Agent skill

Archaeology

by ai-analyst-lab in ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst

Retrieve proven SQL patterns, table cheatsheets, and join patterns from .knowledge/query-archaeology/ so past work gets reused.

MITAuto-check passedDatabases

Install Archaeology

skills CLI

$ npx skills add ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst --skill archaeology -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst archaeology --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/archaeology .claude/skills/archaeology && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "archaeology" agent skill from https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst/tree/main/.claude/skills/archaeology into .claude/skills/archaeology/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "archaeology", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst/tree/main/.claude/skills/archaeology

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst --skill archaeology -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst archaeology --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/archaeology .agents/skills/archaeology && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "archaeology" agent skill from https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst/tree/main/.claude/skills/archaeology into .agents/skills/archaeology/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "archaeology", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst --skill archaeology -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst archaeology --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/archaeology .cursor/skills/archaeology && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "archaeology" agent skill from https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst/tree/main/.claude/skills/archaeology into .cursor/skills/archaeology/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "archaeology", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst.git --path .claude/skills/archaeology

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst --skill archaeology -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst archaeology --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/archaeology .gemini/skills/archaeology && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "archaeology" agent skill from https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst/tree/main/.claude/skills/archaeology into .gemini/skills/archaeology/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "archaeology", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst archaeology

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst --skill archaeology -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/archaeology .github/skills/archaeology && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "archaeology" agent skill from https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst/tree/main/.claude/skills/archaeology into .github/skills/archaeology/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "archaeology", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst --skill archaeology -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst archaeology --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/.claude/skills/archaeology .opencode/skills/archaeology && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "archaeology" agent skill from https://github.com/ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst/tree/main/.claude/skills/archaeology into .opencode/skills/archaeology/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "archaeology", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: archaeology
GitHub stars: 304
Token cost: ~1.3k tokens
SKILL.md length: 338 words
Files: 1
Skills in repo: 43
Repo updated: Sep 30, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: MIT

At a glance

Retrieve proven SQL patterns, table cheatsheets, and join patterns from .knowledge/query-archaeology/ so past work gets reused.

Works in 4 steps: Check the Index → Identify Search Terms → Search the Three Stores → …
Do we have a known query for X
SKILL.md covers Purpose, When to Use, Instructions and Table Cheatsheets, plus 1 more section
Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Archaeology is an agent skill from ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst. Retrieve proven SQL patterns, table cheatsheets, and join patterns from .knowledge/query-archaeology/ so past work gets reused. Fire as a pre-flight step before writing ANY SQL. Also trigger on "do we have a known query for X", "how do we usually join these tables", "have we computed this metric before". If the store is empty or missing, exit silently. Also owns the writer convention: after a validated analysis, curate the final SQL here.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.3k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Databases, covering SQL. It works with SQL. The repository describes itself as: AI Product Analyst — Claude Code-powered data analysis toolkit. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

Do we have a known query for X
How do we usually join these tables
Have we computed this metric before

Example prompts

“do we have a known query for X”
“how do we usually join these tables”
“have we computed this metric before”
“/archaeology”

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

Check the Index
Identify Search Terms
Search the Three Stores
Format Results

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 52c0744. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are sql).
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Archaeology loads about 1.3k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 114 tokens; SKILL.md has 338 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~114
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~1.3k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst at commit 52c0744, republished under its MIT licence (© ai-analyst-lab). 338 words, ~1,327 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/archaeology/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).

name: archaeology
description: Retrieve proven SQL patterns, table cheatsheets, and join patterns from .knowledge/query-archaeology/ so past work gets reused. Fire as a pre-flight step before writing ANY SQL. Also trigger on "do we have a known query for X", "how do we usually join these tables", "have we computed this metric before". If the store is empty or missing, exit silently. Also owns the writer convention: after a validated analysis, curate the final SQL here.

Skill: Query Archaeology

Purpose

Retrieve proven SQL patterns, table cheatsheets, and join patterns from the query archaeology store so agents reuse validated work instead of writing SQL from scratch. The skill also defines the store's local write path: after a validated analysis, the final SQL is curated back into the store (the Writer Convention below), which is what makes the retrieval loop close.

When to Use

Automatically before any analysis agent writes SQL (pre-flight step)
Manually when the user asks about known patterns for a table or join
After a validated analysis, to curate the proven SQL (Writer Convention)

Instructions

Step 1: Check the Index

Read .knowledge/query-archaeology/curated/index.yaml. Parse counters: cookbook_entries, table_cheatsheets, join_patterns.

If all three are zero (or the file is missing), stop here. Return nothing and do not mention archaeology to the user.

Step 2: Identify Search Terms

From the current analysis context, extract:

Table names the agent is about to query (e.g., orders, events)
Query intent tags (e.g., funnel, retention, revenue, cohort)

Step 3: Search the Three Stores

Search each store that has entries (per index counts). Match using case-insensitive substring -- order matches orders, order_items.

3a. Cookbook (`curated/cookbook/*.yaml`)

For each file, check:

tables array -- any element contains a search table name as substring?
tags array -- any element matches a query intent tag?

Extract on match: title, sql, tables, tags, and any caveats/notes.

3b. Table Cheatsheets (`curated/tables/*.yaml`)

For each file, check:

table_name contains a search table name as substring?

Extract on match: table_name, grain, primary_key, common_filters, gotchas, common_joins.

3c. Join Patterns (`curated/joins/*.yaml`)

For each file, check:

tables array -- at least two elements match search table names?
If only one search table, match if tables contains it as substring.

Extract on match: tables, join_sql, cardinality, notes, validated.

Step 4: Format Results

Return matched entries as a fenced context block. Omit sections with no matches.

