Skills - MariaDB.org

“Making AI agents good at MariaDB”

What is it?

A SKILL.md file is a short markdown document an AI agent uses for context — a briefing note it can apply automatically or when run by a user. A skill can supply AI with information, or walk it through an entire task.

Why AI agents need it?

AI agents already know a lot about MariaDB, but can get parts of it wrong — blending it with MySQL, missing unique MariaDB features, assuming behavior from other databases. The right information just isn’t in front of the agent when it acts.

Available now: eight skills

We have started from creating “correction skills” – light additions that correct what an AI Agent already half-knows – the precise need depends on what model is used. We foresee future heavier “process skills” that use additional tools to help people to use MariaDB from within an AI Agent.

Our initial eight skills, MIT-licensed, are public at github.com/MariaDB/skills, each helping agents get a certain area correct:

mysql-to-mariadb – for developers migrating from MySQL, or where MySQL habits cause unexpected behavior in MariaDB.
mariadb-features – for developers who want to use MariaDB well or evaluate a migration.
oracle-to-mariadb – for developers migrating from Oracle Database, including Oracle compatibility via sql_mode=ORACLE
mariadb-query-optimization – for diagnosing slow queries, designing indexes and more
mariadb-replication-and-ha – for replicated and HA setups
mariadb-system-versioned-tables – for automatic row history without triggers or audit tables
mariadb-vector – for using native vector support for AI applications, RAG, and semantic search.
mariadb-mcp – for connecting agents to a MariaDB database via the Model Context Protocol

How to install

Skill files are installed for the AI agent, not on the server where MariaDB runs. Skills work with Claude Code, Copilot, Cursor, Codex, and 20+ other tools.

Use npx skills for an interactive install process. You will be asked what MariaDB skills you want installed, and for what AI agents on your system (e.g. Claude, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, etc):

npx skills add mariadb/skills

You can also install skills manually by downloading the SKILL.md file and placing it in the agent’s skill folder.

Claude Code and Claude Desktop: ~/.claude/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md
OpenAI Codex: ~/.agents/skills/<skill-name>/SKILL.md

How to use

Once installed, skills activate automatically in the AI agent. When you ask something that matches a skill’s topic, the agent reads the skill and applies its guidance for that session. Manual activation is also possible, e.g. in Claude Code with /{name-of-skill}.

Where this is going

Skills serve MariaDB Foundation’s mission — adoption, openness, continuity — by lowering the barrier to using MariaDB well, and to migrating to MariaDB. Skills are also easy to contribute to — users who spot an improvement can raise it directly.

We are inviting users to try out the published “correction skills” and share any improvements you think we should add to by raising an issue or PR in mariadb/skills. If you keep giving the agent the same correction session after session, capture it in a skill!

We are currently looking at how “process skills” can be implemented for auditing a MariaDB server’s health, performance and security, and migration checkers that inventory a MySQL or Oracle system and flag what to fix before moving.

Get involved

An open, evolving initiative. Try the skills, file an issue when an agent gets something wrong, or send a pull request. Find the community at r/mariadb, Zulip, and Slack.