SurrealDB 3

SKILL.md

---
name: surrealdb
description: "Expert SurrealDB 3 architect and developer skill. SurrealQL mastery, multi-model data modeling (document, graph, vector, time-series, geospatial), schema design, security, deployment, performance tuning, SDK integration (JS, Python, Go, Rust, Java, .NET, C, PHP, Swift, Kotlin, Ruby), Surrealism WASM extensions, SurrealML scope coverage (preview), SurrealMCP for AI agent hosts, LangChain Python integration, editor tooling (LSP, tree-sitter, CodeMirror, VS Code/JetBrains/Neovim/Zed), and ecosystem integrations (Surrealist, Surreal-Sync, SurrealFS, SurrealKit, n8n, Agent Skills, setup-surreal). Universal skill for 30+ AI agents."
version: "1.6.6"
license: MIT
metadata:
  version: "1.6.6"
  author: "24601"
  snapshot_date: "2026-05-14"
  repository: "https://github.com/24601/surreal-skills"
  openclaw:
    requires:
      env:
        - SURREAL_ENDPOINT
        - SURREAL_USER
        - SURREAL_PASS
        - SURREAL_NS
        - SURREAL_DB
      bins:
        - surreal
        - python3
        - uv
    primaryEnv: SURREAL_PASS
    homepage: "https://github.com/24601/surreal-skills"
    always: false
    install:
      - kind: brew
        formula: surrealdb/tap/surreal
        bins: [surreal]
      - kind: brew
        formula: uv
        bins: [uv]
requires:
  binaries:
    - name: surreal
      install: "brew install surrealdb/tap/surreal"
      purpose: "SurrealDB CLI for server management, SQL REPL, import/export"
      optional: false
    - name: python3
      version: ">=3.10"
      purpose: "Required for skill scripts (doctor.py, schema.py, onboard.py)"
      optional: false
    - name: uv
      install: "brew install uv"
      purpose: "PEP 723 script runner -- installs script deps automatically"
      optional: false
    - name: docker
      purpose: "Containerized SurrealDB instances"
      optional: true
    - name: gh
      install: "brew install gh"
      purpose: "GitHub CLI -- used only by check_upstream.py for comparing upstream repo SHAs"
      optional: true
  env_vars:
    - name: SURREAL_ENDPOINT
      purpose: "SurrealDB server URL"
      default: "http://localhost:8000"
      sensitive: false
    - name: SURREAL_USER
      purpose: "Authentication username"
      default: "root"
      sensitive: true
    - name: SURREAL_PASS
      purpose: "Authentication password"
      default: "root"
      sensitive: true
    - name: SURREAL_NS
      purpose: "Default namespace"
      default: "test"
      sensitive: false
    - name: SURREAL_DB
      purpose: "Default database"
      default: "test"
      sensitive: false
security:
  no_network: false
  no_network_note: "doctor.py and schema.py connect to a user-specified SurrealDB endpoint (WebSocket) for health checks and schema introspection. check_upstream.py calls GitHub API via gh CLI to compare upstream repo SHAs. No other third-party network calls."
  no_credentials: false
  no_credentials_note: "Scripts accept SURREAL_USER/SURREAL_PASS for DB authentication. No credentials are stored in the skill itself."
  no_env_write: true
  no_file_write: false
  no_file_write_note: "schema.py can write exported schema files when --output-dir is set. onboard.py can write a local .env file during interactive setup if the user explicitly confirms."
  no_shell_exec: false
  no_shell_exec_note: "Scripts invoke surreal CLI and gh for health checks."
  scripts_auditable: true
  scripts_use_pep723: true
  no_obfuscated_code: true
  no_binary_blobs: true
  no_minified_scripts: true
  no_curl_pipe_sh: true
---

# SurrealDB 3 Skill

Expert-level SurrealDB 3 architecture, development, and operations. Covers SurrealQL, multi-model data modeling, graph traversal, vector search, security, deployment, performance tuning, SDK integration, and the wider SurrealDB ecosystem, including SurrealKit, SurrealMCP, n8n, CodeMirror, and agent-skill surfaces.

