Create MySQL Capture

Create a MySQL capture using flowctl to stream data from MySQL tables into Estuary collections using Change Data Capture (CDC) via binary log (binlog) replication.

Applies to: source-mysql, source-amazon-rds-mysql, source-amazon-aurora-mysql, source-google-cloud-sql-mysql, source-azure-mysql

Step 0: Load Connector Documentation

Before proceeding, fetch the official connector docs for prerequisites, config reference, and cloud-specific setup.

Always load the main page: https://docs.estuary.dev/reference/Connectors/capture-connectors/MySQL/

Then load the variant subpage based on the user's MySQL type:

Variant	Docs URL
Self-hosted MySQL	Main page covers this
Amazon Aurora MySQL	Main page covers this
Amazon RDS MySQL	https://docs.estuary.dev/reference/Connectors/capture-connectors/MySQL/amazon-rds-mysql/
Google Cloud SQL MySQL	https://docs.estuary.dev/reference/Connectors/capture-connectors/MySQL/google-cloud-sql-mysql/

Use WebFetch to load these pages. Together they cover:

• Prerequisites (binlog format, user permissions, binlog retention)
• Full config property reference
• Cloud-specific setup instructions
• SSH tunnel configuration
• Network access / IP allowlisting
• Troubleshooting common errors

This skill provides the flowctl workflow and decision logic that docs don't cover.

Step 1: Gather Requirements

Before writing any YAML, ask the user:

1. MySQL variant? — Self-hosted, Amazon RDS, Aurora MySQL, Google Cloud SQL, or Azure
2. Network path? — Direct connection (cloud with IP allowlist), SSH tunnel (private network), Private Link (AWS/Azure/GCP), or ngrok (local dev)
3. Non-default data plane? — Most users use the default. Ask if they need a non-default data plane.
4. Tables to capture? — All tables or specific subset
5. History mode? — Standard CDC (false) or full event history (true)
6. DATETIME columns? — If yes, need timezone config (e.g., America/New_York)

Step 2: Find the Correct Connector Version

Always use the latest numbered version tag. Query the connector registry to find it:

flowctl raw get --table connector_tags \
  --query 'documentation_url=ilike.*source-mysql*' \
  --query 'select=image_tag,documentation_url' \
  --output yaml

Choose the connector image based on the user's MySQL variant:

Variant	Connector Image
Self-hosted / Vanilla	ghcr.io/estuary/source-mysql
Amazon RDS MySQL	ghcr.io/estuary/source-amazon-rds-mysql
Amazon Aurora MySQL	ghcr.io/estuary/source-amazon-aurora-mysql
Google Cloud SQL MySQL	ghcr.io/estuary/source-google-cloud-sql-mysql
Azure Database for MySQL	ghcr.io/estuary/source-azure-mysql

Step 3: Help User Complete Prerequisites

Walk the user through prerequisites from the docs loaded in Step 0:

1. Binlog format — must be ROW: SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'binlog_format';
2. Binlog row image — must be FULL: SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'binlog_row_image';
3. User permissions — needs SELECT, REPLICATION CLIENT, REPLICATION SLAVE
4. Binlog retention — at least 24-72 hours recommended

For RDS: binlog retention is set via CALL mysql.rds_set_configuration('binlog retention hours', 72);

Step 4: Create the Capture Spec File

Build flow.yaml using the config reference from the docs. Minimal required config:

captures:
  <tenant>/<path>/source-mysql:
    endpoint:
      connector:
        image: ghcr.io/estuary/source-mysql:<version>
        config:
          address: "<host>:<port>"
          user: "<username>"
          password: "<password>"
          historyMode: false
    bindings: []

Important fields not in minimal config but commonly needed:

• timezone: "America/New_York" — required if tables have DATETIME columns
• advanced.dbname: "your_app_db" — required if user can't access the mysql system database

For SSH tunnel, add networkTunnel.sshForwarding block — see docs for full config.

Step 5: Discover and Publish

# Discover tables
flowctl discover --source flow.yaml

# Review the generated bindings
cat flow.yaml

# Publish the capture
flowctl catalog publish --source flow.yaml --auto-approve

Step 6: Verify

# Check status (expect PENDING → BACKFILLING → OK: Streaming Binlog Events)
flowctl catalog status <tenant>/<path>/source-mysql

# View recent logs
flowctl logs --task <tenant>/<path>/source-mysql --since 5m | jq -c '{ts, message}'

# Read captured data
flowctl collections read --collection <tenant>/<path>/<schema>/<table> | head -10

Status progression:

1. PENDING — normal for ~30 seconds during shard assignment
2. BACKFILLING — initial table snapshots
3. OK: Streaming Binlog Events — CDC running normally

Troubleshooting

"historyMode is required"

Cause: Missing historyMode field in config

Fix: Add historyMode: false (or true for full event history).

"Access denied to database 'mysql'"

Cause: Capture user can't access the mysql system database

Fix: Specify an alternative database:

config:
  advanced:
    dbname: "your_application_db"

"unsupported DML query" or statement-based binlog error

Cause: binlog_format is not ROW

Fix: SET GLOBAL binlog_format = 'ROW'; — for RDS/Cloud SQL, update the parameter group/flags.

"could not find first log file name in binary log index file"

Cause: Binlog files purged; connector can't find its last position. Must re-backfill.

Prevention: Increase retention — SET GLOBAL binlog_expire_logs_seconds = 259200; (72 hours). For RDS: CALL mysql.rds_set_configuration('binlog retention hours', 72);

"log event entry exceeded max_allowed_packet"

Cause: A single row/transaction exceeds MySQL's max_allowed_packet

Fix: SET GLOBAL max_allowed_packet = 1073741824; (1GB). For RDS: update via parameter group.

DATETIME values not permitted or incorrect timestamps

Cause: Tables have DATETIME columns but timezone not configured

Fix: Add timezone: "America/New_York" (or appropriate IANA timezone) to config.

"Access denied; you need REPLICATION SLAVE privilege"

Cause: User lacks replication permissions

Fix:

GRANT REPLICATION CLIENT, REPLICATION SLAVE ON *.* TO 'flow_capture'@'%';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Capture halts after ALTER TABLE

Cause: Certain schema changes (beyond ADD/DROP COLUMN) stop the connector. DROP TABLE or TRUNCATE TABLE will also halt.

Fix: Check logs for the specific error. May need to remove the binding or re-create the capture.

Capture appears "stuck" for hours

Cause: Processing a very large transaction — the capture must process all changes before checkpointing.

Fix: Wait for completion. Check logs for progress. For future large operations, batch into smaller transactions.

Capture stuck in PENDING

Wait 30-60 seconds — this is normal during shard assignment. If still stuck:

flowctl logs --task <tenant>/<path>/source-mysql --since 5m | jq 'select(.level == "error" or .level == "warn")'

Related Skills

• connector-disable-enable — Pause/restart existing captures
• connector-delete-recreate — Nuclear option for stuck captures
• estuary-logs — Deep log analysis
• estuary-catalog-status — Status checking