render-skill

name	render-skill
description	Inspect and operate Render services, databases, deploys, env vars, and logs. Use when the user references Render hosting, asks to grab a Render database URL or env var, wants to trigger a deploy, or wants to check service / deploy status. The skill exposes service + Postgres lookups, env-var read/write, deploy triggers, and recent logs.
allowed-tools	Bash, Read

Render Skill - Service & Postgres Management

Inspect and operate Render-hosted services and Postgres instances. Pull live connection strings, env vars, trigger deploys, and read recent logs without leaving the terminal.

First-Time Setup (~1 minute)

1. Create a Render API key

1. Go to https://dashboard.render.com/u/settings#api-keys
2. Click Create API Key, name it (e.g. "Claude Assistant")
3. Copy the key (starts with rnd_)

2. Save the key

echo '{"api_key": "rnd_YOUR_KEY_HERE"}' > ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/config.json

The skill caches the resolved owner ID and a name→id map under ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/cache.json after the first call. Delete that file to force a refresh.

Commands

All commands print JSON to stdout. Pipe to jq for readable output. Most accept service or database identifiers as either the Render ID (srv-... / dpg-...) or the human name (resolved via cache).

Services

# List all services (filter by type/name)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py services [--type web|worker|static|cron|background|private] [--name SUBSTRING] [--limit N]

# Get one service
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py service NAME_OR_ID

# Env vars for a service (returns key+value)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py service-env NAME_OR_ID [--key KEY]

# Set an env var (queues a deploy unless --no-deploy)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py service-env-set NAME_OR_ID KEY VALUE [--no-deploy]

# Recent deploys
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py deploys NAME_OR_ID [--limit N]

# Trigger a deploy
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py deploy NAME_OR_ID [--clear-cache] [--commit SHA]

# Recent logs (defaults to last 200 lines)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py logs NAME_OR_ID [--limit N] [--since "10m"|"1h"|"2d"]

Postgres databases

# List all Postgres instances
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py databases [--name SUBSTRING]

# Get one database
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py database NAME_OR_ID

# Get the connection string (the killer command for migrations / psql)
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py database-url NAME_OR_ID [--internal|--external]

--internal returns the private network URL (use from inside Render). --external returns the public URL (use from your laptop). Default: --external.

Convenience

# Open a psql shell against a Render Postgres
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py psql NAME_OR_ID

# Print export statements you can eval into your shell
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py exports NAME_OR_ID    # for a service: prints all env vars as `export KEY=VALUE`
python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py exports-db NAME_OR_ID # for a database: prints `export DATABASE_URL=...`

Common workflows

Pull the zergai DATABASE_URL for a migration

python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py database-url zergai-postgres --external
# or
eval "$(python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py exports-db zergai-postgres)"
psql "$DATABASE_URL"

Pull a service env var

python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py service-env zergai-api --key ZERGAI_SERVICE_TOKEN

Set a secret then redeploy

python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py service-env-set zergai-api SOMETHING newvalue

Tail logs of the API service

python3 ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/render_skill.py logs zergai-api --limit 500 --since 30m

Output format

All commands print one JSON document. On HTTP errors the skill exits non-zero and prints {"error":..., "status":..., "body":...}.

Security

• API key lives in ~/.claude/skills/render-skill/config.json (gitignored by your home dir conventions).
• Cache file (cache.json) only stores owner ID + service/database id↔name lookups. No secrets.
• The skill never logs env-var values to disk; it prints them to stdout only when explicitly requested.

API reference

Render REST API docs: https://api-docs.render.com