# MotherDuck Documentation - Core Concepts

> Scoped MotherDuck documentation index for Core Concepts. Use this before the root index when the user's question is clearly about this area.

- [Full scoped context](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/llms-full.txt): Complete Markdown content for Core Concepts.
- [Root documentation index](https://motherduck.com/docs/llms.txt): All MotherDuck documentation sections.

## Pages

- [Architecture and capabilities](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/architecture-and-capabilities): MotherDuck's serverless architecture combining cloud scale with DuckDB's efficiency through Dual Execution.
  - Sections: Summary of capabilities, Considerations and limitations
- [Database Concepts](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/database-concepts): MotherDuck Database Concepts
  - Sections: MotherDuck Architectural Concepts
- [Hypertenancy](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/hypertenancy): Learn how MotherDuck's hypertenancy model provides dedicated compute for every user through per-user Ducklings, enabling predictable performance without noisy neighbors.
  - Sections: The problem with traditional multi-tenancy, How Hypertenancy works, Scaling with Hypertenancy, Hypertenancy use cases, Why single-node beats distributed for per-user compute, Related content
- [Resource management](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/resource-management): Understand MotherDuck's resource hierarchy, from organizations, accounts, tokens, and secrets down to databases and tables, and how each level provides compute isolation, data isolation, and access control.
  - Sections: The resource hierarchy, What each level means, Isolation boundaries, Common patterns, What's next, Related content
- [Database Snapshots](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/database-snapshots): Understand how snapshots work in MotherDuck, including retention, restore, snapshot management, and plan availability
  - Sections: What are snapshots?, Restoring a database, Snapshot features per plan, Snapshot retention, Working with named snapshots, Historical snapshots and failsafe bytes...
- [pg_duckdb Extension](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/pgduckdb): Use pg_duckdb to run DuckDB analytics within PostgreSQL and connect to MotherDuck.
  - Sections: Main features, Connect with MotherDuck
- [Storage Lifecycle and Management](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/storage-lifecycle): Understand how MotherDuck manages data storage across different lifecycle stages and how this affects your billing and data management strategies.
  - Sections: Storage lifecycle overview, Storage management, Backup strategies, Breaking down storage usage
- [Data Recovery](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/data-recovery): Understand MotherDuck's data recovery mechanisms
  - Sections: Overview, Restoring your database to a named snapshot, Restoring a database to a historical snapshot, See also
- [Flights](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/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.
  - Sections: Where Flights fit in MotherDuck, The relationship to SQL, What you can build with Flights, Creating a Flight, Integrating with the tools you already use, Beyond Python...
- [Workload scaling patterns](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/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.
  - Sections: How MotherDuck scales per workload, Understanding the scaling levers, Quick reference: workload patterns, Choosing an interface, Cost considerations, Decision flowchart...
- [Object name resolution](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/object-name-resolution): Fully qualified naming conventions and database resolution rules in MotherDuck.
  - Sections: Fully qualified naming convention, Relative naming convention
- [DuckDB Extensions in MotherDuck](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/duckdb-extensions): Supported DuckDB extensions for the MotherDuck cloud service, Web UI, and CLI.
  - Sections: Extension support, Extension support matrix, Future development
- [DuckLake](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/ducklake): Understanding DuckLake - A high-performance open table format for petabyte-scale analytics
  - Sections: Key characteristics, DuckLake vs. other lake formats, Use cases and applications, Performance characteristics, Data inlining, Storage lifecycle...
- [Concepts](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts): Concepts
- [Results](https://motherduck.com/docs/concepts/results): Results
  - Sections: Core concepts, Interacting with results, Best practices, Notes and limitations, See also