Working with a coding agent

For someone who hands SQL Yodeler's setup to a coding agent, and keeps approvals and applies for people.

Works

• One prompt that sets SQL Yodeler up in a repository and opens a pull request, and stops short of applying, approving or merging
• yodel mcp: read-only tools for status, plan, lint and drift
• JSON Schemas for the --json output of each command
• llms.txt and a prompt on each task page

Differs

By database

ClickHouse

• A project owns ClickHouse databases (yodel create <dir> --clickhouse --database <name>).
• A rebuild keeps the old table until yodel cleanup drops it, and lint flags mutations and rebuilds (ch-mutation, ch-rebuild).

Postgres

• A project owns Postgres schemas (yodel create <dir> --postgres --schema <name>).
• Roles stay the environment's: the schema declares the policies and grants that name them.

By forge

GitHub

• The writer's secrets are secrets of a GitHub environment limited to main.
• The plan comment and the drift issue use the job's own token.

GitLab

• The writer's variables are protected and scoped to the environment; the readers' are not protected.
• The plan comment and the drift issue need GITLAB_TOKEN, and each drift watch runs from a pipeline schedule you create.

Forgejo

• Secrets belong to the repository, with no environments, so limit who can push branches.
• Jobs need a runner with the docker label, and a job gets no OIDC token for cloud roles.

First step

Hand the agent this prompt:

Set up SQL Yodeler in this repository.
Read https://intentius.io/sql-yodeler/llms.txt first, then
https://intentius.io/sql-yodeler/agents/ and follow it.
Open a pull request with the result.
Never run `yodel apply` against a shared environment, never run `chant approve`, `yodel approve` or `yodel override`, never edit the `chant/lifecycle` branch or `.chant/allowed_signers`, never merge; approvals and applies belong to people.

Set up with a coding agent

Proof

No scenario claim runs what this room describes. Claims status lists every claim.

Then read

Tasks

Set up with a coding agentYour first migration

Background

Rules for the agentApproval

Reference

Read-only tools (yodel mcp)JSON outputExit codes