Installation and Prerequisites

Installation and Prerequisites

This page covers the tools, environment variables, and verification steps needed before running the migration utility.

Platform Support

Local execution is supported on macOS and Linux. Windows is not supported for the current local workflow because the project setup depends on Unix-oriented tooling such as brew, direnv, bash hooks, and unixODBC-based FreeTDS registration.

Required Tools

Tool	Version	Purpose
Claude Code CLI	Latest	Agent runtime that executes all plugin commands
uv	Latest	Python package manager and runner used by every CLI tool
Python	3.11+	Runtime for shared library, MCP server, and CLI tools
gh CLI	Latest	GitHub operations (PRs, branch management, worktree cleanup)
git	2.x+	Version control; worktree support required for batch commands

Required Tools (SQL Server)

Tool	Version	Purpose
FreeTDS	Latest	Open-source ODBC driver for SQL Server connectivity. Install: brew install freetds and ensure it is registered in unixODBC

Optional Tools

Tool	When needed	Purpose
direnv	Recommended for all projects	Auto-loads .envrc credentials when you enter the project directory; keeps secrets out of shell history

Environment Variables

The variables required depend on your source technology. The /init-ad-migration command scaffolds a .envrc with only the variables for the selected source. These bootstrap the first live connection; the canonical runtime contract is then persisted in manifest.json under runtime.source, runtime.target, and runtime.sandbox.

SQL Server

Variable	Description	Example
SOURCE_MSSQL_HOST	SQL Server hostname or IP	localhost
SOURCE_MSSQL_PORT	SQL Server port	1433
SOURCE_MSSQL_DB	Configured source database that contains the runtime MigrationTest schema fixture	AdventureWorks2022
SOURCE_MSSQL_USER	SQL login username	sa
SOURCE_MSSQL_PASSWORD	SQL login password	(from env)
MSSQL_DRIVER	(optional) ODBC driver override	FreeTDS (default)

MSSQL_DRIVER defaults to FreeTDS. Set it to ODBC Driver 18 for SQL Server if you prefer the Microsoft driver (requires brew install msodbcsql18 with interactive EULA acceptance).

When using the default FreeTDS path, /init-ad-migration now verifies both the Homebrew package and the unixODBC driver registration. A plain brew install freetds is not considered sufficient if FreeTDS does not appear in odbcinst -q -d.

All connection variables are required for ad-migration setup-source, ad-migration setup-sandbox, /generate-tests, /refactor, and any other live-database skill.

Oracle

Variable	Description	Example
SOURCE_ORACLE_HOST	Oracle hostname or IP	localhost
SOURCE_ORACLE_PORT	Oracle listener port	1521
SOURCE_ORACLE_SERVICE	Oracle service name	FREEPDB1
SOURCE_ORACLE_USER	Oracle username	sh
SOURCE_ORACLE_PASSWORD	Oracle password	(from env)

Setting variables with direnv (recommended)

The /init-ad-migration command scaffolds a tracked .envrc template for shared non-secret variables and loads local secrets from .env. Fill in .envrc, put password values in .env, then run:

direnv allow

Setting variables manually

Export them in your shell before launching claude:

# SQL Server
export SOURCE_MSSQL_HOST=localhost
export SOURCE_MSSQL_PORT=1433
export SOURCE_MSSQL_DB=AdventureWorks2022
export SOURCE_MSSQL_USER=sa
export SOURCE_MSSQL_PASSWORD=<your-password>

# Oracle
export SOURCE_ORACLE_HOST=localhost
export SOURCE_ORACLE_PORT=1521
export SOURCE_ORACLE_SERVICE=FREEPDB1
export SOURCE_ORACLE_USER=sh
export SOURCE_ORACLE_PASSWORD=<your-password>

Python Dependencies

The shared library depends on pydantic, sqlglot, and typer as its key runtime libraries. All Python dependencies (including transitive ones) are managed by uv and pinned in lib/pyproject.toml. Running uv sync in the lib directory installs everything needed.

Loading the Plugin

Install from the Vibedata marketplace:

/plugin marketplace add accelerate-data/vibedata-plugins-official
/plugin install ad-migration@vibedata-plugins-official

Alternatively, for local development, load the plugin directly:

claude --plugin-dir .

The ad-migration plugin provides all pipeline commands and skills in a single package.

Installing the ad-migration CLI

The ad-migration CLI is installed automatically when you run /init-ad-migration. To install manually or verify an existing installation:

brew tap accelerate-data/homebrew-tap
brew install ad-migration
ad-migration --version

Dev usage without installing:

uv run --project lib ad-migration --help

Verifying Setup

Run the initialization command inside your Claude Code session:

/init-ad-migration

This installs the ad-migration CLI via Homebrew if not already present, then prompts for source technology selection, checks every prerequisite silently, and presents a status display grouped by source. See Stage 1 Project Init for full details on the status display format and what each check covers.

Next Step

Once verification passes, proceed to the Quickstart for a complete walkthrough.