idanbeck Render Skill - Service & Postgres Management
Inspect and operate Render-hosted services and Postgres instances. Pull live connection strings, env vars, trigger deploys, and read recent logs without leaving the terminal.
First-Time Setup (~1 minute)
1. Create a Render API key
- Go to https://dashboard.render.com/u/settings#api-keys
- Click Create API Key, name it (e.g. "Claude Assistant")
- Copy the key (starts with
rnd_)
2. Save the key
echo '{"api_key": "rnd_YOUR_KEY_HERE"}' > ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/config.json
The skill caches the resolved owner ID and a name→id map under
~/.claude/skills/render-skill/cache.json after the first call. Delete that file to force a refresh.
Commands
All commands print JSON to stdout. Pipe to jq for readable output. Most accept service or database identifiers as either the Render ID (srv-... / dpg-...) or the human name (resolved via cache).
Services
# List all services (filter by type/name)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py services [--type web|worker|static|cron|background|private] [--name SUBSTRING] [--limit N]
# Get one service
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py service NAME_OR_ID
# Env vars for a service (returns key+value)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py service-env NAME_OR_ID [--key KEY]
# Set an env var (queues a deploy unless --no-deploy)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py service-env-set NAME_OR_ID KEY VALUE [--no-deploy]
# Recent deploys
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py deploys NAME_OR_ID [--limit N]
# Trigger a deploy
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py deploy NAME_OR_ID [--clear-cache] [--commit SHA]
# Recent logs (defaults to last 200 lines)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py logs NAME_OR_ID [--limit N] [--since "10m"|"1h"|"2d"]
Postgres databases
# List all Postgres instances
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py databases [--name SUBSTRING]
# Get one database
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py database NAME_OR_ID
# Get the connection string (the killer command for migrations / psql)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py database-url NAME_OR_ID [--internal|--external]
--internal returns the private network URL (use from inside Render). --external returns the public URL (use from your laptop). Default: --external.
Convenience
# Open a psql shell against a Render Postgres
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py psql NAME_OR_ID
# Print export statements you can eval into your shell
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py exports NAME_OR_ID # for a service: prints all env vars as `export KEY=VALUE`
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py exports-db NAME_OR_ID # for a database: prints `export DATABASE_URL=...`
Common workflows
Pull the zergai DATABASE_URL for a migration
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py database-url zergai-postgres --external
# or
eval "$(python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py exports-db zergai-postgres)"
psql "$DATABASE_URL"
Pull a service env var
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py service-env zergai-api --key ZERGAI_SERVICE_TOKEN
Set a secret then redeploy
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py service-env-set zergai-api SOMETHING newvalue
Tail logs of the API service
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py logs zergai-api --limit 500 --since 30m
Output format
All commands print one JSON document. On HTTP errors the skill exits non-zero and prints {"error":..., "status":..., "body":...}.
Security
- API key lives in
~/.claude/skills/render-skill/config.json(gitignored by your home dir conventions). - Cache file (
cache.json) only stores owner ID + service/database id↔name lookups. No secrets. - The skill never logs env-var values to disk; it prints them to stdout only when explicitly requested.
API reference
Render REST API docs: https://api-docs.render.com