Databases & Schemas · head-to-head
postgres vs supabase-skill
Pick the postgres skill for decisions about the database itself: data types, index choice, partitioning, and the extension ecosystem (pgvector, PostGIS, TimescaleDB). Pick supabase-skill for decisions about the platform on top of it: row-level security policies, auth flows, realtime, and edge functions. If you run Supabase you will eventually want both, because they answer questions at different layers.
Pick postgres
The question is about Postgres: which type, which index, whether to partition, how to use pgvector or PostGIS, how to migrate without locking a live table.
Pick supabase-skill
The question is about Supabase: an RLS policy that silently returns zero rows, an auth flow, realtime subscriptions, or an edge function.
Side by side
How they differ
| postgres | supabase-skill | |
|---|---|---|
| Layer | The Postgres engine itself | The Supabase platform on top of Postgres |
| Signature strength | Types, indexes, partitioning, extensions, migration locking | RLS, auth, realtime, edge functions |
| Portable across hosts | Yes — any Postgres | No — Supabase-specific |
| Extensions covered | pgvector, PostGIS, TimescaleDB, full-text and hybrid search | Whatever Supabase exposes |
| Publisher | TigerData (Timescale) | Supabase |
| Adoption | The highest-starred Postgres skill available | Vendor-official for its own platform |
Layer
- postgres
- The Postgres engine itself
- supabase-skill
- The Supabase platform on top of Postgres
Signature strength
- postgres
- Types, indexes, partitioning, extensions, migration locking
- supabase-skill
- RLS, auth, realtime, edge functions
Portable across hosts
- postgres
- Yes — any Postgres
- supabase-skill
- No — Supabase-specific
Extensions covered
- postgres
- pgvector, PostGIS, TimescaleDB, full-text and hybrid search
- supabase-skill
- Whatever Supabase exposes
Publisher
- postgres
- TigerData (Timescale)
- supabase-skill
- Supabase
Adoption
- postgres
- The highest-starred Postgres skill available
- supabase-skill
- Vendor-official for its own platform
Open postgres or supabase-skill for the composite score, license, and exact install commands, or browse the full Databases & Schemas category.
Verdict
The bottom line
They stack rather than compete, and the failure mode of installing only one is predictable. With only supabase-skill, the agent writes RLS correctly and then picks the wrong index type. With only the postgres skill, it designs a clean schema and then writes a view that quietly bypasses row-level security. On Supabase, install both. On any other Postgres host, the postgres skill is the one that travels.
FAQ
Common questions
Do I need the postgres skill if I already use supabase-skill?
On anything beyond simple CRUD, yes. supabase-skill knows the platform — RLS, auth, realtime — but engine-level choices like index type, partitioning strategy, and safe migration under load are what the postgres skill covers, and those are where the expensive mistakes live.
Which one works on Neon or RDS?
The postgres skill. It is engine-level and portable to any Postgres host. supabase-skill encodes Supabase-specific platform conventions and does not transfer.
Is the postgres skill just documentation?
It is read-only guidance, which is the point: it changes the decisions the agent makes without being able to touch your database. Its sibling skills cover migration and table design in the same shape, with references split per case so a triggered skill reads only what it needs.
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Browse all best-skill guides or the full directory.