## For AI Agents

Get a full capabilities manifest, decision trees, and output contracts:

```bash
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/onboard.py --agent
```

See [AGENTS.md]({baseDir}/AGENTS.md) for the complete structured briefing.

| Command | What It Does |
|---------|-------------|
| `uv run {baseDir}/scripts/doctor.py` | Health check: verify surreal CLI, connectivity, versions |
| `uv run {baseDir}/scripts/doctor.py --check` | Quick pass/fail check (exit code only) |
| `uv run {baseDir}/scripts/schema.py introspect` | Dump full schema of a running SurrealDB instance |
| `uv run {baseDir}/scripts/schema.py tables` | List all tables with field counts and indexes |
| `uv run {baseDir}/scripts/onboard.py --agent` | JSON capabilities manifest for agent integration |

## Prerequisites

- **surreal CLI** -- `brew install surrealdb/tap/surreal` (macOS) or see [install docs](https://surrealdb.com/docs/surrealdb/installation)
- **Python 3.10+** -- Required for skill scripts
- **uv** -- `brew install uv` (macOS) or `pip install uv` or see [uv docs](https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/)

Optional:

- **Docker** -- For containerized SurrealDB instances (`docker run surrealdb/surrealdb:v3`)
- **SDK of choice** -- JavaScript, Python, Go, Rust, Java, Kotlin, .NET, C, PHP, Swift, or Ruby

> **Security note**: This skill documents package-manager and container installs
> only. Prefer auditable installs through Homebrew, apt/dnf, Cargo, npm, or
> Docker rather than remote one-line shell installers.

## Quick Start

> **Credential warning**: Examples below use `root/root` for **local development
> only**. Never use default credentials against production or shared instances.
> Create scoped, least-privilege users for non-local environments.

```bash
# Start SurrealDB in-memory for LOCAL DEVELOPMENT ONLY
surreal start memory --user root --pass root --bind 127.0.0.1:8000

# Start with persistent RocksDB storage (local dev)
surreal start rocksdb://data/mydb.db --user root --pass root

# Start with SurrealKV (time-travel queries supported, local dev)
surreal start surrealkv://data/mydb --user root --pass root

# Connect via CLI REPL (local dev)
surreal sql --endpoint http://localhost:8000 --user root --pass root --ns test --db test

# Import a SurrealQL file
surreal import --endpoint http://localhost:8000 --user root --pass root --ns test --db test schema.surql

# Export the database
surreal export --endpoint http://localhost:8000 --user root --pass root --ns test --db test backup.surql

# Check version
surreal version

# Run the skill health check
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/doctor.py
```

## Environment Variables

| Variable | Description | Default |
|----------|-------------|---------|
| `SURREAL_ENDPOINT` | SurrealDB server URL | `http://localhost:8000` |
| `SURREAL_USER` | Root or namespace username | `root` |
| `SURREAL_PASS` | Root or namespace password | `root` |
| `SURREAL_NS` | Default namespace | `test` |
| `SURREAL_DB` | Default database | `test` |

These map directly to the `surreal sql` CLI flags (`--endpoint`, `--user`, `--pass`, `--ns`, `--db`) and are recognized by official SurrealDB SDKs.

## Core Capabilities

### SurrealQL Mastery

Full coverage of the SurrealQL query language: `CREATE`, `SELECT`, `UPDATE`, `UPSERT`, `DELETE`, `RELATE`, `INSERT`, `LIVE SELECT`, `DEFINE`, `REMOVE`, `INFO`, subqueries, transactions, futures, and all built-in functions (array, crypto, duration, geo, math, meta, object, parse, rand, string, time, type, vector).

See: `rules/surrealql.md`

### Multi-Model Data Modeling

Design schemas that leverage SurrealDB's multi-model capabilities -- document collections, graph edges, relational references, vector embeddings, time-series data, and geospatial coordinates -- all in a single database with a single query language.

See: `rules/data-modeling.md`

### Graph Queries

First-class graph traversal without JOINs. `RELATE` creates typed edges between records. Traverse with `->` (outgoing), `<-` (incoming), and `<->` (bidirectional) operators. Filter, aggregate, and recurse at any depth.

See: `rules/graph-queries.md`

### Vector Search

Built-in vector similarity search using HNSW indexes (the v3 vector index type; brute-force is available as a fallback during index build/rebuild). Define vector fields, create indexes with configurable distance metrics (cosine, euclidean, manhattan, minkowski), and query with `vector::similarity::*` functions. Build RAG pipelines and semantic search directly in SurrealQL.

