SQL Best Practices

Use this skill when writing SQL queries — selects, joins, aggregations, window functions, or schema modifications. Apply whenever SQL is needed to ensure correctness, safety, and performance.

gabrielmoreira Updated 17 repo stars

File contents

SQL Best Practices

Query quality:

  • Use SELECT col1, col2 — never SELECT * in production code.
  • Use CTEs (WITH) for readability instead of deeply nested subqueries.
  • Filter early: apply WHERE before JOIN when possible to reduce data scanned.
  • Use EXPLAIN / EXPLAIN ANALYZE to inspect query plans for slow queries.

Safety:

  • Always use parameterized queries from application code — never string interpolation.
  • Wrap destructive operations (DELETE, UPDATE, DROP) in a transaction.
  • Test on a staging/dev environment before running on production.

Naming: snake_case for tables/columns, descriptive names, consistent pluralization.

gabrielmoreira/agent-skills-mirror/tree/main/mirrors/repos/aiming-lab@MetaClaw/memory_data/skills/sql-best-practices commit 86b0f31d72

Frequently asked questions

npx skillmds@latest add gabrielmoreira/sql-best-practices