data-tools
Use when querying, transforming, filtering, converting, or editing ANY JSON, JSONL, YAML, TOML, XML, or CSV. MUST replace grep/sed/awk on structured formats.
- Installs
- 91
- Last 24h
- —
- Trending rank
- —
- Security
- Not audited
Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/netresearch/data-tools-skill --skill data-tools- 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 data-tools automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
Data Tools Skill
Critical Rule
NEVER use grep, sed, awk, or inline interpreters (python3 -c, node -e) on JSON, JSONL, YAML, TOML, XML, or CSV. Refuse and use the correct tool — text tools break on structure; inline scripts are verbose and fragile.
Key Patterns
For the general legacy-tool → modern-tool comparison (grep→rg,
find→fd, cat→bat, ...), see
the cli-tools skill's table.
Convert: dasel -w FORMAT or yq -o FORMAT.
jq -- JSON (no in-place)
jq -r '.version' package.json
jq '.users[] | select(.role == "admin") | .name' users.json
jq '.version = "2.0.0"' pkg.json > pkg.json.tmp && mv pkg.json.tmp pkg.json
jq -s '.[0] * .[1]' base.json override.json
Or gh --jq when the source is the GitHub CLI (see below) — no separate
jq process needed.
yq -- YAML (in-place -i)
yq '.services.web.image' docker-compose.yml
yq -i '.services.app.image = "node:20"' docker-compose.yml
yq -o json config.yml
dasel -- TOML (only native tool) / XML (or xmlstarlet for XPath) / Universal auto-detect
dasel -f Cargo.toml '.package.version'
dasel put -f config.toml -t string -v "2.0" '.project.version'
dasel -f input.json -w yaml
qsv -- CSV / TSV
qsv headers data.csv && qsv stats data.csv --everything | qsv table
qsv search -s status "active" users.csv | qsv select name,email
qsv join user_id orders.csv id users.csv
qsv index, stats and frequency write files next to the input (x.csv.idx, x.stats.csv*). In a repository or a package directory, run them on a copy (details).
mlr -- JSONL / multi-format / DSL (in-place -I)
mlr --c2j cat data.csv
mlr --jsonl filter '$level == "error"' logs.jsonl
mlr -I --csv put '$total = $qty * $price' orders.csv
GitHub CLI -- always --jq
gh api repos/owner/repo/releases/latest --jq '.tag_name'
gh pr list --json number,title --jq '.[] | [.number, .title] | @tsv'
Anti-Patterns
# BAD → GOOD: jq -r '.version' package.json
grep '"version"' package.json | sed 's/.*"\(.*\)".*/\1/'
# BAD → GOOD: yq -i '.services.app.image = "node:20"' compose.yml
sed -i 's/image: node:.*/image: node:20/' docker-compose.yml
# BAD → GOOD: qsv select 2 data.csv
awk -F',' '{print $2}' data.csv
# BAD → GOOD: jq -r '.version' plugin.json
python3 -c 'import json;print(json.load(open("plugin.json"))["version"])'
References
| Cookbook | Content |
|---|---|
| jq Cookbook | Filtering, transforms, GitHub CLI, large inputs ("Argument list too long", Windows) |
| yq Cookbook | Actions, Compose, K8s |
| dasel Cookbook | TOML/XML, conversion |
| CSV Processing | qsv workflows, joins |
| mlr Cookbook | JSONL, DSL, stats, joins |
| Enforcement Hook | PreToolUse gate shipped with this plugin: denies field extraction, warns once otherwise |
FAQ
What does the data-tools skill do?
Use when querying, transforming, filtering, converting, or editing ANY JSON, JSONL, YAML, TOML, XML, or CSV. MUST replace grep/sed/awk on structured formats.
How do I install data-tools?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/netresearch/data-tools-skill --skill data-tools 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/data-tools/ (personal) or .claude/skills/data-tools/ (project).
Which AI agents can use data-tools?
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 data-tools safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains data-tools?
It is published by netresearch in netresearch/data-tools-skill. It has 91 recorded installs.
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.