18 posts tagged with "infrastructure-as-code"

The StackQL MCP server is now available through every runtime an agent is likely to live in: prebuilt Claude Desktop bundles, npm, PyPI, Docker, a GitHub Action, and the Official MCP Registry. It is the same server in each case - one binary, pulled and launched the way your environment prefers.

What the StackQL MCP server is​

StackQL exposes cloud and SaaS providers - AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, GitHub, Kubernetes, Snowflake, Databricks and more - as a single SQL surface. The MCP server puts that surface in front of an AI agent: the agent discovers providers, services, resources and methods, then runs SELECT queries to read state and (when you allow it) INSERT / UPDATE / DELETE to change it. Reads and writes are gated by a server mode and recorded to an audit log, so "what the agent did" is always answerable.

For background on the protocol itself, see the original StackQL MCP Server Now Available post and the MCP command reference.

One server, every runtime​

Every channel runs the same stackql binary. Pick the one that matches your client:

A typical stdio client config is three lines. For npx:

{ "mcpServers": { "stackql": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@stackql/mcp-server"] } } }

Swap npx for uvx stackql-mcp-server or docker run -i --rm stackql/stackql-mcp and you have the Python or Docker form. The npm and PyPI launchers download the signed stackql binary on first run, verify its checksum, and share a single cache. The full matrix - including the manual claude_desktop_config.json form for an existing binary - is in Installing the MCP server.

The approvable MCP server​

Letting an agent touch your cloud is a trust decision, so the supply chain is built to be checkable:

• The embedded stackql binary is Authenticode-signed (Windows) and Apple-notarised (macOS).
• Every .mcpb bundle ships with a published SHA-256 checksum on the release page.
• The npm and PyPI launchers verify the downloaded binary's SHA-256 before first use.
• The MCP Registry entry attests the per-platform hashes, so a directory or marketplace can confirm what it is shipping.

On top of the supply chain, the server defaults to mode: safe - reads run freely, mutations and lifecycle operations need approval through the MCP elicitation flow. Pin read_only for inventory agents that should never write, or full_access for trusted automation. See Server modes.

A worked example: cloud audit in CI​

The GitHub Action is where the multi-vector story pays off. stackql/setup-stackql-mcp@v1 installs the binary and writes an MCP config (defaulting to read_only), and anthropics/claude-code-action consumes it through claude_args. The result is an agent that audits your AWS account on every run and files an issue with the SQL it used as evidence:

- id: stackql
  uses: stackql/setup-stackql-mcp@v1
  env:
    AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
    AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
  with:
    mode: read_only

- uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@v1
  with:
    anthropic_api_key: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
    prompt: |
      Using the stackql tools, audit our AWS account for: S3 buckets without
      encryption or with public access, security groups open to 0.0.0.0/0 on
      sensitive ports, and IAM users without MFA. Open a GitHub issue
      "Cloud audit <date>" summarising findings WITH the SQL you ran as
      evidence. If nothing is found, do not open an issue.
    claude_args: |
      --mcp-config ${{ steps.stackql.outputs.mcp-config-file }}
      --allowedTools 'mcp__stackql__*'

Because the config is pinned to read_only, the audit can read everything and change nothing - the safety contract is enforced by the server, not by trust in the prompt. The action README has more recipes, including cost estimates on a pull request and a credential-free GitHub inventory.

What the agent actually sees​

Under the hood the agent works the StackQL hierarchy with the same tools whatever the runtime. Pulling the GitHub provider and listing its services looks like this:

> pull_provider {"provider": "github"}
github provider, version 'v26.05.00393' successfully installed

> list_services {"provider": "github"}
actions, activity, apps, billing, checks, code_scanning, codespaces,
copilot, dependabot, gists, git, issues, orgs, packages, projects,
pulls, repos, search, secret_scanning, teams, users, ...

From there the agent can call list_resources and list_methods to discover the required WHERE parameters, then run_select_query to answer a question like "how many public repositories does the stackql org have?" - all without anyone hand-writing SQL.

