Skywatch Querying Clickhouse

Querying ClickHouse

This skill provides essential knowledge for writing safe, efficient queries against Osprey rule execution data. Use this when you need to investigate account behavior, analyze rule performance, or detect patterns.

Connection & Query Execution

ClickHouse is accessed via SSH + Docker. The agent SSHes into the remote server, then uses sudo docker exec to run clickhouse-client inside the ClickHouse container. Connection details are stored in .envrc in the project root and loaded with direnv exec .; do not print secret values.

Executing a Query

Use shell_exec with direnv exec . to run queries with the project environment:

ssh "$CLICKHOUSE_SSH_USER@$CLICKHOUSE_SSH_HOST" \
  "sudo docker exec $CLICKHOUSE_DOCKER_CONTAINER \
    clickhouse-client --host=$CLICKHOUSE_HOST --port=$CLICKHOUSE_PORT \
    --user=$CLICKHOUSE_USER --password='$CLICKHOUSE_PASSWORD' \
    --database=$CLICKHOUSE_DATABASE \
    --format=JSON --query=\"SELECT 1 LIMIT 1\""

For multi-line queries, use a heredoc piped over SSH:

ssh "$CLICKHOUSE_SSH_USER@$CLICKHOUSE_SSH_HOST" \
  "sudo docker exec -i $CLICKHOUSE_DOCKER_CONTAINER \
    clickhouse-client --host=$CLICKHOUSE_HOST --port=$CLICKHOUSE_PORT \
    --user=$CLICKHOUSE_USER --password='$CLICKHOUSE_PASSWORD' \
    --database=$CLICKHOUSE_DATABASE \
    --format=JSON"  now() - interval 7 day
GROUP BY day
ORDER BY day DESC
LIMIT 100
SQL

Output format: Use --format=JSON (or JSONCompact) for parseable results. For quick checks, --format=PrettyCompact is more readable.

Schema introspection: To get column metadata:

ssh "$CLICKHOUSE_SSH_USER@$CLICKHOUSE_SSH_HOST" \
  "sudo docker exec $CLICKHOUSE_DOCKER_CONTAINER \
    clickhouse-client --host=$CLICKHOUSE_HOST --port=$CLICKHOUSE_PORT \
    --user=$CLICKHOUSE_USER --password='$CLICKHOUSE_PASSWORD' \
    --database=$CLICKHOUSE_DATABASE \
    --format=JSON --query=\"DESCRIBE TABLE default.osprey_execution_results\""

Environment Variables

The project .envrc exports these variables. Load them for commands with direnv exec . bash -lc '...'. Non-secret values live directly in .envrc; CLICKHOUSE_PASSWORD and machine-local CLICKHOUSE_SSH_KEY should live in secrets/clickhouse.env, loaded by .envrc via source_env_if_exists.

| Variable | Purpose | |----------|---------| | CLICKHOUSE_SSH_HOST | SSH target host | | CLICKHOUSE_SSH_USER | SSH user | | CLICKHOUSE_SSH_PORT | SSH port (default 22) | | CLICKHOUSE_SSH_KEY | SSH key path (optional) | | CLICKHOUSE_DOCKER_CONTAINER | Docker container name on the remote host | | CLICKHOUSE_HOST | ClickHouse host inside the container (usually 127.0.0.1) | | CLICKHOUSE_PORT | ClickHouse port (default 9000) | | CLICKHOUSE_USER | ClickHouse username | | CLICKHOUSE_PASSWORD | ClickHouse password | | CLICKHOUSE_DATABASE | ClickHouse database (default: default) |

If these variables are unset, the SSH command will fail with a clear error. The operator should create .envrc from .envrc.example.

Safety Rules

The agent must follow these safety constraints when querying ClickHouse. They are not enforced by an intermediary — the agent is responsible for compliance:

SELECT Only

All queries must be SELECT statements. No INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, or DDL operations.

LIMIT Required

Every query must include a LIMIT clause. This prevents accidental runaway queries and caps result set sizes.

-- Good
SELECT ... FROM default.osprey_execution_results WHERE ... LIMIT 100

-- Bad
SELECT ... FROM default.osprey_execution_results WHERE ...

