Get started with the MySQL integrations

MySQL is a popular open-source relational database management system widely used in web applications and cloud-native microservices. The Aspire MySQL integration lets you model a MySQL server and its databases as first-class resources in your AppHost, then hand the connection information to any consuming app — regardless of language.

Why use MySQL with Aspire

Adding MySQL through Aspire — rather than wiring up containers and connection strings by hand — gives you:

• Zero-config local development. Aspire runs MySQL from the docker.io/library/mysql container image with credentials generated automatically for you.
• Consistent connection info across languages. Once you reference the database from a consuming app, Aspire injects connection properties as environment variables in a predictable format that works from C#, TypeScript, Python, Go, or any other language.
• Built-in health checks. The hosting integration automatically registers a health check so the dashboard and your orchestrator can tell when the server is ready.
• Dashboard observability. The database resource shows up in the Aspire dashboard with logs, status, and telemetry alongside your other services.
• A first-class C# client integration. C# apps can use the Aspire.MySqlConnector package for dependency injection, health checks, and OpenTelemetry, all wired up from the same resource name. Entity Framework Core (EF Core) users can use the Pomelo EF Core MySQL integration instead.
• phpMyAdmin on demand. Call WithPhpMyAdmin (or withPhpMyAdmin) to spin up a phpMyAdmin instance alongside your database for web-based database management.

How the pieces fit together

The MySQL integration has two sides: a hosting integration that you use in your AppHost to model the database resource, and a connection story for consuming apps that reference it.

architecture-beta

  group apphost(server)[AppHost]
  group consumer(server)[Consuming app]

  service hosting(server)[Hosting integration] in apphost
  service mysql(logos:mysql)[MySQL server] in apphost
  service db(database)[mysqldb] in apphost

  service client(iconoir:server-connection)[Client integration] in consumer
  service app(server)[App] in consumer

  hosting:R --> L:mysql
  mysql:R --> L:db
  db:R --> L:client
  client:R --> L:app

The hosting integration lives in your AppHost project and models the MySQL server and databases as resources. The client integration lives in each consuming app and uses the connection information Aspire injects to talk to the database.

Getting there is a two-step process: model the MySQL resources in your AppHost, then connect to the database from each app that needs it.

1. Model MySQL in your AppHost

   Add the MySQL hosting integration to your AppHost, then declare a MySQL server, one or more databases, and reference them from the apps that need to talk to the database. The MySQL Hosting integration article walks through every capability — adding databases, phpMyAdmin, data volumes, init files, custom parameters, and more — with side-by-side C# and TypeScript examples.

   Set up MySQL in the AppHost

2. Connect from your consuming app

   When you reference a MySQL database from a consuming app, Aspire injects its connection information as environment variables. See Connect to MySQL for the connection properties reference and per-language examples for C#, Go, Python, and TypeScript — including the full C# client integration.

   Connect to MySQL

See also

• MySQL community extensions
• MySQL Entity Framework Core integration