SQL databases

Connect SMAQ directly to a SQL database. Useful for first-party data, warehouse tables, and any data that doesn't live in an ad platform.

SMAQ supports six SQL flavors via direct connection strings:

Database	Notes
PostgreSQL	Most common — self-hosted, RDS, GCP Cloud SQL, Supabase, Azure
MySQL	Self-hosted, RDS, GCP Cloud SQL, PlanetScale
BigQuery	GCP serverless warehouse — uses a service-account JSON key
ClickHouse	High-performance analytical DB — self-hosted or Cloud
Microsoft Azure SQL	Managed SQL Server on Azure
MongoDB	Document store — supported via the MongoDB connector

Specific hosted-database guides:

• AWS RDS (Postgres/MySQL on AWS)

• GCP Cloud SQL (Postgres/MySQL on GCP)

• Microsoft Azure SQL

What you'll need

• Hostname / endpoint

• Port (5432 for Postgres, 3306 for MySQL, 1433 for Azure SQL, etc.)

• Database name

• Username + password (read-only DB user recommended)

• SSL settings — required for most hosted databases

• For BigQuery: a service-account JSON key with BigQuery Data Viewer + Job User roles

IP allowlist

SMAQ's outbound traffic comes from a fixed set of IPs. You'll need to allow these in your database's firewall / security group. Get the current list from [email protected] when setting up.

Steps to connect

1. Data Source → Add data source.

2. Pick the right SQL type from the list.

3. Fill in the connection fields:

   • Hostname, port, database, username, password

   • SSL mode (almost always Require)

   • Optional: a custom schema name (defaults to public for Postgres)

4. Click Test connection.

5. Name and click Connect.

[Screen video needed] Postgres connection setup including SSL toggle and Test connection step. ~75 seconds.

[Screenshot needed] Successful "Test connection" result showing the tables that were discovered.

How SQL connections differ from API connections

• Filters — the visual filter UI doesn't work for SQL sources. Instead, use parameters inside your SQL: ${start_date}, ${end_date}, ${campaign_id}, etc. SMAQ substitutes values at fetch time.

• No global datablocks — global datablocks are tied to specific ad platforms. SQL connections only support project-built datablocks.

• You write the SQL. SMAQ's datablock builder for SQL sources is essentially a SQL editor with parameter binding.

See Limitations and tips for the filter-system caveats.

Security

• Use a read-only DB user. SMAQ never issues writes, but defense-in-depth matters.

• Connection strings are encrypted at rest. SMAQ stores credentials encrypted with AES-256, decrypted only at query time.

• VPC peering is available for enterprise customers — contact [email protected].

Troubleshooting

• "Connection refused" / timeout — check the IP allowlist and that the DB is publicly accessible (or that VPC peering is in place).

• "SSL handshake failed" — try toggling SSL mode between Require, Verify-CA, and Disable. Most hosted DBs require Require.

• "Permission denied for table" — your DB user needs SELECT on the schemas and tables you want to query.