> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tablepro.app/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# TiDB

> Connect to TiDB and TiDB Cloud through the bundled MySQL driver on port 4000

Point the connection at a TiDB server's SQL port, never at PD or TiKV. No minimum TiDB version is enforced. Host, user, password, SSH tunnels, SSL/TLS and `Cmd+K` database switching work as on [MySQL](/databases/mysql).

## Connection settings

| Field        | Default   | Notes                                                                       |
| ------------ | --------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Port**     | `4000`    | TiDB Cloud uses 4000 as well                                                |
| **Database** | empty     | Optional. Leave it empty to browse every database                           |
| **SSL Mode** | Preferred | TLS first, plain text if the server refuses. Use **Required** on TiDB Cloud |

**Release the Server Connection After** is available under Advanced. AWS IAM, Cloud SQL Auth Proxy and Unix socket are not offered; reach a private cluster through an [SSH tunnel](/connections/ssh-tunneling).

## Connection URL

```text theme={null}
tidb://user:password@host:4000/database
```

`tidb+ssh://` opens it through an SSH tunnel. See [Connection URL Reference](/connections/urls).

## What differs from MySQL

* The sidebar hides `INFORMATION_SCHEMA`, `METRICS_SCHEMA`, `PERFORMANCE_SCHEMA`, `mysql` and `sys`. Sequences are not listed as tables.
* **Stop** sends `KILL TIDB QUERY` for the connection's own session.
* `EXPLAIN` and `EXPLAIN ANALYZE` show TiDB's plan as text, not as a plan tree.
* CHECK constraints appear in the Structure tab on TiDB 7.2 and later, when the cluster has `tidb_enable_check_constraint` on. Adding one from the Structure tab is not offered.
* The type picker has MySQL's types without the Spatial group.
* Foreign keys can be created, without the `SET DEFAULT` action. Tables and views can be renamed, and virtual generated columns are supported.
* [Users & Roles](/features/users-roles) works, with no connection limit field.
* Table Maintenance offers `ANALYZE TABLE` only.

A connection saved as **MySQL** that reaches a TiDB server still gets TiDB's **Stop**, sequence and Users & Roles handling. The sidebar, type picker, EXPLAIN and the other items above follow the connection type, so choose **TiDB** for all of them.

## Limitations

* No triggers, stored routines or events.
* No Server Dashboard, and **File > Backup Dump…** stays dimmed. Export with [Dumpling](https://docs.pingcap.com/tidb/stable/dumpling-overview) instead.
* Create Table has no engine, charset or collation pickers.
* [Compare & Sync](/features/compare-sync) writes no structure script between TiDB and MySQL or MariaDB. TiDB against TiDB works.
* Pages of an unsorted table can repeat or skip rows on a table spread over several regions. Sort by a column to get stable pages.
* Behind TiProxy or a load balancer, **Stop** needs Global Kill, on by default since TiDB 6.1. Without it, connect straight to one TiDB node.
* TiDB closes a session that receives `KILL TIDB QUERY` while idle, so **Stop** pressed just as a statement finishes can end the session, along with its open transaction, temporary tables and variables.

## Related

* [MySQL](/databases/mysql), for connection fields, SSL/TLS, and troubleshooting
* [MariaDB](/databases/mariadb)
* [SSH Tunneling](/connections/ssh-tunneling)