See: `rules/vector-search.md`

### Security and Permissions

Row-level security via `DEFINE TABLE ... PERMISSIONS`, namespace/database/record-level access control, `DEFINE ACCESS` for JWT/token-based auth, `DEFINE USER` for system users, and `$auth`/`$session` runtime variables for permission predicates.

See: `rules/security.md`

### Deployment and Operations

Single-binary deployment, Docker, Kubernetes (Helm charts), storage engine selection (memory, RocksDB, SurrealKV, TiKV for distributed), backup/restore, monitoring, and production hardening.

See: `rules/deployment.md`

### Performance Tuning

Index strategies (unique, search, vector HNSW), query optimization with `EXPLAIN`, connection pooling, storage engine trade-offs, batch operations, and resource limits.

See: `rules/performance.md`

### SDK Integration

Official SDKs for JavaScript/TypeScript (Node.js, Deno, Bun, browser), Python, Go, Rust, Java, Kotlin, .NET, C, PHP, Swift (iOS/macOS/visionOS), and Ruby. Includes the source-only C binding, Python v3 unreleased API boundary, .NET v0.10.2 beta surface, connection protocols, authentication flows, live query subscriptions, and typed record handling.

See: `rules/sdks.md`

### Surrealism WASM Extensions

New in SurrealDB 3: extend the database with custom functions, analyzers, and logic written in Rust and compiled to WASM. Define, deploy, and manage Surrealism modules.

See: `rules/surrealism.md`

### SurrealML In-Database Inference (preview / unstable)

`surrealml` has a GitHub `v0.1.2` release, but PyPI still exposes `surrealml` 0.0.4 as the latest package as of this snapshot. The `.surml` artifact format and `[sklearn]`, `[torch]`, `[tensorflow]` extras are the stable documented boundary. The v1.4.0 documentation for `DEFINE MODEL`, `INFO FOR MODEL`, `REMOVE MODEL`, `ml::name<version>(...)`, `surreal ml import`, `db.upload_ml(...)`, and the `SurMlFile.from_<framework>(...)` factory methods was retracted in v1.4.1. The current Python setup path downloads native libraries from GitHub Releases unless `LOCAL_BUILD=TRUE`, so pin and audit before production use.

See: `rules/surrealml.md`

### SurrealMCP -- Model Context Protocol Server

The official MCP server (`surrealdb/surrealmcp`) lets MCP-compatible AI hosts (Claude Desktop, Cursor, GitHub Copilot in VS Code, Zed, n8n) read and write SurrealDB through one configuration entry. Install from source (`cargo install --path .`) or Docker; not on crates.io or npm. Binary requires `start` subcommand. Tool wire-names are snake_case: `query`, `select`, `insert`, `create`, `upsert`, `update`, `delete`, `relate`, `connect_endpoint`, `use_namespace`, `use_database`, `list_namespaces`, `list_databases`, `disconnect_endpoint`, plus cloud tools.

See: `rules/surrealmcp.md`, `skills/surrealmcp/SKILL.md`

### Editor Tooling

`surrealql-language-server` v0.1.3 is the first-party LSP baseline; `surql-lsp` v0.1.1 remains a separate community crate. The rule tracks tree-sitter, first-party editor extensions, and `@surrealdb/codemirror` / `@surrealdb/lezer` v1.0.5 for custom web editors. Per-extension command palettes and settings still need each extension README as source of truth.

See: `rules/editor-tooling.md`

### LangChain Integration (Python only)

`langchain-surrealdb` 0.2.1 (Python; `langchain-core ~= 1.1.0`, `surrealdb ~= 1.0.8` v1 SDK) exposes SurrealDB as a vector store via constructor `SurrealDBVectorStore(embeddings, conn)`. JS package, async class, chat history, and hybrid retriever from v1.4.0 were retracted in v1.4.1.

See: `rules/langchain.md`

### Ecosystem Integrations

Official-docs and first-party-adjacent surfaces that are not full dedicated rules yet: `@surrealdb/n8n-nodes-surrealdb` v0.6.0 for self-hosted n8n, the official AI framework docs index, Spectron / Agent Memory Context as roadmap-only, CodeMirror packages, and the official `surrealdb/agent-skills` repo. Use this rule to avoid presenting roadmap or pointer pages as production APIs.

