clickhousectl-local-dev
Use when a user wants to build an application with ClickHouse, set up a local ClickHouse development environment, install ClickHouse, create a local server, create tables, or start developing with ClickHouse. Covers the full flow from zero to a working local ClickHouse setup.
- Installs
- 4.5K
- Last 24h
- —
- Trending rank
- —
- Security
- Warn
Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/clickhouse/agent-skills --skill clickhousectl-local-dev- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads clickhousectl-local-dev automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
Security audits
Independent scans of the skill's instructions and bundled files.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
Local ClickHouse Development Setup
This skill walks through setting up a complete local ClickHouse development environment using clickhousectl. Follow these steps in order.
When to Apply
Use this skill when the user wants to:
- Build an application that needs an analytical database or ClickHouse specifically
- Set up a local ClickHouse instance for development
- Install ClickHouse on their machine
- Create tables and start querying ClickHouse locally
- Prototype or experiment with ClickHouse
Step 1: Install clickhousectl
Check if clickhousectl is already available:
which clickhousectl
If not found, install it:
curl -fsSL https://clickhouse.com/cli | sh
This installs clickhousectl to ~/.local/bin/clickhousectl and creates a chctl alias.
If the command is still not found after install: The user may need to add ~/.local/bin to their PATH or open a new terminal session. Suggest:
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
Once installed, clickhousectl skills can be used to install the latest ClickHouse Agent Skills.
Step 2: Install ClickHouse and set the default
Install the latest ClickHouse version and set it as the system default:
clickhousectl local use latest
This installs ClickHouse, sets it as the default version used by clickhousectl local commands, and symlinks ~/.local/bin/clickhouse to the binary, putting clickhouse on your PATH (meaning you can invoke clickhouse directly, e.g. clickhouse client if needed).
You can use other version specifiers like stable, 26.4, 26.4.2.10 when needed.
Step 3: Initialize the project
From the user's project root directory:
clickhousectl local init
This creates a standard folder structure:
clickhouse/
tables/ # CREATE TABLE statements
materialized_views/ # Materialized view definitions
queries/ # Saved queries
seed/ # Seed data / INSERT statements
Note: This step is optional. If the user already has their own folder structure for SQL files, skip this and adapt the later steps to use their paths.
Step 4: Start a local server
clickhousectl local server start --name <name>
This starts a ClickHouse server in the background.
To check running servers and see their exposed ports:
clickhousectl local server list
Step 5: Create the schema
Based on the user's application requirements, write CREATE TABLE SQL files.
Write each table definition to its own file in clickhouse/tables/:
# Example: clickhouse/tables/events.sql
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS events (
timestamp DateTime,
user_id UInt32,
event_type LowCardinality(String),
properties String
)
ENGINE = MergeTree()
ORDER BY (event_type, timestamp)
When designing schemas, if the clickhouse-best-practices skill is available, consult it for guidance on ORDER BY column selection, data types, and partitioning.
Apply the schema to the running server:
clickhousectl local client --name <name> --queries-file clickhouse/tables/events.sql
Step 6: Seed data (optional)
If the user needs sample data for development, write INSERT statements to clickhouse/seed/:
# Example: clickhouse/seed/events.sql
INSERT INTO events (timestamp, user_id, event_type, properties) VALUES
('2024-01-01 00:00:00', 1, 'page_view', '{"page": "/home"}'),
('2024-01-01 00:01:00', 2, 'click', '{"button": "signup"}');
Apply seed data:
clickhousectl local client --name <name> --queries-file clickhouse/seed/events.sql
Step 7: Verify the setup
Confirm tables were created:
clickhousectl local client --name <name> --query "SHOW TABLES"
Run a test query:
clickhousectl local client --name <name> --query "SELECT count() FROM events"
If the user wants to use a managed ClickHouse service, use the clickhousectl-cloud-deploy skill to help the user deploy to ClickHouse Cloud.
FAQ
What does the clickhousectl-local-dev skill do?
Use when a user wants to build an application with ClickHouse, set up a local ClickHouse development environment, install ClickHouse, create a local server, create tables, or start developing with ClickHouse. Covers the full flow from zero to a working local ClickHouse setup.
How do I install clickhousectl-local-dev?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/clickhouse/agent-skills --skill clickhousectl-local-dev in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/clickhousectl-local-dev/ (personal) or .claude/skills/clickhousectl-local-dev/ (project).
Which AI agents can use clickhousectl-local-dev?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is clickhousectl-local-dev safe to install?
Security partners have reviewed it: Gen Agent Trust Hub passed; Socket passed; Snyk flagged items to review; ZeroLeaks passed. As with any skill, read the SKILL.md and bundled scripts before installing.
Who maintains clickhousectl-local-dev?
It is published by clickhouse in clickhouse/agent-skills, and it is an official skill from the maker of the technology it covers. It has 4,483 recorded installs.
