IRIntellrise
How-to

Chat with your MySQL database in plain English

Updated 2026-08-25

An AI data analyst is most useful when it runs on your real data. This guide shows how to connect MySQL so you can ask questions in plain English and get charts, dashboards and reports back — without writing SQL by hand.

The setup takes a few minutes: connect with a read-only user, let the analyst read the schema, and ask your first question. Your credentials are encrypted, and the analysis runs on your own AI provider key.

  1. 1

    Get your MySQL connection details

    You need the host, port (usually 3306), database name, username and password — as separate values, since Intellrise has nowhere to paste a whole connection URL. The form also asks for a schema and, optionally, a dbt target schema. On managed MySQL, copy them from the instance dashboard, and check whether the server refuses unencrypted connections: Intellrise connects to MySQL without an explicit SSL parameter, so that is worth knowing before you start.

  2. 2

    Create a read-only user (recommended)

    Create a dedicated read-only user: GRANT SELECT on the database to a new user. The analyst can then read to answer questions but can never modify data. The exact CREATE USER and GRANT statements are at intellrise.com/help/database-requirements — along with what happens if you skip it: when you connect, we ask MySQL what the account you handed us is granted and show you the answer, without blocking the connection.

  3. 3

    Create your account and add your AI key

    Sign up, then add your own AI provider key (bring-your-own-key). If you don't have one yet, a free key takes about a minute to create — your key is encrypted and used only for your requests.

  4. 4

    Add the MySQL connection

    Add a data source, choose MySQL, and enter host, port, database, user and password. There is no SSL switch in the form — MySQL is connected without an explicit SSL parameter, so your server decides. Click Connect: it saves the credentials encrypted and then immediately dials the server, so you get either “Connected — N tables found” or the exact error MySQL returned, right there on the form. A source that fails is still saved — correct it with the pencil icon and save again.

  5. 5

    Let the AI read and annotate your schema

    Let the analyst read and annotate your tables and columns. If you model with dbt, point it at your dbt schema so it recognises your fact and dimension tables.

  6. 6

    Ask your first question in plain English

    Ask something like "Revenue by month for this year". On a question the analyst judges complex — a join, a query spanning two sources, several steps — it shows a readable plan and waits for you to approve it before running anything; on one it judges simple it runs first and shows you afterwards. Either way you get the same two controls on every answer: Show SQL gives you the exact query that produced the number, and Show table gives you the rows it returned with their count. That is how you check a figure instead of trusting it. Refine by chatting, then pin it to a dashboard or save it as a report.

Why connect MySQL instead of exporting

A static export goes stale the moment you download it, and when an assistant only ever sees that exported file it has to guess what your columns mean. A connected AI data analyst reads live MySQL data, shows you a readable plan before running anything on the complex questions (simple ones it runs first and shows you after), and saves what your fields mean against the source itself — so the next question already knows them, and answers stay current and consistent.

MySQL: things to know

  • If the connection times out, check that your MySQL host allows connections from the app and that any firewall/allowlist includes it.
  • Very large tables answer faster if you ask for a time range rather than "all time".

Example questions to ask your MySQL data

  • Revenue by month for this year
  • Top 10 products by units sold last quarter
  • New vs returning customers by week

Keeping it safe

  • Connect with a read-only user. That grant is what actually stops a write, and it is yours to set — and when you connect we check what that account is allowed to do, and show you the answer.
  • On our side every query is checked before it runs and refused if it contains a write statement — DROP, DELETE, UPDATE, INSERT and fourteen others, eighteen keywords in all. It is a keyword guard, not a full SQL parser, so it can only refuse what it can spell — which is why the read-only grant on your side is the control that actually holds. The two limit different things and neither replaces the other: your grant decides what we can be given, our guard decides what we can send.
  • Connection details and your AI key are encrypted at rest.
  • We train no model on your data — we do not have one; the analysis runs on your own provider key, so the terms that decide what happens to what you send are your provider's, not ours. We attach your MySQL read-only and query it in place rather than mirroring it, and the rows an answer returns stay in your own account until you delete them.

Frequently asked questions

Yes — MariaDB speaks the MySQL protocol, so connect it the same way.

Related

Get your end-to-end AI business intelligence now.

Ask in plain English, pin the answer to a dashboard, export it as CSV, Excel, PDF or PowerPoint — on the free tier that whole loop runs on one database source plus Google Sheets, and the field definitions you save carry into every later session, including after a schema refresh. One exception you should hear from us rather than discover: on a Google Sheet, re-running the tab picker — even only to add a tab — clears the definitions saved for that source and reads its schema fresh. Connecting a database is the technical part: a read-only user and network access, once. If your numbers live in a spreadsheet, none of that applies: put the file in a Google Sheet and it connects on the free tier, with no read-only user and no open port. Uploading a CSV or Excel file directly is a Pro feature, and every new account gets 14 days of Pro with no card. The one thing no plan waives is your own AI provider key, and a Google Gemini key is free to create.

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Every new account starts on a 14-day Pro trial with no card. After it lapses, the free tier stays free.