Get started​

• Install docs for every channel: Installing the MCP server
• Command reference, modes and audit log: stackql mcp
• Registry entry: io.github.stackql/stackql-mcp
• Source and releases: github.com/stackql/stackql

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stackql-deploy 2.0 is a full rewrite in Rust. The Python package (stackql-deploy on PyPi) is archived at 1.9.4. CLI interface and stack file format are unchanged - no migration required.

Why Rust​

The move to Rust was primarily about distribution and operational simplicity. Rust also brings stronger guarantees around performance and memory safety. Running everything in-process without Foreign Function Interface (FFI) boundaries simplifies the architecture while maintaining predictable resource usage.

Embedded Postgres Wire Protocol Server​

The most significant functional change in 2.0 is that stackql-deploy now runs the StackQL engine as an embedded in-process server over a local postgres wire protocol connection rather than shelling out to the StackQL binary as an external process.

There is nothing to start, stop, or configure. The server is lifecycle-managed by stackql-deploy itself and binds to localhost only - no port is exposed on the network, no inbound firewall rules needed in CI.

The previous model spawned a new StackQL process per operation. The embedded server keeps a persistent connection for the duration of a deployment run. For stacks with many resources, the reduction in process spawn overhead is noticeable - particularly on Windows where process creation is expensive.

Additional Features Added​

In addition to added the architectural change to use the embedded server, several other workflow improvements were added including:

• Enabling resource scoped variable exports in /*+ exists */ queries: When an exists query returns a named field (e.g. vpc_id) instead of count, the value is captured as a resource-scoped variable (this.vpc_id) and made available to all subsequent queries for that resource (e.g. statecheck, exports). This eliminates the need for redundant lookups to resolve resource identifiers between query stages.
• Support for capturing RETURNING payloads from DML operations: INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements can include a RETURNING clause. Fields from the response can be mapped to resource-scoped variables via return_vals in the manifest, keyed by operation (create, update, delete). This allows identifiers assigned by the provider during creation to be used immediately without a round-trip query.
• Additional template filters: Including the to_aws_tag_filters filter, which converts global_tags to the AWS Resource Groups Tagging API TagFilters format, and type-preserving YAML-to-JSON serialization that maintains string types through the rendering pipeline.
• Improved logging and exception handling: Enhanced visibility simplifying troubleshooting.

Installation​

curl -L https://get-stackql-deploy.io | tar xzf -

Invoke-WebRequest https://get-stackql-deploy.io -OutFile stackql-deploy.zip
Expand-Archive stackql-deploy.zip -DestinationPath .

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    env:
      GOOGLE_CREDENTIALS: ${{ secrets.GOOGLE_CREDENTIALS }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: stackql/stackql-deploy-action@v2
        with:
          command: 'build'
          stack_dir: 'examples/my-stack'
          stack_env: 'prod'
          env_vars: 'GOOGLE_PROJECT=my-project'

      - name: Deploy Stack
        id: stackql-deploy
        uses: stackql/stackql-deploy-action@v2
        with:
          command: 'build'
          stack_dir: 'examples/my-stack'
          stack_env: 'prod'
          output_file: 'deployment-outputs.json'
          env_vars: 'GOOGLE_PROJECT=my-project'

      - name: Use outputs
        run: |
          echo '${{ steps.stackql-deploy.outputs.deployment_outputs }}' | jq .

cargo install stackql-deploy

Usage​

The CLI interface is unchanged from the Python version:

# deploy a stack
stackql-deploy build my-stack prod \
  --e GOOGLE_PROJECT=${GOOGLE_PROJECT}

# test a stack
stackql-deploy test my-stack prod \
  --e GOOGLE_PROJECT=${GOOGLE_PROJECT}

# tear down a stack
stackql-deploy teardown my-stack prod \
  --e GOOGLE_PROJECT=${GOOGLE_PROJECT}

# dry run
stackql-deploy build my-stack prod \
  --e GOOGLE_PROJECT=${GOOGLE_PROJECT} \
  --dry-run

Stack files and stackql_manifest.yml structure are unaffected - no migration work needed.

