# MotherDuck Documentation - Database operations

> Learn how to work with databases and MotherDuck

Generated: 2026-09-04

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 Database operations context](https://motherduck.com/docs/key-tasks/database-operations/llms-full.txt) (7 pages; 31,483 bytes; ~7,488 tokens).

## Direct pages

- [Basics database operations](https://motherduck.com/docs/key-tasks/database-operations/basics-operations): Create, list, and drop MotherDuck databases using SQL commands.
- [Specifying different databases](https://motherduck.com/docs/key-tasks/database-operations/specifying-different-databases): Reference tables across databases using fully qualified names with database.schema.table syntax.
- [Switching the current database](https://motherduck.com/docs/key-tasks/database-operations/switching-the-current-database): Change the active database and schema context using USE statements.
- [Querying historical data with time travel](https://motherduck.com/docs/key-tasks/database-operations/time-travel): Use MotherDuck snapshots to query past database states, compare data across time periods, debug pipeline issues, reproduce reports, and create audit checkpoints.
- [Copying DuckDB Databases](https://motherduck.com/docs/key-tasks/database-operations/copying-databases): Duplicate databases between MotherDuck cloud and local DuckDB using COPY FROM DATABASE.
- [Detach and re-attach a MotherDuck database](https://motherduck.com/docs/key-tasks/database-operations/detach-and-reattach-motherduck-database): Temporarily disconnect from a MotherDuck database using DETACH and reconnect with ATTACH.
- [Database operations](https://motherduck.com/docs/key-tasks/database-operations): Learn how to work with databases and MotherDuck