DATABASES / MongoDB
MongoDB schema design
Pins MongoDB's schema-design skill, which separates read checks from writes and says write tools need an explicit yes.
“MongoDB schema design patterns and anti-patterns. Use when designing data models, reviewing schemas, migrating from SQL, or troubleshooting performance issues caused by schema problems. Triggers on "design schema", "embed vs reference", "MongoDB data model", "schema review", "unbounded arrays", "one-to-many", "tree structure", "16MB limit", "schema validation", "JSON Schema", "time series", "schema migration", "polymorphic", "TTL", "data lifecycle", "archive", "index explosion", "unnecessary indexes", "approximation pattern", "document versioning".”
01 / THE REASONING
Why this made the selection.
- The catalogue has MongoDB's query-optimizer skill and not this schema-design skill.
- The file names which MCP tools it may run on its own and which it says need a yes, including drop-database.
02 / THE REVIEW RECORD
What we actually inspected.
Source review has boundaries.
A clear record is more useful than a “safe” badge.
Material inspected
- skills/mongodb-schema-design/SKILL.md
- README.md
- LICENSE
Our findings
- The skill says data that is accessed together should be stored together, and it points schema checks at a MongoDB MCP server when one is connected.
- It says to use --readOnly for safety and to remove that flag only when writes are needed.
- Its action table marks find, aggregate, collection-schema, db-stats, and count as runnable without a prompt, and marks update-many, insert-many, create-collection, delete-many, drop-collection, and drop-database as requiring explicit confirmation.
Not established by this review
- The resource was not executed and its tools were not called.
- No MongoDB command was sent.
- The MCP server named in the skill was not started.
- Not executed: it was not installed or run.
The review applies to the material and revision named here. A newer upstream release can change its behavior.
03 / PUT IT TO WORK
Add a skill to your workflow.
DOCUMENTED COMMAND
npx skills add mongodb/agent-skillsRun in your terminal to choose your AI tools, project or global scope, and installation method. This short command follows the current upstream version; the review covers the revision shown above.
- The README's direct skills install is the command above and does not configure an MCP server.
- The same README says /plugin install mongodb-atlas configures the hosted Atlas MCP server over OAuth.
- For a self-managed deployment it points at a different mongodb plugin and README.community.md, which this review did not open.
Before you start
- A skills-compatible agent
- Optional MongoDB MCP server if the skill's live checks are used
- A database the operator is allowed to inspect
04 / FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The source trail.
Our notes are separate from the original resource.
Check upstream before adopting a new version.
https://github.com/mongodb/agent-skills/blob/c370a63b27075008a92134686b24af3817edeb00/skills/mongodb-schema-design/SKILL.md
Supports: embed principle and write-confirmation table
- Repository README ↗Checked
https://github.com/mongodb/agent-skills/blob/c370a63b27075008a92134686b24af3817edeb00/README.md
Supports: skills install line and Atlas plugin distinction
- Repository LICENSE ↗Checked
https://github.com/mongodb/agent-skills/blob/c370a63b27075008a92134686b24af3817edeb00/LICENSE
Supports: Apache License Version 2.0
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mongodb/agent-skills/c370a63b27075008a92134686b24af3817edeb00/skills/mongodb-schema-design/SKILL.md
Supports: upstreamDescription, limitations, review.notTested, review.reviewedAt