See: `rules/ecosystem-integrations.md`

### Ecosystem Tools

- **Surrealist** -- Official IDE and GUI for SurrealDB (schema designer, query editor, graph visualizer)
- **Surreal-Sync** -- Change Data Capture (CDC) for migrations from other databases
- **SurrealFS** -- AI agent filesystem built on SurrealDB
- **SurrealKit** -- Desired-state schema sync, rollout-based migrations, seeding, and declarative tests
- **SurrealML** -- Preview-stage `.surml` artifact tooling; server invocation surface still unstable
- **SurrealMCP** -- Model Context Protocol server for AI agents
- **n8n** -- Official scoped community package for self-hosted n8n workflows
- **CodeMirror** -- Official SurrealQL syntax packages for custom editors
- **setup-surreal** -- Official GitHub Action (`surrealdb/setup-surreal@v2`) for running SurrealDB in CI workflows. Not a CLI bootstrap (the v1.4.0 documentation that described it as one was retracted in v1.4.2)

See: `rules/surrealist.md`, `rules/surreal-sync.md`, `rules/surrealfs.md`, `rules/surrealkit.md`, `rules/surrealml.md`, `rules/surrealmcp.md`, `rules/ecosystem-integrations.md`, `rules/deployment.md` (setup-surreal section)

## Doctor / Health Check

```bash
# Full diagnostic (Rich output on stderr, JSON on stdout)
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/doctor.py

# Quick check (exit code 0 = healthy, 1 = issues found)
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/doctor.py --check

# Check a specific endpoint
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/doctor.py --endpoint http://my-server:8000
```

The doctor script verifies: surreal CLI installed and on PATH, server reachable, authentication succeeds, namespace and database exist, version compatibility, and storage engine status.

## Schema Introspection

```bash
# Full schema dump (all tables, fields, indexes, events, accesses)
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/schema.py introspect

# List tables with summary
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/schema.py tables

# Inspect a specific table
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/schema.py table <table_name>

# Export schema as SurrealQL (reproducible DEFINE statements)
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/schema.py export --format surql

# Export schema as JSON
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/schema.py export --format json
```

Introspection uses `INFO FOR DB`, `INFO FOR TABLE`, and `INFO FOR NS` to reconstruct the full schema.

## Rules Reference

| Rule File | Coverage |
|-----------|----------|
| `rules/surrealql.md` | SurrealQL syntax, statements, functions, operators, idioms |
| `rules/data-modeling.md` | Schema design, record IDs, field types, relations, normalization |
| `rules/graph-queries.md` | RELATE, graph traversal operators, path expressions, recursive queries |
| `rules/vector-search.md` | Vector fields, HNSW indexes (the v3 vector index type), similarity functions, RAG patterns |
| `rules/security.md` | Permissions, access control, authentication, JWT, row-level security |
| `rules/deployment.md` | Installation, storage engines, Docker, Kubernetes, production config; `surrealdb/setup-surreal@v2` GitHub Action (CI-only; not a CLI bootstrap) |
| `rules/performance.md` | Indexes, EXPLAIN, query optimization, batch ops, resource tuning |
| `rules/sdks.md` | JS/TS, Python, Go, Rust, Java, Kotlin, .NET, C, PHP, Swift, Ruby SDK usage, connection patterns, live queries |
| `rules/surrealism.md` | WASM extensions, custom functions, Surrealism module authoring |
| `rules/surrealml.md` | SurrealML preview scope, .surml artifacts, package/release boundaries, native dependency warning |
| `rules/surrealmcp.md` | Model Context Protocol server: tool catalog, host configuration, transports, deployment |
| `rules/editor-tooling.md` | LSP, tree-sitter grammar, CodeMirror, VS Code / JetBrains / Neovim / Helix / Sublime / Zed extensions |
| `rules/langchain.md` | LangChain Python integration: vector store, constructor API, custom_filter boundary |
| `rules/ecosystem-integrations.md` | n8n, AI framework docs index, Spectron roadmap boundary, CodeMirror, official Agent Skills repo |
| `rules/surrealist.md` | Surrealist IDE/GUI usage, schema designer, query editor |
| `rules/surreal-sync.md` | CDC migration tool, source/target connectors, migration workflows |
| `rules/surrealfs.md` | AI agent filesystem, file storage, metadata, retrieval patterns |
| `rules/surrealkit.md` | Desired-state schema sync, rollout-based migrations, seeding, and declarative DB testing |

## Workflow Examples

> **All workflow examples use `root/root` for local development only.**
> For production, use `DEFINE USER` with scoped, least-privilege credentials.

