RDS Skills Documentation

This repository provides multiple skills that can be used with Claude, OpenClaw, Claude Code, and similar platforms:

Core RDS Skills

alibabacloud-rds-copilot: Invokes the Alibaba Cloud RDS AI Assistant API for intelligent Q&A, SQL optimization, and troubleshooting.
alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage: Exposes this project's RDS OpenAPI tools and read-only SQL tools via a script/CLI, so you can manage instances, query monitoring/slow logs/parameters, and run read-only SQL.

Additional Skills

mcporter: Use the mcporter CLI to list, configure, auth, and call MCP servers/tools directly (HTTP or stdio), including ad-hoc servers, config edits, and CLI/type generation.
cli-anything: Generate or refine agent-usable CLIs for existing software/codebases using the CLI-Anything methodology. Turn GUI apps, desktop tools, repositories, SDKs, or web/API surfaces into structured CLIs for agents.
data-analyst: Data visualization, report generation, SQL queries, and spreadsheet automation. Transform your AI agent into a data-savvy analyst that turns raw data into actionable insights.
arxiv-watcher: Search and summarize papers from ArXiv. Use when you need the latest research, specific topics on ArXiv, or a daily summary of AI papers.
duckdb-cli-ai-skills: DuckDB CLI specialist for SQL analysis, data processing and file conversion. Use for SQL queries, CSV/Parquet/JSON analysis, database queries, or data conversion.
self-improving-agent: Captures learnings, errors, and corrections to enable continuous improvement. Use when commands fail, users correct you, or better approaches are discovered.

I. RDS Copilot Claude Skill (RDS AI Assistant)

The Alibaba Cloud RDS AI Assistant Claude Skill lets you invoke RDS AI assistant capabilities directly in Claude conversations for SQL optimization, instance operations, troubleshooting, and more.

Requirements

Enable RDS AI Assistant Professional Edition

Alibaba Cloud RDS AI Assistant Professional Edition must be enabled

Python Version

Python 3.7+ (Python 3.8 or higher recommended)

Verify your Python version:

python3 --version

Quick Start

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/aliyun/alibabacloud-rds-openapi-mcp-server
cd alibabacloud-rds-openapi-mcp-server/skill

2. Install Dependencies

Install uv:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

3. Configure Environment Variables

Set up Alibaba Cloud access credentials (required):

macOS / Linux:

export ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID="your-access-key-id"
export ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET="your-access-key-secret"

Windows (PowerShell):

$env:ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID="your-access-key-id"
$env:ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET="your-access-key-secret"

Permanent Configuration (Recommended):

Add the above commands to your shell configuration file:

Bash: ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile
Zsh: ~/.zshrc
Windows: System Environment Variables

4. Deploy Skill to Claude

Copy the Skill files to Claude's skills directory:

Method 1: Use Repository Structure Directly

If you're using Claude Desktop or an environment that supports custom skills, this repository already includes the correct directory structure alibabacloud-rds-copilot/ and can be used directly.

Method 2: Copy to User-Level Skills Directory

# macOS / Linux
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/
cp -r alibabacloud-rds-copilot ~/.claude/skills/

# Windows (PowerShell)
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.claude\skills\" -Force
Copy-Item -Recurse "alibabacloud-rds-copilot" "$env:USERPROFILE\.claude\skills\"

Method 3: Create Symbolic Link (Recommended for Development)

# macOS / Linux
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/
ln -s "$(pwd)/alibabacloud-rds-copilot" ~/.claude/skills/alibabacloud-rds-copilot

# Windows (Requires Administrator Privileges)
New-Item -ItemType SymbolicLink -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.claude\skills\alibabacloud-rds-copilot" -Target "$(Get-Location)\alibabacloud-rds-copilot"

5. Verify Installation

Run Claude and select the alibabacloud-rds-copilot skill:

claude

/alibabacloud-rds-copilot How many instances do I have in Hangzhou?

Expected output:

[Query] List RDS instances in Hangzhou region
[Region] cn-hangzhou | [Language] zh-CN
============================================================
[RDS Copilot Response]
<Actual response from RDS Copilot>

[Session ID] conv-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

Usage

Basic Usage

Ask RDS-related questions directly in Claude conversations:

You: What MySQL instances are available in Hangzhou region?
Claude: [Calls RDS Copilot and returns results]

You: For instance rm-xxx, help me analyze and optimize this SQL: SELECT * FROM users WHERE status=1 ORDER BY created_at
Claude: [Calls RDS Copilot for SQL optimization suggestions]

Troubleshooting

1. Module `alibabacloud_rdsai20250507` Not Found

Cause: Dependencies not installed or using incorrect Python environment.

Solution:

# Use pip3 to ensure installation in Python 3 environment
pip3 install -r alibabacloud-rds-copilot/requirements.txt

# Verify installation
pip3 list | grep alibabacloud

2. Environment Variables Not Set

Error message:

Alibaba Cloud access credentials not found. Please set environment variables:
  ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID
  ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET

Solution: Follow the "Configure Environment Variables" section to set AccessKey and Secret.

3. Claude Doesn't Recognize the Skill

Cause: Skill files not properly deployed to Claude skills directory.

Solution:

Check if alibabacloud-rds-copilot/SKILL.md exists
Confirm the Skill directory structure is complete
Restart Claude application

4. Error Using `python` Command

Cause: System's python command points to Python 2 or is not configured.

Solution: Use python3 command consistently:

python3 alibabacloud-rds-copilot/scripts/call_rds_ai.py "your query"

II. Alibabacloud RDS Instances Manage (OpenAPI + SQL tools via CLI)

alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage exposes this project's MCP tools as a script/CLI for use with OpenClaw, Claude Code, and similar platforms. The model runs alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage list and alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage run <tool_name> '<JSON args>' to call RDS OpenAPI and read-only SQL capabilities and manage RDS instances.

Capabilities

OpenAPI tools: Query instance list/details, available zones/classes, monitoring, slow logs, parameters, accounts, databases, whitelist; create/update instances and accounts, change parameters/specs, restart, allocate public connection, etc.
SQL tools: Run read-only operations such as query_sql, explain_sql, show_create_table, show_engine_innodb_status, show_largest_table, show_largest_table_fragment, etc.

Installation and configuration

Install the package (either approach):
- From the repository root: uv pip install -e . or pip install -e .
- After installation, the alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage command is available.
Environment variables (same as the MCP server):
- ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID, ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET (required)
- Optional: ALIBABA_CLOUD_SECURITY_TOKEN, MCP_TOOLSETS (default: rds)

CLI usage

# List currently enabled tools (JSON output)
alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage list

# Run a tool; arguments are a JSON string
alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage run describe_db_instances '{"region_id":"cn-hangzhou"}'
alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage run describe_db_instance_attribute '{"region_id":"cn-hangzhou","db_instance_id":"rm-xxxxx"}'
alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage run get_current_time '{}'

If the package is not installed in the environment, run via module from the repository root:

uv run python -m alibabacloud_rds_openapi_mcp_server.run_tool list
uv run python -m alibabacloud_rds_openapi_mcp_server.run_tool run describe_db_instances '{"region_id":"cn-hangzhou"}'

Integrating with OpenClaw / Claude Code

Deploy the skill directory
Copy or link skill/alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage/ into the platform's skills directory, for example:
- OpenClaw: ~/.openclaw/workspace/skills/alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage/
- Claude Code: ~/.claude/skills/alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage/ or project-local .claude/skills/alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage/
Configure entries and set env (recommended)
This skill requires the environment variables ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID and ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET. It is recommended to configure entries for alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage and set these in env so they are available when the skill runs, without configuring them elsewhere.
- OpenClaw: Edit ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json and add under skills.entries:
```
"alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage": {
  "enabled": true,
  "env": {
    "ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_ID": "your-access-key-id",
    "ALIBABA_CLOUD_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET": "your-access-key-secret"
  }
}
```
- Optional: add ALIBABA_CLOUD_SECURITY_TOKEN (for STS) or MCP_TOOLSETS (e.g. "rds,rds_custom_read") in the same env.
- Claude Code and others: In the skill's "entries" or "environment variables" configuration, set the two env vars above for alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage.
Ensure the CLI is available
After installing the package, ensure alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage runs in the terminal. The model will follow the instructions in SKILL.md and call alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage list and alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage run <name> '<json>'.
Skill contents
- skill/alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage/SKILL.md: Skill name, description, when to use it, standard workflow, entries configuration, and tool quick reference.
- skill/alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage/tools_reference.md: Tool names and parameter reference.
- skill/alibabacloud-rds-instances-manage/skill.yaml: Metadata for OpenClaw/ClawHub (optional).

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RDS Skills Documentation

Core RDS Skills

Additional Skills

I. RDS Copilot Claude Skill (RDS AI Assistant)

Requirements

Enable RDS AI Assistant Professional Edition

Python Version

Quick Start

1. Clone the Repository

2. Install Dependencies

3. Configure Environment Variables

4. Deploy Skill to Claude

5. Verify Installation

Usage

Basic Usage

Troubleshooting

1. Module `alibabacloud_rdsai20250507` Not Found

2. Environment Variables Not Set

3. Claude Doesn't Recognize the Skill

4. Error Using `python` Command

II. Alibabacloud RDS Instances Manage (OpenAPI + SQL tools via CLI)

Capabilities

Installation and configuration

CLI usage

Integrating with OpenClaw / Claude Code

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skill_readme.md

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skill_readme.md

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RDS Skills Documentation

Core RDS Skills

Additional Skills

I. RDS Copilot Claude Skill (RDS AI Assistant)

Requirements

Enable RDS AI Assistant Professional Edition

Python Version

Quick Start

1. Clone the Repository

2. Install Dependencies

3. Configure Environment Variables

4. Deploy Skill to Claude

5. Verify Installation

Usage

Basic Usage

Troubleshooting

1. Module alibabacloud_rdsai20250507 Not Found

2. Environment Variables Not Set

3. Claude Doesn't Recognize the Skill

4. Error Using python Command

II. Alibabacloud RDS Instances Manage (OpenAPI + SQL tools via CLI)

Capabilities

Installation and configuration

CLI usage

Integrating with OpenClaw / Claude Code

1. Module `alibabacloud_rdsai20250507` Not Found

4. Error Using `python` Command