PlanetScale primer

Why PlanetScale

PlanetScale is a MySQL-compatible database built on Vitess. It gives you branching, non-blocking schema changes, and a generous free tier. Meridian uses it as the default database for projects that need relational data without managing infrastructure.

Connection strings

Grab your credentials from the PlanetScale dashboard. The connection string follows the standard MySQL DSN format. Store it in your .env file as DATABASE_URL.

DATABASE_URL="mysql://user:pass@aws.connect.psdb.cloud/meridian?sslaccept=strict"

Schema branching

Create a development branch from your production schema, apply changes, and open a deploy request. Meridian's CLI wraps these steps so you can ship migrations without locking tables.

Next.js integration

Use Prisma or Drizzle ORM with the PlanetScale serverless driver. The driver handles connection limits automatically, so you won't hit "too many connections" errors under load.