### New Project Setup

```bash
# 1. Verify environment
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/doctor.py

# 2. Start SurrealDB
surreal start rocksdb://data/myproject.db --user root --pass root

# 3. Design schema (use rules/data-modeling.md for guidance)
# 4. Import initial schema
surreal import --endpoint http://localhost:8000 --user root --pass root \
  --ns myapp --db production schema.surql

# 5. Introspect to verify
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/schema.py introspect
```

### Migration from SurrealDB v2

```bash
# 1. Export v2 data
surreal export --endpoint http://old-server:8000 --user root --pass root \
  --ns myapp --db production v2-backup.surql

# 2. Review breaking changes (see rules/surrealql.md v2->v3 migration section)
# Key changes: range syntax 1..4 is now exclusive of end, new WASM extension system

# 3. Import into v3
surreal import --endpoint http://localhost:8000 --user root --pass root \
  --ns myapp --db production v2-backup.surql

# 4. Verify schema
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/schema.py introspect
```

### Data Modeling for a New Domain

```bash
# 1. Read rules/data-modeling.md for schema design patterns
# 2. Read rules/graph-queries.md if your domain has relationships
# 3. Read rules/vector-search.md if you need semantic search
# 4. Draft schema.surql with DEFINE TABLE, DEFINE FIELD, DEFINE INDEX
# 5. Import and test
surreal import --endpoint http://localhost:8000 --user root --pass root \
  --ns dev --db test schema.surql
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/schema.py introspect
```

### Deploying to Production

```bash
# 1. Read rules/deployment.md for storage engine selection and hardening
# 2. Read rules/security.md for access control setup
# 3. Read rules/performance.md for index strategy
# 4. Run doctor against production endpoint
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/doctor.py --endpoint https://prod-surreal:8000
# 5. Verify schema matches expectations
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/schema.py introspect --endpoint https://prod-surreal:8000
```

## Upstream Source Check

```bash
# Check if upstream SurrealDB repos have changed since this skill was built
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/check_upstream.py

# JSON-only output for agents
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/check_upstream.py --json

# Only show repos that have new commits
uv run {baseDir}/scripts/check_upstream.py --stale
```

Compares current HEAD SHAs and release tags of all tracked repos against the
baselines in `SOURCES.json`. Use this to plan incremental skill updates.

## Source Provenance

This skill was refreshed on **2026-05-03** from these upstream sources:

| Repository | Release | Snapshot Date |
|------------|---------|---------------|
| [surrealdb/surrealdb](https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb) | v3.0.5 (main `a97d3af`, +38 since v3.0.5 toward v3.1.0-alpha) | 2026-04-29 |
| [surrealdb/surrealist](https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealist) | surrealist-v3.8.5 | 2026-05-01 |
| [surrealdb/surrealdb.js](https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb.js) | v2.0.3 | 2026-03-25 |
| [surrealdb/surrealdb.py](https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb.py) | v2.0.0 (GA) | 2026-05-02 |
| [surrealdb/surrealdb.go](https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealdb.go) | v1.4.0 (main `aef39d3`) | 2026-04-30 |
| [surrealdb/surreal-sync](https://github.com/surrealdb/surreal-sync) | v0.3.4 | 2026-03-11 |
| [surrealdb/surrealfs](https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealfs) | -- | 2026-01-29 |
| [surrealdb/surrealkit](https://github.com/surrealdb/surrealkit) | v0.6.0 (pre-release) | 2026-05-03 |

Documentation: [surrealdb.com/docs](https://surrealdb.com/docs) snapshot 2026-05-03.

Machine-readable provenance: `SOURCES.json`.

## Output Convention

All Python scripts in this skill follow a dual-output pattern:

- **stderr**: Rich-formatted human-readable output (tables, panels, status indicators)
- **stdout**: Machine-readable JSON for programmatic consumption by AI agents

This means `2>/dev/null` hides the human output, and piping stdout gives clean JSON for downstream processing.