rivet-cli 0.2.0-beta.2

# Quickstart: MySQL

Export your first table in 5 minutes.

## Prerequisites

- A running MySQL database you can connect to
- Rivet installed (`rivet --version` shows a version)

## Step 1: Create a config file

Create `my_first_export.yaml`:

```yaml
source:
  type: mysql
  url: "mysql://myuser:mypassword@localhost:3306/mydb"
  # Better: use url_env to avoid plaintext passwords
  # url_env: DATABASE_URL

exports:
  - name: orders_full
    query: "SELECT id, user_id, product, price, status, created_at FROM orders"
    mode: full
    format: csv
    destination:
      type: local
      path: ./output
```

Replace the connection URL with your actual database credentials.

## Step 2: Verify connectivity

```bash
rivet doctor --config my_first_export.yaml
```

Expected output:

```
[OK] Source mysql://localhost:3306/mydb — connected, version 8.0.x
[OK] Destination './output' — directory writable
```

## Step 3: Preflight check

```bash
rivet check --config my_first_export.yaml
```

## Step 4: Run the export

```bash
rivet run --config my_first_export.yaml --validate --reconcile
```

Expected output:

```
[orders_full] mode=full format=csv compression=zstd
[orders_full] Exported 12,340 rows in 2.1s
[orders_full] File: ./output/orders_full_20260406_120000.csv.zst (1.2 MB)
[orders_full] Reconciliation: MATCH (source=12340, exported=12340)
```

## Step 5: Inspect the output

```bash
# List exported files
ls -la ./output/

# Decompress and preview (if zstd compressed)
zstd -d ./output/orders_full_*.csv.zst --stdout | head -20

# Or export without compression for easy viewing:
# compression: none → produces .csv
```

## Step 6: Switch to incremental (optional)

```yaml
exports:
  - name: orders_incremental
    query: "SELECT id, user_id, product, price, status, created_at, updated_at FROM orders"
    mode: incremental
    cursor_column: updated_at
    format: csv
    compression: none               # plain CSV for easy inspection
    skip_empty: true
    destination:
      type: local
      path: ./output
```

```bash
# First run: exports everything
rivet run --config my_first_export.yaml --validate

# Second run: only new/updated rows
rivet run --config my_first_export.yaml --validate

# Check cursor
rivet state show --config my_first_export.yaml
```

## Step 7: Automate with cron

```bash
0 2 * * * cd /path/to/project && rivet run -c my_first_export.yaml --validate >> /var/log/rivet.log 2>&1
```

## MySQL-specific notes

- **Connection URL format**: `mysql://user:password@host:port/database`
- **Default port**: 3306
- **Structured connection** (alternative to URL):

```yaml
source:
  type: mysql
  host: db.example.com
  port: 3306
  user: rivet_reader
  password_env: MYSQL_PASSWORD
  database: production
```

- **Performance tip**: for large InnoDB tables, use `mode: chunked` with the primary key to avoid long-running queries that block replication.

## Next steps

- Export to S3/GCS: [destinations/s3.md](../destinations/s3.md), [destinations/gcs.md](../destinations/gcs.md)
- Tune for large tables: [reference/tuning.md](../reference/tuning.md)
- Use chunked mode for millions of rows: [modes/chunked.md](../modes/chunked.md)
- Production checklist: [production-checklist.md](production-checklist.md)