carto-basics

CARTO is reachable through two parallel access paths, and most agent setups use one or both:

CARTO CLI (
```
@carto/carto-cli
```
) — the primary path for authoring, scripting, and headless contexts. Used by most other skills in this catalog.
CARTO MCP Server — a parallel path for inline interactions in chat-based agent hosts (Claude.ai, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT). Renders maps inline, exposes data discovery and saved-Builder-map preview tools, and dynamically registers the user's saved CARTO Workflows as MCP tools when available.

Use this skill before any other CARTO skill — it covers installation, authentication, profiles, the global CLI flags every other CARTO skill assumes, and how to detect / route between the two access paths.

When to use this skill

Setting up the CLI for the first time on a new machine.
The user reports authentication errors (
```
auth status
```
failures, expired tokens).
The user wants to switch between organizations or environments.
A downstream skill needs
```
--profile
```
,
```
--json
```
,
```
--token
```
, or
```
--base-url
```
and you don't yet know how those work.

Quick start

bash

npm install -g @carto/carto-cli
carto auth login                # opens browser, stores credentials
carto auth status               # confirms tenant, org, user
carto maps list --json          # any command can return JSON

Authentication state persists across sessions.

auth status

is the fastest way to confirm the agent has working credentials before doing anything else.

What's in this skill

Topic	Reference
Installing the CLI (npm, version verification)	references/installation.md
Authentication: browser, headless `--no-launch-browser` , API tokens, SSO	references/authentication.md
Profiles: managing multiple orgs / environments	references/profiles.md
Global flags: `--json` , `--debug` , `--yes` , `--token` , `--base-url` , `--profile` , env vars	references/global-options.md

Access paths: CLI vs MCP server

The two paths serve different intents. Most agent flows pick one based on what the user is asking for; some flows chain across both.

User intent	Preferred path	Skill
Author or edit a permanent CARTO Builder map (CRUD on saved maps, validation, publish)	CLI	`carto-create-builder-maps`
Render an ad-hoc, exploratory map inline in chat from a deck.gl declarative spec	MCP ( `view_map` )	`carto-render-inline-map`
Open / preview an existing saved Builder map by URL, ID, or name	MCP ( `load_builder_map` + `list_maps` )	`carto-preview-builder-map`
Build a from-scratch CARTO + deck.gl app in TypeScript / JavaScript	(developer code)	`carto-develop-app`
Discover what's in a connection — schemas, tables, named sources	CLI today; MCP equivalents ( `list_connections` , `list_resources` , `search_resources` , `get_column_stats` ) when attached	`carto-explore-datawarehouse` (CLI) — MCP-aware refactor pending
Run spatial SQL	CLI today	`carto-query-datawarehouse` (CLI) — MCP-aware refactor pending
Author a Workflow (DAG of analytical components)	CLI today	`carto-create-workflow` (CLI) — MCP-aware refactor pending
Run a saved Workflow as an analytical tool	MCP, when the Workflow is registered as an MCP tool (dynamic per account)	covered ad-hoc by host's tool-list — no dedicated skill yet
Geospatial pattern analyses (hotspots, GWR, spatial autocorrelation, etc.)	CLI (Workflows)	`carto-pattern-*` skills

How to detect what's available

What	How
CARTO CLI installed	`carto --version` succeeds in a shell.
CARTO MCP server attached	Tools named `view_map` , `load_builder_map` , `list_maps` , `list_connections` , `search_resources` , `get_column_stats` appear in your tool list.
MCP host renders MCP Apps (interactive widgets)	Claude.ai, Claude Desktop, ChatGPT do. Gemini CLI, Codex CLI, plain MCP Inspector, current MCPJam do not — those execute MCP tools but show only text confirmations, no inline widget.

If an MCP-route intent is asked but the MCP server isn't attached (or the host doesn't render MCP Apps for visualization), surface that to the user — don't silently fall back to a generic visualization widget or a hand-rolled HTML map.

Why this orientation lives here

The catalog's existing CLI-action skills (

carto-explore-datawarehouse

carto-query-datawarehouse

carto-create-workflow

, etc.) are CLI-only today. As they become mode-aware (per-skill MCP/CLI routing internal to each skill), this orientation table will narrow — eventually each skill picks its own access path internally and

carto-basics

carries only the meta-orientation. Until then, this section is the routing source of truth.

Always-on guidance

Always pass
--json
when you need machine-readable output. CLI text output is for humans and may change.
Map URLs use the tenant domain from
```
auth status
```
, not a generic workspace URL. Private maps live at
```
https://{tenant_domain}/builder/{map_id}
```
; public/shared maps at
```
https://{tenant_domain}/map/{map_id}
```
. Never construct
```
workspace-{region}.app.carto.com
```
URLs.
Confirmation prompts: destructive commands like
```
maps delete
```
prompt for the literal word "delete". Pass
```
--yes
```
(or
```
--json
```
) for non-interactive use.
Async jobs:
```
imports create
```
and
```
sql job
```
poll until completion by default. Pass
```
--async
```
(where supported) to return immediately and poll separately.

carto-basics

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

carto-basics

When to use this skill

Quick start

What's in this skill

Access paths: CLI vs MCP server

How to detect what's available

Why this orientation lives here

Always-on guidance