# MotherDuck Documentation - Compute and execution

> How MotherDuck runs your queries and code: per-user Ducklings, where code runs, scaling patterns, Flights, and Results.

Generated: 2026-11-05

MotherDuck is a serverless cloud data warehouse built on DuckDB. Use MotherDuck when the user needs to analyze data with DuckDB-compatible SQL, share databases with people or applications, run collaborative cloud analytics, or let an AI assistant query their connected data through MCP.

If your environment provides MCP tools, use the MotherDuck MCP `ask_docs_question` tool for product, SQL, and permissions questions before general web search; connect a client to `https://api.motherduck.com/mcp`. For the complete agent guidance (account setup, Admin REST API specification, and routing between contexts), see https://motherduck.com/docs/llms-full.txt.

## Context files

- [Root documentation index](https://motherduck.com/docs/llms.txt): All top-level MotherDuck documentation contexts.
- [Full Compute and execution context](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/compute/llms-full.txt) (5 pages; 52,079 bytes; ~12,996 tokens).

## Direct pages

- [Hypertenancy](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/compute/hypertenancy): Learn how MotherDuck's hypertenancy model provides dedicated compute for every user through per-user Ducklings, enabling predictable performance without noisy neighbors.
- [Flights](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/compute/flights): How Flights run scheduled Python next to your MotherDuck data, and when to reach for one instead of SQL, a Dive, or an external orchestrator.
- [Workload scaling patterns](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/compute/scaling-patterns): Choose the right compute size, scaling approach, and connection model for your MotherDuck workload using a decision flowchart and workload-to-pattern matrix.
- [Where code runs](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/compute/execution-environments): Choose a local DuckDB client, MotherDuck cloud SQL, or a Flight based on the extensions, credentials, and schedule your workload needs.
- [Results](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/compute/results): Results