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docs: clarify README onboarding and auto-sync the Docker Hub description#882

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malloydata:mainfrom
ofermend:docs/onboarding-improvements
Draft

docs: clarify README onboarding and auto-sync the Docker Hub description#882
ofermend wants to merge 1 commit into
malloydata:mainfrom
ofermend:docs/onboarding-improvements

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What

A lighter-touch pass over the README to smooth first-time developer onboarding (keeping the existing structure), plus wiring CI to keep the Docker Hub overview from drifting. Prompted by an onboarding review of the repo and the public docs.

README

  • Intro rewritten to say concretely what Publisher does (REST + MCP: discover model metadata, compile and execute queries, retrieve governed data).
  • Concepts section added so Malloy, semantic model, environment, package, connection, and MCP are defined before first use.
  • Contents (TOC), npm/Docker/license badges, a screenshot, and a Contributing section linking CONTRIBUTING.md and LICENSE.
  • "Use your own models and database" — expands the thin "bring your own config" into a real walkthrough: the publisher.config.json schema (environmentspackagesconnections) and a generic Postgres connection example (nothing BigQuery-specific), with a link to docs/connections.md.
  • AI agents (MCP and skills) — the old thin "Agent MCP server" section is replaced with a fuller in-place one: the core (:4040) tool list, the agent (:4041) server, a client-config snippet, and how a developer actually uses the bundled skills (native files vs MCP prompts).

Docker Hub

  • CI (docker-image.yml) gains a peter-evans/dockerhub-description step so the Docker Hub overview is kept in sync from packages/server/README.docker.md on every stable release — it currently drifts because nothing syncs it.
  • Fixed the repo-relative links in README.docker.md so they resolve on the Docker Hub page (they 404 there today).

Notes

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

- Rewrite the intro to describe concretely what Publisher does (REST + MCP:
  discover metadata, compile and execute queries).
- Add a Concepts section (Malloy, semantic model, environment, package,
  connection, MCP) so terms are defined before first use.
- Add a table of contents, npm/Docker/license badges, a screenshot, and a
  Contributing section linking CONTRIBUTING.md and LICENSE.
- Expand "bring your own config" into a config-file walkthrough with a generic
  Postgres connection example (not BigQuery-specific) and a link to
  docs/connections.md.
- Replace the thin Agent MCP section with a fuller "AI agents (MCP and skills)"
  section: core (:4040) and agent (:4041) servers, the tool list, a client
  config snippet, and how developers use the bundled skills.
- Wire CI to keep the Docker Hub overview in sync (peter-evans/dockerhub-
  description) and fix repo-relative links in README.docker.md so they resolve
  on the Docker Hub page.

Signed-off-by: Ofer Mendelevitch <[email protected]>
@ofermend
ofermend marked this pull request as draft July 11, 2026 22:14
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