qlocalclonedb

name	qlocalclonedb
description	Clone a staging tenant's database into a named local Postgres DB for realistic local testing — copies schema + data so you can reproduce issues against production-shaped data. Use before local E2E when you need real tenant data; qspinuplocal calls it when a project ships a local-DB bootstrap.

qlocalclonedb — Clone a Staging Tenant into a Named Local DB

Clones a staging tenant's the Postgres provider DB into a side-by-side local Postgres database. Lets multiple cloned tenants coexist (e.g. {{LOCAL_DEV_DB_NAME}} for Example Tenant plus local_acme_corp_db for Acme Corp) so you can switch between them without re-cloning.

Input: $ARGUMENTS

• --tenant <name> — exact staging tenant name (use --list to discover) — REQUIRED unless --list
• --db-name <db> — local Postgres DB name to create (default: local_<sanitized_tenant>_db)
• --list — list available staging tenants and exit; nothing else happens
• --staging-url <url> — staging GLOBAL_DATABASE_URL (overrides .env.dev). Pass inline once if .env.dev is missing
• --remote-url <url> — full Postgres URL for the tenant DB to dump from, bypassing the DB provider API lookup. Use this when the tenant's app.account_registry row points at a different DB provider branch than the one you want to clone (e.g. the registry pins main/production but you actually want develop). Supply the pooled DB provider endpoint URL, e.g. postgresql://<role>:<pw>@<pooler-host>.example-postgres.com/<db>?sslmode=require. When this is set, the local DB_PROVIDER_API_KEY is not used to fetch the connection string.
• --branch-endpoint <ep-id> — DB provider endpoint ID for a specific branch (e.g. <branch-endpoint-id>). Lighter-weight alternative to --remote-url: the skill assembles the full URL from the endpoint ID, the tenant's db_database_name / db_role_name from app.account_registry, and the password from the existing tenant URL pattern. Useful when you know "I want develop branch" but not the full connection string. Requires --tenant so role/database can be resolved.
• --reclone — drop the local DB if it already exists before recreating

Defaults: requires either .env.dev in {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/ OR --staging-url. The local DB_PROVIDER_API_KEY (from {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/.env) is reused — except when --remote-url or --branch-endpoint is set, in which case the API lookup is skipped.

When to override the branch. app.account_registry stores ONE the Postgres provider branch_id per tenant. In multi-environment DB provider projects (e.g. one project hosting main + develop + per-PR preview branches), that pin usually points at main. If you're testing a fix against data that only exists on the develop branch, the default clone path pulls the wrong data — records may be missing, record_hash_id may be NULL, record_mappings rows may differ. Symptom: clone succeeds, but the rules_engine resolver returns no applicable policies because the lines aren't categorised under the expected scope. Use --remote-url or --branch-endpoint to target the right branch explicitly.

Canonical config

Setting	Value
{{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}} scripts dir	{{CODEBASE_ROOT}}/{{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/scripts
Wrapper template	{{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/scripts/local_setup_acmecorp.sh (per-developer, gitignored under scripts/local_*.sh)
Local Postgres	/opt/homebrew/opt/postgresql@17/bin/psql
Local Postgres user	{{LOCAL_DB_USER}}
Underlying script	{{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/scripts/bootstrap_local_db.py (already supports --local-db)

Protocol

Step 1 — Argument parsing

Parse $ARGUMENTS for --list, --tenant, --db-name, --staging-url, --remote-url, --branch-endpoint, --reclone.

If --list AND no --staging-url: fall through to Step 3 with --list-tenants.

If neither --list nor --tenant: error and stop.

If both --remote-url and --branch-endpoint are passed: --remote-url wins (more specific).

Step 2 — Preflight

# Postgres running?
/opt/homebrew/opt/postgresql@17/bin/psql -U {{LOCAL_DB_USER}} -d postgres -c "SELECT 1" > /dev/null 2>&1 \
  || { echo "❌ Postgres not on :5432"; exit 1; }

# {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/.env exists (we always need DB_PROVIDER_API_KEY from it)?
test -f {{CODEBASE_ROOT}}/{{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/.env || { echo "❌ {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/.env missing"; exit 1; }

# Need staging GLOBAL_DATABASE_URL: prefer --staging-url, then .env.dev
if [ -n "$STAGING_URL_ARG" ]; then
  STAGING_URL="$STAGING_URL_ARG"
elif [ -f {{CODEBASE_ROOT}}/{{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/.env.dev ]; then
  STAGING_URL="$(grep '^GLOBAL_DATABASE_URL=' {{CODEBASE_ROOT}}/{{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/.env.dev | cut -d= -f2-)"
else
  echo "❌ Need staging GLOBAL_DATABASE_URL — pass --staging-url or restore .env.dev"
  exit 1
fi

