MySQL Guide

Select MySQL in the database picker, then fill in:

• Host — localhost or your server's address
• Port — default is 3306
• Username — your MySQL user
• Password — your MySQL password
• Database — optional, you can pick one after connecting

Click Connect and you're in. SQLAgent uses a pure Swift implementation of the MySQL wire protocol — no ODBC or JDBC drivers needed.

SQLAgent supports MySQL 5.x and 8.x. Both mysql_native_password and caching_sha2_password authentication methods are supported.

Yes. After connecting, your connection is automatically saved. Credentials are stored locally on your Mac — they never leave your machine. Saved connections appear as chips on the connection form for quick reconnection.

Enable SSL in the connection form to encrypt traffic between SQLAgent and your MySQL server. You can optionally provide a CA certificate, client certificate, and client key for mutual TLS (mTLS) authentication.

For databases behind a firewall or bastion host, enable the SSH tunnel section. SQLAgent supports SSH key, SSH agent, and password authentication. The tunnel is established automatically before connecting to MySQL.

Before you connect, SQLAgent shows a security banner summarizing your connection's posture:

• Local connection — green, data stays on your machine
• Remote + TLS — green, encrypted
• Remote + SSH — green, tunneled
• Remote + SSH + TLS — green, double-layered encryption
• Remote, no encryption — orange warning, credentials sent in plain text

MySQL uses GRANT-based access control. Each user has a set of privileges (SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, etc.) scoped to specific databases or tables. To see your current privileges, run:

SHOW GRANTS;

The security banner on the connection form reminds you of this — so you know what access model to expect before connecting.

Check that your MySQL server is running and accessible from your network. Verify the host, port, and credentials. If you're behind a firewall, make sure port 3306 is open. For cloud databases, check that your IP is whitelisted.

Double-check your username and password. For MySQL, ensure the user has permission to connect from your IP address. MySQL 8 defaults to caching_sha2_password — SQLAgent supports both this and the older mysql_native_password.

Make sure your certificates are in PEM format. The CA certificate, client certificate, and client key must all be valid and match. Try toggling Verify server certificate if connecting to a self-signed server.

The TCP connection to MySQL was interrupted mid-communication. This usually means the server closed the connection (idle timeout, crash, or network drop). SQLAgent will attempt to reconnect automatically.

Received a malformed packet from the MySQL server. This can indicate a protocol mismatch, network corruption, or an incompatible server version.