Read-Only Discipline

Queries must start with SELECT or WITH (for CTEs). JOINs, UNIONs, subqueries, and any table are allowed. Do not use semicolons to chain statements. Do not use INTO OUTFILE or similar export clauses.

Key investigation tables:

• default.osprey_execution_results — Osprey rule execution history
• default.pds_signup_anomalies — PDS signup rate anomalies
• default.url_overdispersion_results — Coordinated domain/URL sharing anomalies
• default.account_entropy_results — Bot-like posting pattern detection
• default.url_cosharing_pairs — Daily account URL co-sharing pairs (TTL 7 days)
• default.url_cosharing_clusters — URL co-sharing cluster metrics and evolution (no TTL)
• default.url_cosharing_membership — Daily URL co-sharing cluster membership (TTL 7 days)
• default.quote_cosharing_pairs — Daily account quote co-sharing pairs (TTL 7 days)
• default.quote_cosharing_clusters — Quote co-sharing cluster metrics and evolution (no TTL)
• default.quote_cosharing_membership — Daily quote co-sharing cluster membership (TTL 7 days)
• default.quote_overdispersion_results — Coordinated quote-post anomalies

-- All valid for the current wide event table
SELECT __action_id, __timestamp, Handle, PostTextCleaned, AltGovHandleRule
FROM default.osprey_execution_results
WHERE __timestamp > now() - interval 1 day
LIMIT 100

SELECT toStartOfHour(__timestamp) AS hour, countIf(AltGovHandleRule = 1) AS hits
FROM default.osprey_execution_results
WHERE __timestamp > now() - interval 1 day
GROUP BY hour
ORDER BY hour DESC
LIMIT 100

WITH flagged AS (SELECT user_id FROM default.account_entropy_results WHERE is_bot_like = 1 LIMIT 500)
SELECT __timestamp, Handle, AccountAgeSeconds
FROM default.osprey_execution_results
WHERE UserId IN (SELECT user_id FROM flagged)
  AND __timestamp > now() - interval 1 day
LIMIT 100

60-Second Timeout

Queries running longer than 60 seconds may be cancelled. Design queries to complete within this window by filtering aggressively and using conservative LIMITs.

Agent Responsibility

These constraints are NOT enforced by an intermediary layer. The agent must self-enforce:

• Only execute SELECT queries
• Always include LIMIT
• Never run INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, DDL, or multi-statement queries
• Never use INTO OUTFILE or similar export clauses

Query Structure Best Practices

Follow this pattern for reliable, performant queries:

1. Understand the Wide Event Schema First

default.osprey_execution_results is not a flat rule-hit table. Every row is one evaluated AT Protocol event. Only these columns are universal:

• __action_id
• __timestamp
• __error_count
• __atproto_label
• __entity_label_mutations
• __verdicts

Everything else is a dynamic PascalCase column created from deployed rules and models: identity fields (UserId, Handle), content fields (PostTextCleaned), model outputs (AccountAgeSeconds), and rule outcomes (AltGovHandleRule, DigestRepostBotRule, etc.). There is no universal did, handle, content, rule_name, matched, score, created_at, pds_host, event_type, or rule_category column in this table.

Start by discovering live columns:

DESCRIBE TABLE default.osprey_execution_results

To find candidate columns by name:

SELECT name, type
FROM system.columns
WHERE database = 'default'
  AND table = 'osprey_execution_results'
  AND (name ILIKE '%Handle%' OR name ILIKE '%PostText%' OR name ILIKE '%Rule%')
ORDER BY name
LIMIT 200

2. Filter by Time Range First

Always include a __timestamp filter. It is the universal time column and the partitioning/performance anchor for Osprey event queries.

SELECT __action_id, __timestamp, Handle, PostTextCleaned, AltGovHandleRule
FROM default.osprey_execution_results
WHERE __timestamp > now() - interval 7 day
  AND AltGovHandleRule = 1
ORDER BY __timestamp DESC
LIMIT 100

Without time filtering, queries may scan the entire wide table and timeout.

