Analyze

What This Skill Does

This skill answers data questions, ranging from quick lookups to full analyses and formal reports. It's designed for users who need to extract insights from data, regardless of their technical expertise.

When to Use

• Determine the number of new users signed up last week.
• Analyze the factors driving a drop in conversion rate.
• Prepare a quarterly business review of subscription metrics.
• Identify trends in customer behavior.
• Compare performance across different segments.
• Investigate anomalies in data.

Key Features

• Understands the complexity level of the question.
• Identifies the necessary data requirements.
• Connects to data warehouses to gather data.
• Handles data provided by the user.
• Calculates relevant metrics and aggregations.
• Identifies patterns, trends, and outliers.

/analyze - Answer Data Questions

If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.

Answer a data question, from a quick lookup to a full analysis to a formal report.

Usage

/analyze <natural language question>

Workflow

1. Understand the Question

Parse the user's question and determine:

Complexity level:

• Quick answer: Single metric, simple filter, factual lookup (e.g., "How many users signed up last week?")
• Full analysis: Multi-dimensional exploration, trend analysis, comparison (e.g., "What's driving the drop in conversion rate?")
• Formal report: Comprehensive investigation with methodology, caveats, and recommendations (e.g., "Prepare a quarterly business review of our subscription metrics") Data requirements: Which tables, metrics, dimensions, and time ranges are needed Output format: Number, table, chart, narrative, or combination

2. Gather Data

If a data warehouse MCP server is connected:

Explore the schema to find relevant tables and columns Write SQL query(ies) to extract the needed data Execute the query and retrieve results If the query fails, debug and retry (check column names, table references, syntax for the specific dialect) If results look unexpected, run sanity checks before proceeding

If no data warehouse is connected:

Ask the user to provide data in one of these ways:

• Paste query results directly
• Upload a CSV or Excel file
• Describe the schema so you can write queries for them to run If writing queries for manual execution, use the sql-queries skill for dialect-specific best practices Once data is provided, proceed with analysis

3. Analyze

Calculate relevant metrics, aggregations, and comparisons Identify patterns, trends, outliers, and anomalies Compare across dimensions (time periods, segments, categories) For complex analyses, break the problem into sub-questions and address each

4. Validate Before Presenting

Before sharing results, run through validation checks:

Row count sanity: Does the number of records make sense? Null check: Are there unexpected nulls that could skew results? Magnitude check: Are the numbers in a reasonable range? Trend continuity: Do time series have unexpected gaps? Aggregation logic: Do subtotals sum to totals correctly?

If any check raises concerns, investigate and note caveats.

5. Present Findings

For quick answers: State the answer directly with relevant context Include the query used (collapsed or in a code block) for reproducibility

For full analyses: Lead with the key finding or insight Support with data tables and/or visualizations Note methodology and any caveats Suggest follow-up questions

For formal reports: Executive summary with key takeaways Methodology section explaining approach and data sources Detailed findings with supporting evidence Caveats, limitations, and data quality notes Recommendations and suggested next steps

6. Visualize Where Helpful

When a chart would communicate results more effectively than a table:

Use the data-visualization skill to select the right chart type Generate a Python visualization or build it into an HTML dashboard Follow visualization best practices for clarity and accuracy

Examples

Quick answer: /analyze How many new users signed up in December?

Full analysis: /analyze What's causing the increase in support ticket volume over the past 3 months? Break down by category and priority.

Formal report: /analyze Prepare a data quality assessment of our customer table -- completeness, consistency, and any issues we should address.

Tips

Be specific about time ranges, segments, or metrics when possible If you know the table names, mention them to speed up the process For complex questions, Claude may break them into multiple queries Results are always validated before presentation -- if something looks off, Claude will flag it/analyze - Answer Data Questions

If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.

Answer a data question, from a quick lookup to a full analysis to a formal report.

Usage

/analyze <natural language question>

Workflow

1. Understand the Question

Parse the user's question and determine:

Complexity level:

• Quick answer: Single metric, simple filter, factual lookup (e.g., "How many users signed up last week?")
• Full analysis: Multi-dimensional exploration, trend analysis, comparison (e.g., "What's driving the drop in conversion rate?")
• Formal report: Comprehensive investigation with methodology, caveats, and recommendations (e.g., "Prepare a quarterly business review of our subscription metrics") Data requirements: Which tables, metrics, dimensions, and time ranges are needed Output format: Number, table, chart, narrative, or combination

2. Gather Data

If a data warehouse MCP server is connected:

Explore the schema to find relevant tables and columns Write SQL query(ies) to extract the needed data Execute the query and retrieve results If the query fails, debug and retry (check column names, table references, syntax for the specific dialect) If results look unexpected, run sanity checks before proceeding

If no data warehouse is connected:

Ask the user to provide data in one of these ways:

• Paste query results directly
• Upload a CSV or Excel file
• Describe the schema so you can write queries for them to run If writing queries for manual execution, use the sql-queries skill for dialect-specific best practices Once data is provided, proceed with analysis

3. Analyze

Calculate relevant metrics, aggregations, and comparisons Identify patterns, trends, outliers, and anomalies Compare across dimensions (time periods, segments, categories) For complex analyses, break the problem into sub-questions and address each

4. Validate Before Presenting

Before sharing results, run through validation checks:

Row count sanity: Does the number of records make sense? Null check: Are there unexpected nulls that could skew results? Magnitude check: Are the numbers in a reasonable range? Trend continuity: Do time series have unexpected gaps? Aggregation logic: Do subtotals sum to totals correctly?

If any check raises concerns, investigate and note caveats.

5. Present Findings

For quick answers: State the answer directly with relevant context Include the query used (collapsed or in a code block) for reproducibility

For full analyses: Lead with the key finding or insight Support with data tables and/or visualizations Note methodology and any caveats Suggest follow-up questions

For formal reports: Executive summary with key takeaways Methodology section explaining approach and data sources Detailed findings with supporting evidence Caveats, limitations, and data quality notes Recommendations and suggested next steps

6. Visualize Where Helpful

When a chart would communicate results more effectively than a table:

Use the data-visualization skill to select the right chart type Generate a Python visualization or build it into a