Download PlanetScale JDBC Driver

Download the PlanetScale JDBC driver, copy the JDBC URL into DbSchema, and start designing schemas with ER diagrams — free Community Edition.

About the PlanetScale JDBC driver

A JDBC driver is a Java .jar library that lets applications connect to PlanetScale. DbSchema uses JDBC to reverse engineer schemas, run SQL, and generate documentation. Driver files are usually published by the database vendor or an open-source project.

JDBC URL format

Host, port, database name, and SSL options are passed in a URL starting with jdbc:. Each PlanetScale driver uses its own syntax — see the connection details below.

The PlanetScale JDBC driver

PlanetScale is a MySQL-compatible serverless database platform built on Vitess, the technology behind YouTube's database infrastructure. It introduces a branching workflow for database schema changes, allowing developers to iterate on schema in isolated branches before deploying. PlanetScale's non-blocking schema change system eliminates downtime during migrations.

The PlanetScale JDBC URL

• Required File(s): mysql-connector-j-xxx.jar
• Java Driver Class: com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver
• JDBC URL: jdbc:mysql://{HOST}:{PORT}/{DB}
• Website: PlanetScale

Connecting to PlanetScale

There is no server to configure and no firewall to open. Credentials are created per branch, and the password is shown once.

1. Create a password for the branch. On the database dashboard press Connect, pick the branch and a role, and name the credentials. PlanetScale then generates a user of the form role.branch_id and a password beginning pscale_pw_. Copy the password now — it is never displayed again, and a lost one has to be replaced rather than recovered.
2. Copy the JDBC URL from the PlanetScale dashboard. You will find it in the same Connect dialog — choose Java in the language picker to get a JDBC-shaped string.
3. Keep TLS on. PlanetScale requires an encrypted connection, so leave sslMode=VERIFY_IDENTITY in the URL.
4. Paste the URL into DbSchema. In the Connection Dialog set Connection Mode to Edit the JDBC URL Manually and paste the string you copied. The user and the password are entered in the first tab, not in the URL.

Credentials are scoped to one branch, which makes the branch the unit of work in DbSchema too: connect to a development branch and to main separately, then compare the two schemas to see exactly what a deploy request will change.

DbSchema and PlanetScale

DbSchema connects to PlanetScale using the MySQL JDBC driver, allowing visual schema exploration of each database branch, MySQL-compatible SQL editing, and schema comparison across branches to manage non-blocking schema change deploy requests.