PlanetScale CLI Skills

Comprehensive pscale command reference and workflows for managing PlanetScale databases via terminal.

Overview

The PlanetScale CLI brings database branches, deploy requests, and schema migrations to your fingertips. This skill provides command references, automation scripts, and decision trees for all pscale operations.

Sub-Skills

Command	Skill	Use When
auth	pscale-auth	Login, logout, service tokens, authentication management
branch	pscale-branch	Create, delete, promote, diff, list database branches
deploy-request	pscale-deploy-request	Create, review, deploy, revert schema changes
database	pscale-database	Create, list, show, delete databases
backup	pscale-backup	Create, list, show, delete branch backups
password	pscale-password	Create, list, delete connection passwords
org	pscale-org	List, show, switch organizations
service-token	pscale-service-token	Create, manage CI/CD service tokens

Decision Trees

Should I use a branch or deploy request?

What's your goal?
├─ Experimenting with schema changes → Create branch (pscale-branch)
├─ Testing schema in isolation → Create branch (pscale-branch)
├─ Ready to deploy schema to production → Create deploy request (pscale-deploy-request)
└─ Reviewing schema changes before production → Review deploy request (pscale-deploy-request)

Service token vs password?

What's your use case?
├─ CI/CD pipeline → Service token (pscale-service-token)
├─ Local development → Password (pscale-password)
├─ Production application → Service token (rotatable, secure)
└─ One-off admin task → Password (temporary)

Direct promotion vs deploy request?

Production readiness?
├─ Immediate promotion (dangerous) → pscale branch promote (pscale-branch)
├─ Review + approval workflow → pscale deploy-request create (pscale-deploy-request)
└─ Safe production deployment → Always use deploy requests

Common Workflows

Schema Migration Workflow

Complete workflow from branch creation to production deployment:

# 1. Create development branch
pscale branch create <database> <branch-name>

# 2. Make schema changes (via shell, ORM, or direct SQL)
pscale shell <database> <branch-name>

# 3. View schema diff
pscale branch diff <database> <branch-name>

# 4. Create deploy request
pscale deploy-request create <database> <branch-name>

# 5. Review and deploy
pscale deploy-request deploy <database> <deploy-request-number>

# 6. Verify deployment
pscale deploy-request show <database> <deploy-request-number>

See scripts/ directory for automation.

Branch Development Workflow

# Create branch from main
pscale branch create <database> <feature-branch> --from main

# Work on schema changes
pscale shell <database> <feature-branch>

# Check diff before deploying
pscale branch diff <database> <feature-branch>

# Create deploy request when ready
pscale deploy-request create <database> <feature-branch>

CI/CD Integration

# Create service token for CI/CD
pscale service-token create --org <org>

# Use in CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, etc.)
export PLANETSCALE_SERVICE_TOKEN_ID=<token-id>
export PLANETSCALE_SERVICE_TOKEN=<token>

# Deploy via CI/CD
pscale deploy-request create <database> <branch> --auto-approve

Quick Reference

Most Common Commands

# Authentication
pscale auth login
pscale auth logout

# Branch management
pscale branch create <database> <branch> [--from <source-branch>]
pscale branch list <database>
pscale branch delete <database> <branch>

# Deploy requests
pscale deploy-request create <database> <branch>
pscale deploy-request list <database>
pscale deploy-request deploy <database> <number>

# Database operations
pscale database create <database> --org <org>
pscale database list
pscale shell <database> <branch>

Related Skills

• drizzle-kit - ORM schema management and migrations
• gitlab-cli-skills - GitLab MR workflow integration
• github - GitHub PR and CI/CD integration

Automation Scripts

See scripts/ directory for token-efficient automation:

• create-branch-for-mr.sh - Create PlanetScale branch matching your MR/PR branch name
• deploy-schema-change.sh - Complete schema migration workflow
• sync-branch-with-main.sh - Sync development branch with main

Scripts execute without loading into context (~90% token savings).

Resources

• Official docs: https://planetscale.com/docs/reference/planetscale-cli
• GitHub: https://github.com/planetscale/cli
• Community: https://github.com/planetscale/discussion