THINK, not copy SQL patterns. 🎯 Selective Reading Rule Read ONLY files relevant to the request! Check the content map, find what you need. File Description When to Read database selection.md PostgreSQL vs Neon vs Turso vs SQLite Choosing database orm selection.md Drizzle vs Prisma vs Kysely Choosing ORM schema design.md Normalization, PKs, relationships Designing schema indexing.md Index types, composite indexes Performance tuning optimization.md N+1, EXPLAIN ANALYZE Query optimization migrations.md Safe migrations, serverless DBs Schema changes ⚠️ Core Principle ASK user for database preferences when unclear Choose database/ORM based on CONTEXT Don't default to PostgreSQL for everything Decision Checklist Before designing schema: [ ] Asked user about database preference? [ ] Chosen database for THIS context? [ ] Considered deployment environment? [ ] Planned index strategy? [ ] Defined relationship types? Anti Patterns ❌ Default to PostgreSQL for simple apps (SQLite may suffice) ❌ Skip indexing ❌ Use SELECT in production ❌ Store JSON when structured data is better ❌ Ignore N+1 queries When to Use Use when selecting a database model, reviewing schema relationships and indexes, or assessing a proposed schema with the bundled advisory tools. Schema helper scripts/schema validator.py is a read only heuristic inventory, not a Prisma or Drizzle parser. Missing schemas, unsupported formats and heuristic only results return nonzero with passed: false and analysis complete: false . Use the project local ORM validator for syntax and type checks; review migration and constraint semantics separately. Limitations Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above. Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment specific validation, testing, or expert review. Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.

database-design