---
name: database-indexing-strategy
description: >
  Design and implement database indexing strategies. Use when creating indexes,
  choosing index types, or optimizing index performance in PostgreSQL and MySQL.
---

# Database Indexing Strategy

## Table of Contents

- [Overview](#overview)
- [When to Use](#when-to-use)
- [Quick Start](#quick-start)
- [Reference Guides](#reference-guides)
- [Best Practices](#best-practices)

## Overview

Design comprehensive indexing strategies to improve query performance, reduce lock contention, and maintain data integrity. Covers index types, design patterns, and maintenance procedures.

## When to Use

- Index creation and planning
- Query performance optimization through indexing
- Index type selection (B-tree, Hash, GiST, BRIN)
- Composite and partial index design
- Index maintenance and monitoring
- Storage optimization with indexes
- Full-text search index design

## Quick Start

**B-tree Indexes (Default):**

```sql
-- Standard equality and range queries
CREATE INDEX idx_users_email ON users(email);
CREATE INDEX idx_orders_created_at ON orders(created_at DESC);

-- Composite indexes for multi-column queries
CREATE INDEX idx_orders_user_status
ON orders(user_id, status)
WHERE cancelled_at IS NULL;
```

## Reference Guides

Detailed implementations in the `references/` directory:

| Guide | Contents |
|---|---|
| [PostgreSQL Index Types](references/postgresql-index-types.md) | PostgreSQL Index Types |
| [MySQL Index Types](references/mysql-index-types.md) | MySQL Index Types |
| [Single Column Indexes](references/single-column-indexes.md) | Single Column Indexes, Composite Indexes, Partial/Filtered Indexes, Expression Indexes |

## Best Practices

### ✅ DO

- Follow established patterns and conventions
- Write clean, maintainable code
- Add appropriate documentation
- Test thoroughly before deploying

### ❌ DON'T

- Skip testing or validation
- Ignore error handling
- Hard-code configuration values


---
Source attribution: aj-geddes
Original project: https://github.com/aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts/blob/3f5182cfd739fc113f4af5244a1cf342ad7f7911/skills/database-indexing-strategy/SKILL.md
License: MIT
License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit
Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Dave AI.

## Upstream license notice

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2025 AJ Geddes

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.


# Dave AI resource metadata

Creator / publisher: aj-geddes
Original project: https://github.com/aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts/blob/3f5182cfd739fc113f4af5244a1cf342ad7f7911/skills/database-indexing-strategy/SKILL.md
Attribution basis: Recovered original package and original project license at a pinned revision

Fields of work: Data & Analytics, Development & Engineering
Roles: Data Analyst, Data Scientist, Database Administrator
Specialties: Database
Tools: MySQL, PostgreSQL
Country applicability: Country not specified
Classification basis: Source catalog labels
Instruction SHA-256: 4e6d685c365effdbe07e9fd7ba50d86ec6d0f340fa88ff3862aed750415a2aa4
Metadata reviewed: 2026-10-27
This metadata supersedes earlier Dave AI catalog attribution. Original instruction and supporting files are preserved.