database-design

Included with Lifetime

$97 forever

Designs comprehensive database schemas including relational and NoSQL models, normalization, indexing strategies, relationship modeling, data types, constraints, and performance optimization. Covers entity-relationship diagrams, schema migrations, partitioning, and best practices for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, and other databases. Use when designing databases, creating schemas, modeling data, optimizing queries, or when users mention "database design", "schema design", "data modeling", "ERD", "normalization", "indexing", or "database architecture".

Design

What this skill does


# Database Design

## Overview

Provides comprehensive guidance for designing robust, scalable, and maintainable database schemas for both relational (SQL) and NoSQL databases, from conceptual modeling to physical implementation.

## Design Workflow

1. **Requirements Analysis** - Gather data requirements and usage patterns
2. **Conceptual Modeling** - Create entity-relationship diagrams (ERD)
3. **Logical Modeling** - Define normalized schema with relationships
4. **Physical Modeling** - Select data types, indexes, and constraints
5. **Validation** - Review design against requirements and best practices

## Quick Start

**Basic E-commerce Schema:**

```sql
-- Users table
CREATE TABLE users (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  email VARCHAR(255) UNIQUE NOT NULL,
  password_hash VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
  created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

-- Products table
CREATE TABLE products (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  name VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
  description TEXT,
  price DECIMAL(10,2) NOT NULL,
  stock_quantity INTEGER DEFAULT 0,
  created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  INDEX idx_name (name)
);

-- Orders table
CREATE TABLE orders (
  id SERIAL PRIMARY KEY,
  user_id INTEGER REFERENCES users(id),
  total_amount DECIMAL(10,2) NOT NULL,
  status VARCHAR(50) DEFAULT 'pending',
  created_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  INDEX idx_user_created (user_id, created_at)
);
```

## Core Principles

- **Start normalized, denormalize only when proven necessary**
- **Index strategically based on actual query patterns**
- **Use constraints to enforce data integrity at database level**
- **Choose appropriate data types to optimize storage and performance**
- **Plan for growth with partitioning and sharding strategies**
- **Document design decisions and their rationale**
- **Test with realistic data volumes**

## When to Load References

- **Design Workflow**: See [database-design-workflow.md](references/database-design-workflow.md) for step-by-step design process including requirements analysis, conceptual/logical/physical modeling, normalization steps, and relationship patterns

- **Advanced Patterns**: See [advanced-design-patterns.md](references/advanced-design-patterns.md) for many-to-many relationships, inheritance/polymorphism, temporal data, soft deletes, audit trails, and hierarchical data

- **NoSQL Design**: See [nosql-database-design.md](references/nosql-database-design.md) when designing MongoDB documents, Cassandra column families, or Redis data structures

- **Anti-Patterns**: See [common-anti-patterns-to-avoid.md](references/common-anti-patterns-to-avoid.md) to identify EAV pattern issues, generic tables, redundant data, multi-value columns, and other problematic designs

- **Performance**: See [performance-optimization.md](references/performance-optimization.md) for query optimization, partitioning strategies, caching patterns, and index tuning

- **Migration**: See [schema-migration-best-practices.md](references/schema-migration-best-practices.md) for zero-downtime migrations, backward compatibility, and rollback strategies

- **Checklist**: See [database-design-checklist.md](references/database-design-checklist.md) for comprehensive validation before implementation

Files: 8

Size: 24.2 KB

Complexity: 49/100

Category: Design

Source: https://github.com/dauquangthanh/hanoi-rainbow/tree/main/skills/database-design

Related in Design

contribute

Included

Local-only OSS contribution command center. Auto-refreshes the user's in-flight PR and issue state on invoke so conversations start with full context — no need to brief Claude on what's in flight. Helps the user find issues to contribute to on GitHub, builds per-repo dossiers of what each upstream expects (CLA, DCO, branch convention, AI policy, draft-first, review bots, issue templates), runs deterministic gates before any external action so AI-assisted contributions don't reach maintainers as slop. State is markdown-only: candidate files at ~/.contribute-system/candidates/, repo dossiers at ~/.contribute-system/research/, append-only event log at ~/.contribute-system/log.jsonl. No database, no cloud calls. Use when the user asks about their PRs / issues / contributions, wants to find new work to take on, claim an issue, build/refresh a repo's dossier, or draft a Design Issue or PR. Trigger with "/contribute", "what's my PR status", "find a contribution", "claim issue X", "draft a Design Issue for Y", "refresh dossier for Z".

