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MySQL runs as an ordinary service inside your project. Siblings reach it at its service name, and it has no public endpoint unless you enable external access. Every MySQL client and ORM works unchanged. The wire protocol, the mysql:// URL and the SHOW and GRANT surface are stock MySQL.

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Creating an instance

Select New → Database, then MySQL. The form asks for:
  • Name, the service name siblings connect to.
  • Version, 8.4 or 8.0.
  • Database, the schema created on first boot. It defaults to a randomised name derived from the service rather than a guessable mysql.
  • Compute. A database reserves its full CPU allocation and does not burst.
  • Disk, mounted at /var/lib/mysql.
latest is not a valid version. A managed database has to be reproducible, so the tag is always pinned. The memory floor is the smallest allocation the engine runs on. If you configure less, the deploy fails rather than silently raising it. MySQL needs at least 1 GiB. A smaller allocation fails validation rather than being silently raised.

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8.4 and older clients

MySQL 8.4 no longer enables the legacy mysql_native_password plugin by default. Accounts use caching_sha2_password, which every current client speaks. Very old drivers (PHP’s mysql_* functions, MySQL Connector/J before 8.0, some 2018-era Go and Python drivers) may fail to authenticate. Choose 8.0 if you have one you cannot upgrade.

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Authentication

Each instance is provisioned with a generated password for the root account, stored as the project secret <SERVICE>_PASSWORD. Additional users are managed on the service’s Credentials tab. Each is created live with a generated password and full privileges on the instance’s database, and the password is stored as a revealable project secret. Users live in the mysql system schema on the disk, so they survive restarts. root cannot be dropped from that tab. It is the account slipway manages the instance with.

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Connecting

slipway.yaml
${service.db.url} resolves to mysql://root:<password>@db:3306/<database>. Available fields: url, user, password, host, port, database, and external_url when external access is on.

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External access

Off by default. An admin can expose the instance from the service’s Connection card. TLS is required and the password still authenticates end to end.

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Your username carries the endpoint

MySQL clients send no TLS SNI in any ssl-mode. Postgres and Redis endpoints are told apart by the server name in the TLS handshake, so for MySQL the hostname cannot say which database you want. The username does instead.
An instance whose endpoint is orders-1a2b3c4d-my is reached by the root account as root.orders-1a2b3c4d-my. Everything after the last dot is the endpoint; everything before it is the account. Your account name may itself contain dots, and only the last one is the separator. Azure Database for MySQL uses the same shape for the same reason. The Connection card shows the full username with a copy button, which is what to paste into a GUI client’s Username field.
A Go DSN, where TLS is a parameter rather than a flag:

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If the gateway refuses

Two refusals come from the gateway itself, and each names its fix in the error text.

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Backups

The disk is backed up on a schedule and can be restored in place from the service’s Disks tab. Retention is measured in days and depends on your plan. See Disks. A restore returns the whole instance to that point. For a logical export, run mysqldump from a sibling service or over external access.

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Metrics

The service overview shows CPU, memory and active connections, the live Threads_connected gauge sampled every 30 seconds. The Metrics tab charts those over a window you choose, plus disk usage against the volume’s size.

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Pricing

Compute is metered by the second against the allocation a service is configured with, so a service that sleeps costs nothing while it is asleep. Disk, backups and object storage are metered on what is provisioned or held, whether or not the service is running. MySQL is priced on the allocation you configure, with CPU reserved rather than burstable. The disk is billed on its provisioned size.

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FAQ

Can I upgrade 8.0 to 8.4 in place? No. Change the version and slipway starts a new instance on the new image. Move the data with mysqldump and restore into the new instance. Is latest allowed as a version? No. A managed database has to be reproducible, so the tag is always pinned.