# Connect with MySQL Client

> **📝 Note**: When using a third-party SQL client or development tool, you must first [add a database user](https://docs.singlestore.com/cloud/user-and-workspace-administration/manage-database-users.md) to log into a SingleStore Helios database.

SingleStore is wire-compliant with MySQL meaning connecting to SingleStore is as easy as connecting to a MySQL database. You may need the `-u <user>,` `-h <host>`, and `-P <port>` flags to ensure you are connecting to SingleStore properly. For example:

```shell
mysql -u admin -h svc-xxxx-ddl.aws-oregon-1.svc.singlestore.com -P 3306 --default-auth=mysql_native_password -p
```

where,

* `-u`: Specifies the name of the SingleStore database user.
* `-h`: Specifies the IP address or hostname of the SingleStore deployment.

  Refer to [SingleStore Helios Endpoints](https://docs.singlestore.com/cloud/connect-to-singlestore/singlestore-helios-endpoints.md) to determine the endpoint (`host:port`) of your deployment.
* `-P`: Specifies the port to connect to. Default: `3306`.
* `--default-auth=mysql_native_password`: (Optional) For proper authentication.

You may also use the `--prompt` flag to change the prompt in the interactive session, simply to help distinguish SingleStore from MySQL:

```shell
mysql -u admin -h svc-[...].svc.singlestore.com -P 3306 --default-auth=mysql_native_password -p --prompt="singlestore> "
```

The output when you connect should look similar to this:

```sql
Welcome to the MySQL monitor. Commands end with ; or \g.
Your MySQL connection id is 6
Server version: 5.5.8 MemSQL source distribution (compatible; MySQL Enterprise & MySQL Commercial)
Copyright (c) 2000, 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its
affiliates. Other names may be trademarks of their respective
owners.
Type 'help;' or '\h' for help. Type '\c' to clear the current input statement.
singlestore>
```

These commands show more information about the connection and the server:

Note that `SHOW STATUS LIKE '%License%';` provides additional license information.

```sql
status

```

```output

--------------
mysql  Ver 8.0.23 for osx10.15 on x86_64 (Homebrew)

Connection id:		15507
Current database:	
Current user:		admin@
SSL:			Cipher in use is AES256-SHA
Current pager:		stdout
Using outfile:		''
Using delimiter:	;
Server version:		5.5.58 MemSQL source distribution (compatible; MySQL Enterprise & MySQL Commercial)
Protocol version:	10
Connection:		svc-9be5e8a1-8a5f-4aa7-b75d-a395570828f2-ddl.aws-oregon-1.svc.singlestore.com via TCP/IP
Server characterset:	utf8
Db     characterset:	utf8
Client characterset:	utf8
Conn.  characterset:	utf8
TCP port:		3306
Binary data as:		Hexadecimal
--------------

```

```sql
SHOW DATABASES;

```

```output

+--------------------+
| Database           |
+--------------------+
| workspace          |
| information_schema |
| memsql             |
| test               |
+--------------------+
4 rows in set (0.03 sec)
```

> **❗ Important**: The `@@version` and `@@version_comment` global variables are for compatibility with MySQL clients, which expect certain minimum version numbers and strings to be present. To check the real version of SingleStore Helios you are running, use the `@@memsql_version` variables instead. To check the license you are running, see the `license_key` and `license_type` status codes.

## In this section

* [MySQL Command-Line Considerations](https://docs.singlestore.com/cloud/connect-to-singlestore/connect-with-mysql/connect-with-mysql-client/mysql-command-line-considerations.md)
* [Connect to SingleStore Helios using TLS/SSL](https://docs.singlestore.com/cloud/connect-to-singlestore/connect-with-mysql/connect-with-mysql-client/connect-to-singlestore-helios-using-tls-ssl.md)
* [MariaDB Command-line Client from MariaDB Server Version 10.3.12 (GPLv2)](https://docs.singlestore.com/cloud/connect-to-singlestore/connect-with-mysql/connect-with-mysql-client/mariadb-command-line-client-from-mariadb-server-version-10-3-12-gplv-2.md)

***

Modified at: May 12, 2026

Source: [/cloud/connect-to-singlestore/connect-with-mysql/connect-with-mysql-client/](https://docs.singlestore.com/cloud/connect-to-singlestore/connect-with-mysql/connect-with-mysql-client/)

(An index of the documentation is available at /llms.txt)