Step 3 — Build the runtime env file

bootstrap_local_db.py calls load_dotenv(env_path, override=True) which would clobber any pre-exported staging URL. Build a temp env file combining the staging URL (for account_registry lookup) with the local DB_PROVIDER_API_KEY (for DB provider API auth):

TMP_ENV="$(mktemp -t qlocalclonedb.XXXXXX)"
trap 'rm -f "$TMP_ENV"' EXIT
DB_PROVIDER_KEY="$(grep '^DB_PROVIDER_API_KEY=' {{CODEBASE_ROOT}}/{{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/.env | cut -d= -f2-)"
[ -z "$DB_PROVIDER_KEY" ] && { echo "❌ DB_PROVIDER_API_KEY missing from {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/.env"; exit 1; }
printf 'GLOBAL_DATABASE_URL=%s\nDB_PROVIDER_API_KEY=%s\n' "$STAGING_URL" "$DB_PROVIDER_KEY" > "$TMP_ENV"

Step 4 — Patch PSQL_BIN for this machine

bootstrap_local_db.py hardcodes PSQL_BIN = "/Applications/Postgres.app/..." which doesn't exist on this dev box (we use brew). Make a temp copy of the script with PSQL_BIN replaced — DO NOT edit the committed file:

PSQL_BIN_LOCAL="/opt/homebrew/opt/postgresql@17/bin/psql"
[ -x "$PSQL_BIN_LOCAL" ] || { echo "❌ psql not at $PSQL_BIN_LOCAL"; exit 1; }
TMP_SCRIPT="$(mktemp -t qlocalclonedb_script.XXXXXX.py)"
trap 'rm -f "$TMP_ENV" "$TMP_SCRIPT"' EXIT
sed "s|^PSQL_BIN = .*|PSQL_BIN = \"$PSQL_BIN_LOCAL\"|" \
  {{CODEBASE_ROOT}}/{{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/scripts/bootstrap_local_db.py > "$TMP_SCRIPT"

Step 4.5 — (optional) Override the remote URL to clone from a specific branch

bootstrap_local_db.py resolves the tenant DB URL via DB provider API at main() time:

remote_url = get_source_connection_string(tenant, db_provider_api_key)

That uses tenant.db_branch_id from app.account_registry — which is usually pinned to a single branch (often main). If the caller passed --remote-url or --branch-endpoint, patch the temp script to replace that line with the override:

# Build the override URL
if [ -n "$REMOTE_URL_ARG" ]; then
  OVERRIDE_URL="$REMOTE_URL_ARG"
elif [ -n "$BRANCH_ENDPOINT_ARG" ]; then
  # Assemble URL from endpoint + account_registry row.
  # Look up role + database from account_registry on the staging GLOBAL DB.
  read DB_ROLE_NAME DB_DATABASE < <(/opt/homebrew/opt/postgresql@17/bin/psql "$STAGING_URL" -tAF' ' -c \
    "SELECT db_role_name, db_database_name FROM app.account_registry WHERE tenant_name='$TENANT'")
  # Password isn't in account_registry — db_provider_client builds it via API normally.
  # The pragmatic path: ask the user to pass --remote-url for first-time use, then they can
  # paste the resulting URL into a comment on this skill so the next invocation
  # has a known-good template. For a fully automated --branch-endpoint flow, the
  # the_db_provider API call must be invoked to mint a fresh password against the endpoint.
  echo "❌ --branch-endpoint requires a one-time DB_PROVIDER_API_KEY with project access."
  echo "   For now, pass --remote-url with the full URL (you can find it in the the Postgres provider console"
  echo "   under the chosen branch's 'Connection string' panel)."
  exit 1
fi

# Patch the temp script. Done via a small Python helper file (sed can't safely
# handle the URL's `&` because it's the sed-replacement back-reference).
if [ -n "$OVERRIDE_URL" ]; then
  printf '%s\n' "$OVERRIDE_URL" > /tmp/_qlocalclonedb_remote_url.txt
  TMP_SCRIPT="$TMP_SCRIPT" python3 - <<'PY'
import os
path = os.environ["TMP_SCRIPT"]
with open(path) as f: src = f.read()
with open("/tmp/_qlocalclonedb_remote_url.txt") as f: url = f.read().strip()
needle = "remote_url = get_source_connection_string(tenant, db_provider_api_key)"
repl   = f'remote_url = "{url}"  # OVERRIDDEN by qlocalclonedb (--remote-url / --branch-endpoint)'
assert needle in src, "needle not found — bootstrap_local_db.py changed shape"
with open(path, "w") as f: f.write(src.replace(needle, repl))
print("patched remote_url override")
PY
  rm -f /tmp/_qlocalclonedb_remote_url.txt
fi

If neither override is set, leave the script alone and let it use the DB provider API + account_registry path.

