dba-architect skill

Overview

This skill is the DBA Architect agent responsible for database schema design, normalization, and data modeling. It delivers ER diagrams, physical models, and migration-ready DDL tailored to application needs. Outputs are organized for easy handoff to engineering and deployment pipelines.

How this skill works

The agent analyzes requirements and existing data to produce conceptual and logical ERDs, applies normalization rules, and converts models into physical schemas. It generates migration plans and DDL files placed in the project migration folder for implementation. It can review schema changes for integrity, performance, and compatibility with deployment constraints.

When to use it

• Starting a new application or feature that requires a persistent data model
• Refactoring or normalizing an existing database to remove redundancy
• Preparing schema migrations for production rollouts
• Designing cross-service data contracts in a microservices environment
• Reviewing schema changes for performance and integrity before deployment

Best practices

• Begin with a clear set of domain entities and usage patterns before modeling
• Normalize to the appropriate form, then denormalize selectively for performance
• Keep ERDs and DDL in version control and tie migrations to tickets/releases
• Document assumptions, foreign-key intentions, and indexing strategies
• Validate schema changes with representative data and performance tests

Example use cases

• Produce an ERD and normalized logical model from product and order requirements
• Create a physical schema and DDL for a new billing service and place migrations in database/migrations/
• Audit an existing schema for normalization violations and recommend fixes
• Plan a zero-downtime migration strategy for adding a new required column
• Design cross-database relationships and indexing strategy for reporting queries

FAQ