More from clickhouse/agent-skills
clickhouse-best-practices
clickhouse/agent-skills
MUST USE when reviewing ClickHouse schemas, queries, or configurations. Contains 31 rules that MUST be checked before providing recommendations. Always read relevant rule files and cite specific rules in responses.
clickhouse-architecture-advisor
clickhouse/agent-skills
MUST USE when designing ClickHouse architectures, selecting between ingestion or modeling patterns, or translating best practices into workload-specific system designs. Complements clickhouse-best-practices with decision frameworks and explicit provenance labels.
chdb-sql
clickhouse/agent-skills
Use when the user wants to run SQL — especially analytical SQL — on local files (parquet/csv/json), URLs, S3 paths, or remote databases (Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, ClickHouse Cloud, Iceberg, Delta Lake) without setting up a server. Provides chDB — embedded ClickHouse SQL in Python with 1000+ functions, Session for stateful multi-step pipelines, parametrized queries, and cross-source joins via s3(), mysql(), postgresql(), iceberg(), deltaLake(), remoteSecure() table functions. TRIGGER when: user wants SQL on parquet/csv/files or across remote analytical sources; uses ClickHouse SQL features (window functions, windowFunnel, geoToH3, JSON path ops, Session, parametrized queries); imports chdb or calls chdb.query(). SKIP this skill for pandas-style DataFrame method-chaining (use chdb-datastore instead) or ClickHouse server administration.
chdb-datastore
clickhouse/agent-skills
Use when the user has tabular data (pandas DataFrame, parquet, csv, Arrow, json) and wants to filter, group, aggregate, join, or speed up slow pandas. Provides chDB DataStore — same pandas API, ClickHouse engine underneath. Also handles reading from S3, MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, ClickHouse Cloud, Iceberg, Delta Lake as DataFrames and joining across sources. TRIGGER when: user mentions DataFrame, parquet, csv, "fast pandas", "speed up pandas", or cross-source DataFrame joins; user imports chdb.datastore or from datastore import DataStore. SKIP this skill for raw SQL syntax (use chdb-sql instead), ClickHouse server administration, or non-Python DataStore API work.
clickhouse-js-node-troubleshooting
clickhouse/agent-skills
Troubleshoot and resolve common issues with the ClickHouse Node.js client (@clickhouse/client). Use this skill whenever a user reports errors, unexpected behavior, or configuration questions involving the Node.js client specifically — including socket hang-up errors, Keep-Alive problems, stream handling issues, data type mismatches, read-only user restrictions, proxy/TLS setup problems, or long-running query timeouts. Trigger even when the user hasn't precisely named the issue; vague symptoms like "my inserts keep failing" or "connection drops randomly" in a Node.js context are strong signals to use this skill. Do NOT use for browser/Web client issues.
clickhouse-js-node-coding
clickhouse/agent-skills
Write idiomatic application code with the ClickHouse Node.js client (@clickhouse/client). Use this skill whenever a user is building against the Node.js client — configuring the client, pinging, inserting rows in JSON or raw formats, selecting and parsing results, binding query parameters, managing sessions and temporary tables, working with data types or customizing JSON parsing. Do NOT use for browser/Web client code.
Popular data & databases skills
supabase-postgres-best-practices
supabase/agent-skills
Postgres best practices maintained by Supabase, for Postgres running anywhere. Load this skill BEFORE writing or changing anything that lives in a Postgres database: creating or altering tables and columns (including choosing column types), schema design, migrations and declarative schema files, RLS policies and the tests that verify them, indexes, triggers, database functions, queues and scheduled jobs (pgcron, pgmq), vector/semantic search (pgvector), and restoring dumps (pgrestore) or importing data. Also load it when diagnosing slow queries, high CPU, timeouts, EXPLAIN plans, connection exhaustion, locking, bloat, or rows visible to the wrong user or tenant. This is not just a performance guide — schema, migration, security, and SQL authoring tasks need these rules too, even for a one-column change or a single query.
prisma-client-api
prisma/skills
Prisma Client API reference covering model queries, filters, operators, and client methods. Use when writing database queries, using CRUD operations, filtering data, or configuring Prisma Client. Triggers on "prisma query", "findMany", "create", "update", "delete", "$transaction".
prisma-database-setup
prisma/skills
Deprecated compatibility name for prisma-orm-setup. Use only when a user or existing integration explicitly invokes prisma-database-setup; otherwise select prisma-orm-setup.
prisma-cli
prisma/skills
Prisma ORM 7 CLI reference for existing Prisma 7 applications or explicitly selected Prisma 7 workflows. Covers prisma init, generate, migrate, db, dev, studio, and mcp. For setup, connection repair, or Prisma 8, use prisma-orm-setup; not the Prisma Platform CLI.
prisma-postgres
prisma/skills
Deprecated compatibility name for prisma-postgres-setup. Use only when a user or existing integration explicitly invokes prisma-postgres; otherwise select prisma-postgres-setup.
prisma-driver-adapter-implementation
prisma/skills
Required reference for Prisma ORM 7 SQL driver adapter work. Use when implementing or modifying adapters, adding database drivers, or touching SqlDriverAdapter, Transaction, savepoint, result mapping, or DriverAdapterError behavior. Covers current transaction lifecycle, optional savepoint hooks, original database-error preservation, and verification.