--- QUERY ARCHAEOLOGY CONTEXT ---

## Cookbook Patterns
### {title}
Tables: {tables}  |  Tags: {tags}
```sql
{sql}

Caveats: {caveats or "none"}

Table Cheatsheets

{table_name}

Grain: {grain}
Primary key: {primary_key}
Common filters: {common_filters}
Gotchas: {gotchas}
Common joins: {common_joins summary}

Join Patterns

{tables[0]} <-> {tables[1]}

Cardinality: {cardinality} | Validated: {validated}

sql

{join_sql}

Notes: {notes}

--- END ARCHAEOLOGY CONTEXT ---


### Step 5: Agent Handoff

Pass the formatted block as additional context to the analysis agent. The
agent should prefer archaeology SQL over writing from scratch, respect any
gotchas listed, and note in working files when an archaeology pattern was used.

## Writer Convention: Curate After a Validated Analysis

Retrieval only pays off if something writes. After an analysis is validated
(the triangulation checks pass and the finding ships), curate the final proven
SQL into the store:

1. Allocate the next entry id `CK-{NNN}`: scan
   `.knowledge/query-archaeology/curated/cookbook/` for the highest existing
   number and increment (start at `CK-001` for an empty store).
2. Write `.knowledge/query-archaeology/curated/cookbook/{entry_id}.yaml` with:
   `id`, `title` (what the query answers), `description`, `sql` (the final
   validated SQL), `dataset`, `tables`, `tags` (query intent tags such as
   `funnel`, `retention`, `revenue`), `source_analysis` (the analysis brief or
   `.knowledge/analyses/` run-record filename), `created_at` and `last_used`
   (today), `use_count: 0`. This is the same cookbook format the curated store
   writes, so imported and locally curated entries live side by side.
3. Create `curated/index.yaml` if it is missing (counters `cookbook_entries`,
   `table_cheatsheets`, `join_patterns`, all starting at 0), then increment
   `cookbook_entries`.

Curate one entry per validated headline query, not every intermediate query.
Skip exploratory SQL and one-off sanity checks.

## Anti-Patterns

1. **Never mention archaeology when the store is empty** -- silent skip
2. **Never require exact matches** -- always substring so `order` finds `orders`
3. **Never load all files eagerly** -- check index counts first, skip zero stores
4. **Retrieval never modifies archaeology files** -- the pre-flight path is
   read-only; only the Writer Convention appends entries, and only after
   validation
5. **Never block analysis if retrieval fails** -- archaeology is additive, not a gate

Files

Just SKILL.md in .claude/skills/archaeology of ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 52c0744

Compare with similar skills

Archaeology next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Archaeology compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Archaeology this skillai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst	304	—	~1.3k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	10 days ago
Evolving The Data ModelTriliumNext/Trilium	38k	—	~2.1k	Automated safety check: Pass	AGPL-3.0	today
Orchardcore Data MigrationOrchardCMS/OrchardCore	8.2k	—	~1.7k	Automated safety check: Pass	BSD-3-Clause	yesterday
SQL Optimization Patternsynulihao/AgentSkillOS	618	11 repos	~3.3k	Automated safety check: Pass	None	7 mo ago
SQL PortabilityHL7/sql-on-fhir	151	—	~512	Automated safety check: Pass	Custom licence	5 days ago
StmoSAP/project-foxhound	180	2 repos	~1.8k	Automated safety check: Pass	GPL-3.0	today

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Creates and updates OrchardCore data migrations (DataMigration classes with CreateAsync/UpdateFromX).
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Questions about Archaeology

What does Archaeology do?

Retrieve proven SQL patterns, table cheatsheets, and join patterns from .knowledge/query-archaeology/ so past work gets reused. Archaeology is an agent skill from ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst.knowledge/query-archaeology/ so past work gets reused.

When should I use Archaeology?

Archaeology fits situations like: do we have a known query for X; how do we usually join these tables; have we computed this metric before.

How do I install Archaeology in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst --skill archaeology -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.claude/skills/archaeology in ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst) into .claude/skills/archaeology in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Archaeology in Codex?

Run `npx skills add ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst --skill archaeology -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.claude/skills/archaeology in ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst) into .agents/skills/archaeology in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Archaeology in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst --skill archaeology -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/archaeology, .gemini/skills/archaeology, .github/skills/archaeology and .opencode/skills/archaeology in your project.

What does Archaeology need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Archaeology is instructions for the agent only.

Does Archaeology access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Archaeology safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Archaeology use?

Archaeology is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Archaeology use?

About 1.3k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.3k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Archaeology?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Archaeology: Evolving The Data Model (TriliumNext/Trilium, 38k stars), Orchardcore Data Migration (OrchardCMS/OrchardCore, 8.2k stars), SQL Optimization Patterns (ynulihao/AgentSkillOS, 618 stars) and SQL Portability (HL7/sql-on-fhir, 151 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Archaeology?

ai-analyst-lab (a GitHub organization) maintains it in ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst, which has 304 GitHub stars. The repository holds 43 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 30, 2026.

Source: ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Archaeology

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Skill: Query Archaeology

Purpose

When to Use

Instructions

Step 1: Check the Index

Step 2: Identify Search Terms

Step 3: Search the Three Stores

3a. Cookbook (curated/cookbook/*.yaml)

3b. Table Cheatsheets (curated/tables/*.yaml)

3c. Join Patterns (curated/joins/*.yaml)

Step 4: Format Results

Table Cheatsheets

{table_name}

Join Patterns

{tables[0]} <-> {tables[1]}

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from ai-analyst-lab/ai-analyst

Related

Questions about Archaeology

3a. Cookbook (`curated/cookbook/*.yaml`)

3b. Table Cheatsheets (`curated/tables/*.yaml`)

3c. Join Patterns (`curated/joins/*.yaml`)