Designscripts

architectural-analysis

Included

User-triggered deep architectural analysis of a codebase or scoped subtree across eight modes — information architecture, data flow, integration points, UI surfaces, interaction patterns, data model, control flow, and failure modes. This skill should be used when the user asks to "diagram this codebase," "map the architecture," "show the data flow," "give me an ERD," "trace control flow," "find the integration points," "verify the layout pattern," "audit the UX architecture," or any similar request whose primary deliverable is mermaid diagrams plus cited reports under docs/architecture/. Dispatches haiku/sonnet sub-agents in parallel for per-mode exploration, then verifies every citation mechanically before any node lands in a diagram. Not for one-off prose explanations of code (use code-explanation) or for high-level system design from scratch (use system-design).

Designscripts

mcp

Included

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server development and tool management. Languages: Python, TypeScript. Capabilities: build MCP servers, integrate external APIs, discover/execute MCP tools, manage multi-server configs, design agent-centric tools. Actions: create, build, integrate, discover, execute, configure MCP servers/tools. Keywords: MCP, Model Context Protocol, MCP server, MCP tool, stdio transport, SSE transport, tool discovery, resource provider, prompt template, external API integration, Gemini CLI MCP, Claude MCP, agent tools, tool execution, server config. Use when: building MCP servers, integrating external APIs as MCP tools, discovering available MCP tools, executing MCP capabilities, configuring multi-server setups, designing tools for AI agents.

Designscripts

react-native-skia

Included

Design, build, debug, and optimise high-polish animated graphics in React Native or Expo using @shopify/react-native-skia, Reanimated, and Gesture Handler. Use when the user wants canvas-driven UI, shaders, paths, rich text, image filters, sprite fields, Skottie, video frames, snapshots, web CanvasKit setup, or performance tuning for custom motion-heavy elements such as loaders, hero art, cards, charts, progress indicators, particle systems, or gesture-driven surfaces. Also use when the user asks for fluid, glow, glass, blob, parallax, 60fps/120fps, or GPU-friendly animated effects in React Native, even if they do not explicitly say "Skia". Do not use for ordinary form/layout work with standard views.

Designscripts

plaid

Included

Product Led AI Development — guides founders from idea to launched product. Six capabilities: Idea (discover a product idea), Validate (pressure-test the idea against fatal flaws, problem reality, competition, and 2-week MVP feasibility), Plan (vision intake + document generation), Design (translate image references into a design.md spec), Launch (go-to-market strategy), and Build (roadmap execution). Use when someone says "PLAID", "plaid idea", "help me find an idea", "product idea", "idea from my business", "idea from my expertise", "plaid validate", "validate my idea", "pressure-test", "is this idea good", "find fatal flaws", "validate the problem", "plan a product", "define my vision", "generate a PRD", "product strategy", "plaid design", "design from image", "translate image to design", "create design.md", "extract design tokens", "plaid launch", "go-to-market", "launch plan", "GTM strategy", "launch playbook", "plaid build", "build the app", "start building", or "execute the roadmap".

Designscripts

nextjs-framer-motion-animations

Included

Adds production-safe Motion for React or Framer Motion animations to Next.js apps, including reveal, hover and tap micro-interactions, whileInView, stagger, AnimatePresence, layout and layoutId transitions, reorder, scroll-linked UI, and lightweight route-content transitions. Use when the user asks to add, refactor, or debug Motion or Framer Motion in App Router or Pages Router codebases, especially around server/client boundaries, reduced motion, LazyMotion, bundle size, hydration, or route transitions. Avoid for GSAP-style timelines, WebGL or 3D scenes, heavy scroll storytelling, or CSS-only effects unless Motion is explicitly requested.

Designscripts