| name | dbc |
| description | Install ADBC (Arrow Database Connectivity) drivers with dbc. Use when the user wants to install database drivers and connect to databases. |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| metadata | {"author":"Columnar","version":"1.1.2"} |
dbc Skill
Install and manage drivers for the user with the dbc command line program.
Installing dbc
If the user does not have dbc available, try to install it for them.
Prefer installing it with these commands, in order of preference, if the tool is available:
- If
uv is available: uv tool install dbc
- If
pipx is available: pipx install dbc
- If
brew is available: brew install columnar-tech/tap/dbc
- On Windows, if
winget is available: winget install dbc
If none of the above options are available, stop and ask the user if they want to install dbc themselves manually before proceeding. Direct them to the installation docs: https://docs.columnar.tech/dbc/getting_started/installation/.
Most Important Commands
dbc install <driver> - Install a driver (e.g., dbc install snowflake)dbc search [pattern] - Search for a driver using a pattern (e.g., dbc search sql). Also lists installed drivers (see below).dbc info <driver> - Get driver details
Run dbc --help to learn about other commands.
Listing Installed Drivers
There is no dbc list command. Do not run dbc list — it will fail.
To see which drivers are already installed, run dbc search with no arguments (or with a pattern) and look for entries marked [installed: ...] in the output. For example:
postgresql An ADBC driver for PostgreSQL ... [installed: user=>1.11.0]
snowflake An ADBC driver for Snowflake ... [installed: user=>1.10.3]
Entries without an [installed: ...] tag are available but not yet installed.
Project Workflow
For reproducible driver management, prefer using this workflow over dbc install:
dbc init - Create a dbc.toml filedbc add <driver> - Add drivers to the list (supports version constraints like dbc add "postgresql>=13.0")dbc sync - Install all drivers and create dbc.lock
Using Drivers
Drivers installed with dbc must be used with an ADBC driver manager. dbc cannot load a driver or query a data source directly. Don't install drivers from any other source like PyPI, prefer drivers installed with dbc always.
Resources for using drivers:
