database-design
Installation
SKILL.md
Database Design
Database design turns a domain into a schema that stays fast, correct, and easy to evolve for years. This skill covers the full pipeline — requirements analysis, entity modeling, normalization, keys, constraints, indexes, and safe migrations — plus deciding when a document, wide-column, or graph store beats a relational database.
Quick Reference
| Topic | Reference |
|---|---|
| Normalization worked examples, natural vs surrogate keys, UUID vs bigint | normalization-and-keys.md |
| B-tree internals, composite/covering/partial indexes, reading EXPLAIN | indexing-and-query-tuning.md |
| Migration tools (Alembic, Prisma, Flyway), expand-contract, backfilling | migrations-zero-downtime.md |
Core Workflow
Work through these steps in order — each informs the next, and skipping requirements analysis is the most common source of bad schemas.