> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://schemabrain.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # schemabrain init > Activation wizard. Runs source check, indexer, entity + metric + join curation, and host wiring in one command. Idempotent — every stage auto-skips when the work is already done. # `schemabrain init` The activation wizard. Pulls the seven stages of getting from "I have a Postgres URL" to "Claude Desktop sees the schemabrain MCP server" into one command. Each stage auto-skips when its work is already done, so re-runs are safe and cheap. ```bash theme={null} schemabrain init --url-env DATABASE_URL --store-path ./schemabrain.db ``` The seven stages, in order: 1. **Source check** — validates the URL is reachable and the session is read-only on Postgres. 2. **Index schema** — DDL introspection into the SQLite store. 3. **Curate entities** — LLM-suggested domain entities (or dbt manifest if found). 4. **Curate metrics** — LLM-suggested aggregations (or dbt metrics if found). 5. **Curate joins** — FK + `pg_stat_statements` mining; deterministic, no LLM. 6. **Wire host** — writes the `schemabrain` block into the chosen MCP host's config. 7. **Next step** — prints what to ask the agent first. Stages 3, 4, 5 are best-effort — a failure records the issue and prints a guided next step, but does not abort the wizard. Stages 1, 2, 6, 7 abort on failure. See the [Setup](/setup) page for the narrative walkthrough. *** ## Source | Flag | Purpose | | ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `--source URL` | Postgres URL. Deprecated when the URL contains a password — prefer `--url-env`. | | `--url-env VARNAME` | Env var holding the source URL (e.g. `DATABASE_URL`). Keeps credentials out of argv. | | `--from-dbt PATH` | Import entities + metrics from a dbt `manifest.json`. Auto-detected from `$DBT_PROJECT_DIR` or by walking up from cwd for a `dbt_project.yml`. | ## Stages Turn individual wizard stages on or off: | Flag | Effect | | --------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `--skip-index` | Skip stage 2. Use when you have already indexed in a different session. | | `--enrich` | Generate LLM column descriptions during index (Claude Haiku 4.5; \~$0.10–$2.00 for a 50-table schema). Requires `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`. | | `--no-entities` | Skip stage 3. Curate later via `schemabrain entities suggest --apply`. | | `--no-metrics` | Skip stage 4. Curate later via `schemabrain metrics suggest --apply`. | | `--no-joins` | Skip stage 5. Curate later via `schemabrain joins suggest --apply`. | | `--no-embed` | Skip local sentence-embedding generation. Required on Apple Silicon + Python 3.12+ where `fastembed`'s `onnxruntime` dependency has no wheel. Degrades `find_relevant_entities` to keyword/substring matching. | ## Host | Flag | Default | Purpose | | ------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `--host {claude-desktop,claude-code,cursor,windsurf,manual}` | `claude-desktop` | Which host to wire. `manual` prints the snippet without writing anywhere. | | `--store-path PATH` | `./schemabrain.db` | Path to the local SQLite store. | | `--env-var VARNAME` | `SCHEMABRAIN_DATABASE_URL` | Env var the host sets to the DB URL in its config. | ## Cost | Flag | Default | Purpose | | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------ | | `--entities-max-cost-usd USD` | `$SCHEMABRAIN_MAX_LLM_COST_USD` | Hard cap on stage 3 LLM spend. | | `--metrics-max-cost-usd USD` | `$SCHEMABRAIN_MAX_LLM_COST_USD` | Hard cap on stage 4 LLM spend. | ## Behaviour | Flag | Effect | | ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `--yes`, `-y` | Accept every prompt. Implies `--skip-llm-confirm` plus the host-overwrite confirmation. Use in CI. | | `--skip-llm-confirm` | Skip the Enter-to-continue pause before LLM stages. Auto-on in non-TTY environments. | | `--print-only` | Alias for `--host manual`. Prints the snippet, writes nothing. | | `--pii-block CSV` | Comma-separated `PIICategory` list written into the host snippet as `serve --pii-block ...`. Omitted defaults to `credential,payment_card,government_id` under `--yes` (with a stderr confirmation) or to an interactive prompt otherwise. Pass `''` to clear the operator policy; the always-on catastrophic-leak floor still refuses at every read gate and cannot be disabled. | | `--emit-yaml-dir PATH` | After the wizard completes, write one YAML per applied entity / metric / canonical join into `PATH/entities/`, `PATH/metrics/`, `PATH/joins/`. Gives the operator on-disk definitions to edit and re-apply alongside the SQLite store. Refuses if any target file already exists. | *** ## Examples ### First-time setup for Claude Desktop ```bash theme={null} export DATABASE_URL="postgresql+psycopg://user:pass@host:5432/dbname" export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-... schemabrain init --url-env DATABASE_URL --store-path ./schemabrain.db ``` ### CI smoke (non-interactive, deterministic) ```bash theme={null} schemabrain init \ --url-env DATABASE_URL \ --store-path ./schemabrain.db \ --host manual \ --yes \ --no-entities \ --no-metrics ``` ### dbt-driven curation ```bash theme={null} export DBT_PROJECT_DIR=/path/to/your/dbt/project schemabrain init --url-env DATABASE_URL --store-path ./schemabrain.db ``` The wizard detects the manifest and routes stages 3 + 4 through the dbt importer instead of the LLM. ### Apple Silicon + Python 3.12+ ```bash theme={null} schemabrain init --url-env DATABASE_URL --store-path ./schemabrain.db --no-embed ``` *** ## Related Narrative for first-time users. The underlying indexer the wizard calls. Health-check what `init` wired up. Re-apply the YAMLs `--emit-yaml-dir` produced.