3. Select Specific Columns

Avoid SELECT *. The table has 600+ dynamic columns, so selecting everything is expensive and noisy. Select only universal columns and the specific dynamic columns relevant to the question.

-- Good (fast)
SELECT __timestamp, UserId, Handle, PostTextCleaned, AltGovHandleRule
FROM default.osprey_execution_results
WHERE __timestamp > now() - interval 1 day
  AND AltGovHandleRule = 1
LIMIT 100

-- Bad (slow/noisy)
SELECT *
FROM default.osprey_execution_results
WHERE __timestamp > now() - interval 1 day
LIMIT 100

4. Use LIMIT Generously

Start with conservative LIMIT values (10-100) for exploratory queries, and increase only if needed.

-- Safe for exploration
SELECT ...
LIMIT 50

-- For comprehensive analysis, still cap results
SELECT ...
LIMIT 10000

5. Filter on Real Dynamic Columns Only After Discovery

Dynamic columns are added as rules/models deploy. Never assume a generic column exists. Confirm the exact PascalCase column name in system.columns or DESCRIBE TABLE first, then filter on it.

SELECT __timestamp, UserId, Handle, AccountAgeSeconds, AltGovHandleRule
FROM default.osprey_execution_results
WHERE __timestamp > now() - interval 1 day
  AND AltGovHandleRule = 1
LIMIT 100

Rule outcome columns are typically nullable integer/boolean-style columns where 1 indicates a match. Numeric model/score outputs are separate named columns, not a generic score column.

Performance Tips

Content Search Is Expensive

The ngramDistance() function searches for similar text by n-gram comparison. It's powerful but slow. Note: ngramDistance() returns 0 for identical content and 1 for completely different content.

Always pair ngramDistance() with other filters and the actual text column discovered from schema, often PostTextCleaned for post events:

-- Good: narrow context with time + ngramDistance on a real text column
SELECT __timestamp, UserId, Handle, PostTextCleaned,
       ngramDistance(PostTextCleaned, 'target phrase') AS distance
FROM default.osprey_execution_results
WHERE __timestamp > now() - interval 1 day
  AND PostTextCleaned IS NOT NULL
  AND ngramDistance(PostTextCleaned, 'target phrase')  now() - interval 7 day
GROUP BY day
ORDER BY day DESC
LIMIT 50

-- Slower: row enumeration, still limited and column-specific
SELECT __timestamp, UserId, Handle, AltGovHandleRule, DigestRepostBotRule
FROM default.osprey_execution_results
WHERE __timestamp > now() - interval 7 day
LIMIT 1000

Avoid Expensive Operations

• String concatenation in WHERE clauses
• Function calls on large datasets (e.g., LOWER(content) for every row)
• Subqueries (use JOIN patterns instead if possible, though joins are limited to the same table)

Common Query Patterns Overview

Investigation queries typically fall into seven categories:

Account Queries

Find all rule hits for a specific account, or identify accounts triggering specific rules.

See references/common-queries.md for patterns:

• All rule hits for a DID
• All rule hits for a handle
• Accounts triggering a rule in a time window
• Top offenders by rule hits

Temporal Queries

Analyze rule hit volume and account activity over time. Useful for spike detection and trend analysis.

See references/common-queries.md for patterns:

• Rule hit volume bucketed by hour/day
• Account activity timeline
• Burst detection (high-frequency posting)

Content Queries

Use n-gram distance to detect similar content (copypasta detection), find common patterns, and cluster content by similarity.

See references/common-queries.md for patterns:

• Content similarity search
• Most common content for a rule
• Content clustering

Infrastructure Queries

Correlate accounts by shared infrastructure: PDS host, account creation time, etc.

See references/common-queries.md for patterns:

• Accounts sharing a PDS host
• Accounts created in the same time window
• Cross-signal correlation

Rule Performance Queries

Analyze rule hit rates, false positive candidates, and coverage across the network.

See references/common-queries.md for patterns:

• Hit rate per rule
• False positive candidates
• Rule coverage analysis

Account Entropy Queries

Query account_entropy_results to identify accounts with bot-like posting patterns based on Shannon entropy analysis.

