Connecting Data Sources

Connect your databases to ContextFlo to start analyzing your data.

Supported Databases

ContextFlo supports the following data sources:

• PostgreSQL - Most popular open-source database
• MySQL - Widely used relational database
• Snowflake - Cloud data warehouse
• Redshift - AWS data warehouse
• BigQuery - Google Cloud data warehouse
• DynamoDB - AWS NoSQL database

General Connection Process

Step 1: Gather Connection Details

You'll need:

• Host/Endpoint: Server address
• Port: Database port (default varies by type)
• Database Name: Specific database to connect to
• Username: Database user
• Password: User password

Step 2: Configure Firewall

Ensure your database allows connections from ContextFlo:

1. Add ContextFlo IPs to your allowlist
2. Enable remote connections
3. Configure security groups (for cloud databases)

Step 3: Test Connection

Before saving:

1. Click Test Connection
2. Verify success message
3. Check for any error messages

Step 4: Sync Tables

After connecting:

1. Browse available tables
2. Select tables to sync
3. Click Sync Selected
4. Wait for completion

Connection Security

SSL/TLS

ContextFlo supports encrypted connections:

• PostgreSQL: SSL mode (prefer, require, verify-ca, verify-full)
• MySQL: SSL/TLS encryption
• Cloud databases: Automatically use SSL

Credentials Storage

All credentials are:

• ✅ Encrypted at rest
• ✅ Never logged or displayed
• ✅ Stored securely in our database
• ✅ Only accessible by your organization

Read-Only Access

Best practice: Create a read-only database user for ContextFlo:

-- PostgreSQL example
CREATE USER contextflo_readonly WITH PASSWORD 'secure_password';
GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE your_database TO contextflo_readonly;
GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA public TO contextflo_readonly;
GRANT SELECT ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA public TO contextflo_readonly;

Connection Pooling

ContextFlo uses connection pooling for efficiency:

• Connections are reused across queries
• Automatic reconnection on failure
• Configurable timeout settings
• Graceful shutdown on server restart

Troubleshooting

Connection Timeout

Possible causes:

• Firewall blocking connection
• Incorrect host/port
• Database not accepting remote connections

Solutions:

1. Check firewall rules
2. Verify host and port
3. Enable remote access in database config

Authentication Failed

Possible causes:

• Wrong username/password
• User doesn't have permissions
• SSL required but not configured

Solutions:

1. Double-check credentials
2. Grant necessary permissions
3. Enable SSL if required

Tables Not Showing

Possible causes:

• Wrong database/schema
• User lacks SELECT permissions
• Tables are in a different schema

Solutions:

1. Verify database name
2. Check user permissions
3. Specify schema in connection settings

Database-Specific Guides

PostgreSQL

Default port: 5432

# Test connection from command line
psql -h your-host -p 5432 -U contextflo -d your_database

MySQL

Default port: 3306

# Test connection from command line
mysql -h your-host -P 3306 -u contextflo -p your_database

Snowflake

Connection format:

• Account: account_name.region.snowflakecomputing.com
• Warehouse: Specify compute warehouse
• Schema: Database schema to use

BigQuery

Authentication:

• Service account JSON key
• OAuth 2.0 (coming soon)
• Project ID required

Next Steps

• View supported databases
• Create dashboards
• Define metrics

Need Help?

Contact support if you're having trouble connecting:

• Email: support@contextflo.com
• In-app chat: Click the help icon