Step 5 — List or clone

If --list:

cd {{CODEBASE_ROOT}}/{{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}
./venv/bin/python "$TMP_SCRIPT" --list-tenants --env-file "$TMP_ENV"
exit 0

Otherwise:

DB_NAME="${DB_NAME:-local_$(echo "$TENANT" | tr '[:upper:] ' '[:lower:]_' | tr -cd 'a-z0-9_')_db}"
cd {{CODEBASE_ROOT}}/{{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}

# --reclone semantics: bootstrap_local_db.py drops + recreates by default,
# but only the DB it's targeting. So just pass --local-db.
./venv/bin/python "$TMP_SCRIPT" \
  --tenant "$TENANT" \
  --local-db "$DB_NAME" \
  --env-file "$TMP_ENV"

Step 6 — Capture tenant UUID for spinup

Read the freshly-cloned tenant's UUID from account_registry so the user can pass it to /qspinuplocal:

TENANT_UUID="$(/opt/homebrew/opt/postgresql@17/bin/psql -U {{LOCAL_DB_USER}} -d "$DB_NAME" -t -A \
  -c "SELECT tenant_id FROM app.account_registry LIMIT 1")"

Step 7 — Report

LOCAL CLONE COMPLETE
====================
Tenant: <TENANT> (<TENANT_UUID>)
Local DB: <DB_NAME>

Counts:
  organizations: <N>
  parties:       <N>
  documents:     <N>
  lines:         <N>

To start the stack against this DB:

  /qspinuplocal --db-name <DB_NAME> --tenant-uuid <TENANT_UUID>

(/qspinuplocal will rewrite {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/.env to point here — see
its docs for the override=True caveat.)

Coexists with: any other local_*_db you've cloned (run psql -l to list).

Critical caveat — {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}} config.py override=True

{{CODEBASE_PATH_PREFIX}}/{{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/config.py:15 calls load_dotenv(override=True) at import time, which OVERRIDES any env vars exported on the command line with whatever is in {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/.env.

Implication for this skill: cloning the DB is fine, but the spinup wrapper MUST rewrite {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/.env to point at the new DB before starting the {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}} process. Exporting DATABASE_URL / GLOBAL_DATABASE_URL / ENFORCE_DEV_DATABASE_URL is NOT enough — they get clobbered at import.

/qspinuplocal handles the rewrite. This skill (qlocalclonedb) only clones; it does NOT touch .env.

The right long-term fix is to change override=True → override=False in {{CODEBASE_PATH_PREFIX}}/{{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/config.py so command-line env wins. That's a separate code change pending review.

Anti-patterns

• ❌ Don't edit {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/scripts/bootstrap_local_db.py to change PSQL_BIN — it's committed code. Patch a temp copy.
• ❌ Don't write the staging GLOBAL_DATABASE_URL (or --remote-url) to a tracked file. Either pass inline at invocation time or keep it in .env.dev (gitignored).
• ❌ Don't reuse {{LOCAL_DEV_DB_NAME}} as the DB name for other tenants — the existing Example Tenant clone gets clobbered.
• ❌ Don't commit {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/scripts/local_*.sh wrappers — they're gitignored under scripts/local_*.sh for a reason.
• ❌ Don't use sed to inject --remote-url into the temp script. The URL contains & (a query-string separator), which sed interprets as the entire matched pattern in the replacement, producing a corrupted URL. Use the Python helper shown in Step 4.5.

Known surprise — app.account_registry.db_branch_id is a single pin

Staging tenant rows pin ONE branch (typically the production/main branch). If you --tenant "Foo" without overriding the URL, you clone from that pinned branch, not from the develop branch you might assume. Verify with:

psql "$STAGING_URL" -c "SELECT tenant_name, db_branch_id FROM app.account_registry WHERE tenant_name='<name>';"

If the db_branch_id doesn't match the branch where the data you want to test against actually lives, you have two options:

1. Pass --remote-url with the develop branch's pooled URL (find it in the Postgres provider console → Branches → Connection string).
2. Open a one-off UPDATE on staging app.account_registry to repoint — generally a bad idea; affects every other developer.

Option 1 is right ~always.

Related

• /qspinuplocal --db-name <DB_NAME> — start the stack against any cloned DB
• {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/scripts/bootstrap_local_db.py — the underlying script (already --local-db aware)
• {{PRIMARY_REPO_NAME}}/scripts/local_setup_acmecorp.sh — example per-developer wrapper (gitignored)