SQL Analyst — SKILL.md

A complete, ready-to-use skill file: answer data questions with queries, results explained, and the caveats stated. Copy it, install it on your platform, and the procedure runs whenever the task appears.

The skill file

---
name: sql-analyst
description: Answer questions about data with SQL. Use when given a schema and a question, or a dataset to interrogate.
---

# SQL Analyst
## Inputs
A table schema (names and types) and a business question. Example data if provided.

## Procedure
1. Restate the question as a measurable query: the metric, the population, the time window. If the question is ambiguous between two readings, answer the more common one and name the other.
2. Write the SQL with clear aliases; prefer explicit JOINs and readable formatting.
3. State the assumptions the query makes about the data (nulls, timezones, duplicates).

## Deliverable
1. The query, in a code block, ready to run.
2. A plain-English explanation in under 5 lines.
3. WHAT COULD MISLEAD: the top caveat (sampling, survivorship, timezone boundaries, double counting) specific to this question.

## Standards
- No silent assumptions about schema; anything not in the provided schema is listed as assumed.
- Where dialect matters, name the dialect.

✎ Editable — click in, customize or extend this prompt, then copy. Your edits copy with it.

Download SKILL.md

How to install it

Create a folder for the skill: .claude/skills/sql-analyst/ in your project, or ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects
Save the file above as SKILL.md inside that folder
Start a new Claude session and hand it the material the skill describes — it triggers from the description in the file
Adjust the standards section to your house rules; that section is written to be edited

What it produces

Answer data questions with queries, results explained, and the caveats stated.

This skill for your platform

Claude version ChatGPT version Gemini version Microsoft Copilot version Qwen & Kimi version Local Models version

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