See references/common-queries.md for patterns:

• Bot-like accounts (both flags)
• Soft screening (one flag)
• Cross-referencing with rule hits

URL Overdispersion Queries

Query url_overdispersion_results to identify domains being shared in statistically anomalous patterns.

See references/common-queries.md for patterns:

• Anomalous domain sharing
• Domain sharing history/trends
• Cross-referencing bot accounts with anomalous domains

URL Co-Sharing Queries

Query co-sharing data to identify coordinated URL sharing networks. Three tables available. For co-sharing analysis, use the dedicated MCP tools (mcp__skywatch-mcp__cosharing_clusters, mcp__skywatch-mcp__cosharing_pairs, mcp__skywatch-mcp__cosharing_evolution) which handle JOINs internally — these remain available as MCP tools. For ad-hoc queries or cross-table analysis, use direct ClickHouse queries via SSH.

See references/common-queries.md for patterns:

• Find clusters containing a DID (via tool)
• List today's largest clusters (via tool or direct query)
• Get co-sharing pairs for a DID (via tool)
• Track cluster evolution (via tool)
• Find clusters sharing a specific URL (direct query)

Key considerations:

• url_cosharing_pairs and url_cosharing_membership have 7-day TTL — queries beyond that return no results
• url_cosharing_clusters has no TTL — historical cluster data is retained indefinitely
• Pairs are stored with `account_a now() - interval 1 day

ORDER BY total_shares DESC LIMIT 50

## Column Quick Reference

For `default.osprey_execution_results`, only six columns are universal. See `skywatch-accessing-osprey` and live `DESCRIBE TABLE` output for the complete dynamic schema.

| Column | Type | Use Case |
|--------|------|----------|
| `__action_id` | Int64 | Unique evaluated event identifier |
| `__timestamp` | DateTime64(3) | Universal time filter; use in every event-table query |
| `__error_count` | Nullable(Int32) | Evaluation error count |
| `__atproto_label` | Dynamic/serialized label output | AtProto label output from evaluation |
| `__entity_label_mutations` | Dynamic/serialized mutations | Entity label mutation output |
| `__verdicts` | Dynamic/serialized verdicts | Verdict output |

Common dynamic-column patterns, after confirming the live schema:

| Pattern | Examples | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Identity/model fields | `UserId`, `Handle`, `DisplayName` | Account/entity identification |
| Content fields | `PostTextCleaned`, URL/embed-related fields | Content review and similarity search |
| Account metadata | `AccountAgeSeconds`, follower/post count model outputs when present | Account characterization |
| Rule outcomes | `AltGovHandleRule`, `DigestRepostBotRule` | Rule match filters; usually `= 1` means matched |
| Numeric model outputs | toxicity/similarity/score-specific PascalCase names | Threshold analysis for that model |

## Output Interpretation

### Understanding Rule Columns vs. Model Columns

There is no generic `matched` or `score` column. Each rule/model writes its own dynamic column.

**Rule outcome columns:**
- Usually PascalCase and often suffixed `Rule`.
- Treat `ColumnName = 1` as a match only after confirming the column type/semantics.
- Use `countIf(ColumnName = 1)` for hit counts.

**Numeric model output columns:**
- Have model-specific names, not a shared `score` name.
- Analyze thresholds/quantiles per concrete column.

### Interpreting NULL Values

Dynamic columns are sparse. `NULL` usually means the model/rule did not apply to that evaluated event or did not produce a value, not necessarily that data is corrupt.

## Next Steps

- Review `references/common-queries.md` for 25 proven query patterns
- Start with Account investigation queries to understand your targets
- Use Temporal queries to identify trends
- Use Content queries for copypasta and similarity detection
- Use Infrastructure queries for network analysis
- Use Rule Performance queries to optimize ru

…

## Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

- **Author:** [skywatch-bsky](https://github.com/skywatch-bsky)
- **Source:** [skywatch-bsky/skywatch-agent-skills](https://github.com/skywatch-bsky/skywatch-agent-skills)
- **License:** MIT
- **Homepage:** https://bsky.app/profile/skywatch.blue

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.