Python Package Deprecation​

stackql-deploy 1.9.4 on PyPi is the final Python release. The Python source repository is archived. If you have pip install stackql-deploy in any scripts or CI pipelines, replace it with one of the install methods above. The 1.9.4 package remains on PyPi and installable, but will not receive updates.

Links​

• GitHub: github.com/stackql/stackql-deploy
• crates.io: crates.io/crates/stackql-deploy
• StackQL docs: stackql.io/docs

Updated StackQL providers for Databricks are now available: databricks_account and databricks_workspace, giving you SQL access to the full Databricks control plane across account-level and workspace-level operations.

Provider Structure​

The following updated providers are available:

Coverage​

There are over 30 services, 300+ resources, and 983 operations spanning IAM, compute, catalog, billing, jobs, ML, serving, sharing, vector search, and more.

Example Queries​

List workspaces in an account​

SELECT
  workspace_id,
  workspace_name,
  workspace_status,
  aws_region,
  compute_mode,
  deployment_name,
  datetime(creation_time/1000, 'unixepoch') as creation_date_time
FROM databricks_account.provisioning.workspaces
WHERE account_id = 'ebfcc5a9-9d49-4c93-b651-b3ee6cf1c9ce';

Query account users and roles​

SELECT
  id as user_id,
  displayName as display_name,
  userName as user_name,
  active,
  IIF(JSON_EXTRACT(roles,'$[0].value') = 'account_admin', 'true', 'false') as is_account_admin
FROM databricks_account.iam.account_users
WHERE account_id = 'ebfcc5a9-9d49-4c93-b651-b3ee6cf1c9ce';

List catalogs in a workspace​

SELECT
  full_name,
  catalog_type,
  comment,
  datetime(created_at/1000, 'unixepoch') as created_at,
  created_by,
  datetime(updated_at/1000, 'unixepoch') as updated_at,
  updated_by,
  enable_predictive_optimization
FROM databricks_workspace.catalog.catalogs
WHERE deployment_name = 'dbc-36ff48e3-4a69';

Download billable usage to CSV​

This one is worth calling out. You can pull billable usage data for a given period and write it straight to a CSV file:

./stackql exec \
  -o text \
  --hideheaders \
  -f billable_usage.csv \
  "SELECT contents
  FROM databricks_account.billing.billable_usage
  WHERE start_month = '2025-12'
  AND end_month = '2026-01'
  AND account_id = 'your-account-id'"

Authentication​

Both providers authenticate using OAuth2 with a Databricks service principal. Set the following environment variables:

export DATABRICKS_ACCOUNT_ID="your-account-id"
export DATABRICKS_CLIENT_ID="your-client-id"
export DATABRICKS_CLIENT_SECRET="your-client-secret"

These are the same variables used by Terraform, the Databricks SDKs, and the Databricks CLI.

Get Started​

Pull the providers:

registry pull databricks_account;
registry pull databricks_workspace;

Start querying via the shell or exec:

SELECT * FROM databricks_account.iam.account_groups WHERE account_id = 'your-account-id';

Full documentation is available at databricks-account-provider.stackql.io and databricks-workspace-provider.stackql.io. Let us know what you think on GitHub.

We've released a new dedicated StackQL AWS Cloud Control provider, providing full CRUDL operations across AWS services via the Cloud Control API including purpose-built resource definitions leveraging Cloud Control's consistent schema.

Resource Naming Convention​

Resources follow a clear pattern to differentiate operations:

This separation means listing thousands of resources won't trigger rate limits from individual GET calls:

-- Fast enumeration (list operation only)
SELECT bucket_name 
FROM awscc.s3.buckets_list_only 
WHERE region = 'us-east-1';

-- Full resource details (get operation)
SELECT * 
FROM awscc.s3.buckets 
WHERE region = 'us-east-1' 
AND data__Identifier = 'my-bucket';

Provider Coverage​

The awscc provider includes:

• 237 services and 2371 resources covering the breadth of AWS
• Full CRUDL support for all Cloud Control compatible resources
• Consistent schema derived from AWS CloudFormation resource specifications

Example Operations​

Create an S3 Bucket​

INSERT INTO awscc.s3.buckets (
  BucketName,
  region
)
SELECT 
  'my-new-bucket',
  'us-east-1';

Query EC2 Instances​

SELECT 
  instance_id,
  instance_type,
  tags
FROM awscc.ec2.instances
WHERE region = 'ap-southeast-2'
AND data__Identifier = 'i-1234567890abcdef0';

Delete a Resource​

DELETE FROM awscc.lambda.functions
WHERE data__Identifier = 'my-function'
AND region = 'us-east-1';

Enhanced Documentation​

The provider documentation at awscc.stackql.io now features:

• Interactive schema explorer with expandable nested property trees
• Complete field documentation including complex object structures
• Ready-to-use SQL examples for SELECT, INSERT, and DELETE operations
• IAM permissions reference for each resource operation

Get Started​

Pull the new provider:

stackql registry pull awscc

Query your AWS resources:

stackql shell
>> SELECT region, bucket_name FROM awscc.s3.buckets_list_only WHERE region = 'us-east-1';

Let us know your thoughts! Visit us and give us a star on GitHub.

pystackql now includes a markdownkv output format optimized for LLM processing of control plane and data plane data from cloud providers.

Background​

Recent research from ImprovingAgents.com tested 11 data formats to determine which ones LLMs parse most accurately. Using 1,000 synthetic employee records and 1,000 randomized queries, they measured how well different formats preserved data integrity through LLM processing.

The results:

Markdown-KV showed a 37% improvement over CSV and 16 percentage points over JSON. The tradeoff: it uses approximately 2.7x more tokens than CSV.

What is Markdown-KV?​

Markdown-KV uses hierarchical markdown headers with code blocks for key-value pairs:

# Query Results

## Record 1

id: i-1234567890abcdef0
name: prod-web-01
region: us-east-1
instance_type: t3.large
state: running


## Record 2

id: i-0987654321fedcba0
name: staging-web-01
region: us-west-2
instance_type: t3.medium
state: stopped

The format combines clear hierarchy, explicit key-value pairs, and readability for both humans and LLMs.

Usage​

from pystackql import StackQL

stackql = StackQL()

# Query with Markdown-KV output
result = stackql.execute(
    """
    SELECT instanceId, instanceType, state, availabilityZone 
    FROM aws.ec2.instances 
    WHERE region = 'us-east-1'
    """,
    output='markdownkv'
)

# Use with LLMs
response = llm_client.complete(
    f"Identify instances that should be stopped:\n\n{result}"
)

Works in server mode too:

stackql = StackQL(server_mode=True)

result = stackql.execute(
    "SELECT name, region, encryption FROM google.storage.buckets WHERE project = 'my-project'",
    output='markdownkv'
)

When to Use It​

Markdown-KV is useful when:

• Feeding infrastructure data to LLMs for analysis, security reviews, or recommendations
• Building RAG pipelines that need to accurately retrieve and reason about infrastructure
• Accuracy matters more than token efficiency (infrastructure decisions typically do)
• Query results are focused datasets (most StackQL queries are)

The token cost is a real tradeoff, but infrastructure queries typically return targeted result sets, not massive datasets. When you're asking an LLM to analyze your production environment, accuracy matters.

Getting Started​

Update pystackql:

pip install --upgrade pystackql

Add output='markdownkv' to your execute calls or in the StackQL object instantiation:

result = stackql.execute(query, output='markdownkv')

Resources​

• ImprovingAgents.com research on LLM data formats
• pystackql v3.8.2 changelog
• pystackql documentation
• StackQL documentation

The Markdown-KV output format is available in pystackql v3.8.2 and later.

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