# Operator skill (AI agents)

> Install the Quack on Demand agent skill so Claude Code, Copilot or Gemini CLI can operate your DuckDB gateway through the qod CLI.

Quack on Demand ships its operator runbook as an agent skill: a `SKILL.md` playbook that coding agents such as Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, and Gemini CLI load on demand and follow. With the skill installed, asking your agent "create a pool for tenant acme" or "why is auth failing" makes it drive a live manager through the [`qod` CLI](/qod/cli/) with the project's own recipes: boot and stop (`qod start` / `qod stop`), tenant, database, and pool lifecycle, RBAC grants and row/column policies, node health and telemetry, ad-hoc SQL through `qod sql`, and the known failure modes with their fixes.

The skill is self-contained: it assumes only an installed `qod` CLI (it checks the version, installs or upgrades it when needed, and logs in before operating), never a source checkout.

It complements the [MCP server](/qod/connecting/mcp): MCP gives an agent authenticated tools on the manager itself (schema discovery, governed SQL, pool operations over `/mcp`), while the skill gives it the operational playbook for the CLI. They work independently and combine well.

## Install with the CLI

The `qod` wheel bundles the skill; one command copies it where your agent tooling discovers skills:

```bash
qod skill install
# Install the skill for which LLM? (claude, copilot, gemini, all) [claude]:
```

The prompt picks the target platform; each installs into that platform's per-user skills directory:

| Answer | Target |
|---|---|
| `claude` (default) | `~/.claude/skills/quack-on-demand/` (Claude Code) |
| `copilot` | `~/.copilot/skills/quack-on-demand/` (GitHub Copilot) |
| `gemini` | `~/.gemini/skills/quack-on-demand/` (Gemini CLI) |
| `all` | All three |

Flags for scripted installs and other targets:

- `--platform claude|copilot|gemini|all` skips the prompt (repeatable, or comma-separated: `--platform claude,gemini`). A non-interactive run with no flag defaults to `claude`, so pipelines never hang on the prompt.
- `--project` installs into `./.{platform}/skills` of the current directory instead, scoping the skill to one project.
- `--dir <path>` names an exact skills directory and bypasses the platform choice entirely.

New agent sessions pick the skill up automatically. Re-run `qod skill install` after upgrading the CLI to refresh the copy; `qod skill path` prints where the bundled skill lives inside the installed package. If the target already exists as a symlink (for example pointing into a git checkout), the install refuses rather than writing through it.

## Install as a Claude Code plugin

For Claude Code specifically, the same skill is also published as a plugin, which manages its own updates:

```
/plugin marketplace add starlake-ai/quack-on-demand
/plugin install quack-on-demand@quack-on-demand
```

Update later with `/plugin marketplace update quack-on-demand`. Pick one channel per machine: the plugin and a `qod skill install` copy would both offer the same skill.