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Importing Connections

Import MySQL connection settings from DBeaver, Sequel Ace, MySQL Workbench, or a shared YAML file into mysh.

Importing from a Shared YAML File

If an engineer has exported a connection for you:

mysh import --from yaml --file connections.yaml

See Sharing Connections for details on the export/import workflow.

Supported Tools

Tool Config file location (macOS)
DBeaver ~/Library/DBeaverData/workspace6/General/.dbeaver/data-sources.json
Sequel Ace ~/Library/Containers/com.sequel-ace.sequel-ace/Data/Library/Application Support/Sequel Ace/Data/Favorites.plist
MySQL Workbench ~/Library/Application Support/MySQL/Workbench/connections.xml

DBeaver and MySQL Workbench also support Linux paths:

Tool Config file location (Linux)
DBeaver ~/.local/share/DBeaverData/workspace6/General/.dbeaver/data-sources.json
MySQL Workbench ~/.mysql/workbench/connections.xml

Basic Usage

# Import from DBeaver
mysh import --from dbeaver

# Import from Sequel Ace
mysh import --from sequel-ace

# Import from MySQL Workbench
mysh import --from workbench

This displays a list of discovered connections:

DBeaver: 5 connection(s) found

  #  NAME              HOST              PORT  USER   DATABASE  SSH
  1  my-production     10.51.80.122      3306  admin  myapp     bastion.example.com
  2  server-db         db-replica.lan    3306  admin  hosting   bastion.example.com
  3  local-db          127.0.0.1         33306 root   devdb     -

Select connections (comma-separated numbers, or 'all') [all]:

Enter comma-separated numbers to pick specific connections, or all to import everything.

Import Flow

For each connection, you'll be prompted for only the essentials:

  1. Connection name — only if it conflicts with an existing name
  2. SSH user — only if missing from the source config
  3. Password — must be re-entered for security (press Enter to skip)

After import, you'll be asked whether to apply default output masking settings.

Passwords

Both DBeaver and Sequel Ace protect passwords with encryption or macOS Keychain, so they cannot be imported automatically. Enter the password during import, or skip and set it later with mysh edit.

Post-Import Setup

After import, mysh asks whether to apply default output masking:

Default mask columns: email,phone,*password*,*secret*,*token*,*address*
Apply output masking to protect sensitive data? [Y/n]:
  • Yes — applies default mask rules and sets environment to production for all imported connections
  • No — connections are imported as development with no masking; configure later with mysh edit

You can fine-tune environment, mask columns, and driver per connection:

mysh edit <connection-name>
Setting Description
Environment production / staging / development
Mask columns email, phone, etc. (wildcards supported)
Driver cli (default) / native (MySQL 4.x support)

Masking behavior by environment:

  • production — always masks sensitive columns
  • staging — masks when output is piped (e.g., to AI tools)
  • development — no masking

Import All

Use --all to skip the selection prompt and import all discovered connections:

mysh import --from dbeaver --all

For shared YAML files with direct DB connections, use --ask-user if each recipient should confirm or replace the DB user from the file:

mysh import --from yaml --file team-db.yaml --all --ask-user

Use --db-user when all imported DB connections should use the same recipient-specific DB user. Add --reuse-password when those DB connections also share one password:

mysh import --from yaml --file team-db.yaml --all --db-user alice --reuse-password

--ask-user and --db-user cannot be used together. These DB flags do not affect Redash connections, which still ask for the recipient's own Redash API key.

What Gets Imported

Field DBeaver Sequel Ace MySQL Workbench
Host ✅ ✅ ✅
Port ✅ ✅ ✅
User ✅ ✅ ✅
Database ✅ ✅ ✅
Password ❌ (re-enter) ❌ (re-enter) ❌ (re-enter)
SSH host ✅ ✅ ✅
SSH port ✅ ✅ ✅
SSH user △ (may be missing) ✅ ✅
SSH key path ✅ ✅ ✅

Migrating from DBeaver

  1. DBeaver can be running — mysh only reads the config file
  2. Run mysh import --from dbeaver
  3. Select connections to import
  4. Enter passwords (or press Enter to skip)
  5. Choose whether to apply default masking
  6. Verify with mysh list and mysh ping <name>

Migrating from Sequel Ace

  1. Ensure connections are saved in Sequel Ace Favorites
  2. Run mysh import --from sequel-ace
  3. Select connections to import
  4. Enter passwords (or press Enter to skip)
  5. Choose whether to apply default masking
  6. Verify with mysh list and mysh ping <name>

Note: Sequel Ace import uses macOS plutil command (included with macOS).

Migrating from MySQL Workbench

  1. Run mysh import --from workbench
  2. Select connections to import
  3. Enter passwords (or press Enter to skip)
  4. Choose whether to apply default masking
  5. Verify with mysh list and mysh ping <name>

Troubleshooting

"No MySQL connections found"

  • DBeaver: Check that the DBeaver data directory exists. The path may differ across DBeaver versions.
  • Sequel Ace: Check that Favorites.plist exists at the expected location.
  • MySQL Workbench: Check that connections.xml exists in the Workbench data directory.

Prompted for SSH user

DBeaver sometimes omits the SSH user from data-sources.json (it uses the OS username by default). mysh requires an explicit SSH user, so you'll be prompted during import.

Setting password after import

mysh edit <connection-name>

All settings including password can be updated after import.