Quickstart with Cockroach Continuum

In this tutorial, you will create your first cluster in a Cockroach Continuum organization, connect to it, and run your first SQL queries.

Before you begin

You need a Cockroach Continuum organization and a running cluster. If you do not have them yet, complete the following steps:

. New CockroachDB Cloud organizations use Continuum by default and receive free trial credits.
. The Standard edition is recommended for an evaluation cluster. To compare editions, refer to .

To connect and run queries, you also need one of the following clients:

The CockroachDB CLI (cockroach). Continuum clusters run v26.3 or later. To install the CLI, select your operating system in the Download the latest CockroachDB Client section of the Cloud Console’s Connect dialog, then run the provided command on your command line.
Any PostgreSQL-compatible client, such as psql.

Step 1. Connect to your cluster

Connect from your terminal with the CockroachDB CLI, or from your browser with the Cloud Console SQL Shell. The command line is the primary path; the SQL Shell is a browser alternative that needs no local client.

Command line
Cloud Console

In the Cloud Console, select your cluster, then select Connect and copy the general connection string. The connection string embeds credentials, so treat it as a secret and never commit it or paste it into examples.
In your terminal, store the connection string in an environment variable so it stays out of your shell history. Replace <your-connection-string> in the following command with the value you copied in the previous step:
export CONTINUUM_CONNECTION_URL="<your-connection-string>"

Open the CockroachDB SQL shell:

cockroach sql --url "$CONTINUUM_CONNECTION_URL"

The terminal displays the SQL shell welcome banner and a prompt that ends with the current database:

#
# Welcome to the CockroachDB SQL shell.
# All statements must be terminated by a semicolon.
# To exit, type: \q.
#
# Server version: CockroachDB CCL v26.3.0
# Cluster ID: <cluster-id>
#
# Enter \? for a brief introduction.
#
<user>@<host>:26257/defaultdb>

The Cluster ID, user, and host shown are specific to your cluster.

Confirm the connection:

SELECT 1 AS connected;

  connected
-------------
          1
(1 row)

The Cloud Console SQL Shell is in preview and requires the Cluster Admin role. It runs statements as the SQL user root, and each statement runs in its own transaction, so transaction control statements (BEGIN/COMMIT), SET CLUSTER SETTING, and CALL are not supported. The SQL Shell is not available on Mission Critical clusters that have security add-ons configured.

In the Cloud Console, select your cluster, then open its SQL Shell page. You connect in the browser as the SQL user root; no connection string or local client is required.
Confirm the connection. Enter the following in the input field, then click Run:
SELECT 1 AS connected;
The statement status changes to Succeeds and the results show a single row with connected set to 1.

Step 2. Run your first queries

Create a small table, write to it, and read it back, using the SQL shell you opened in the previous step.

Command line
Cloud Console

Create a table:

CREATE TABLE roaches (id INT PRIMARY KEY, name STRING);

CREATE TABLE

Insert rows:

INSERT INTO roaches (id, name) VALUES (1, 'Roach One'), (2, 'Roach Two'), (3, 'Roach Three');

INSERT 0 3

Read the rows back:

SELECT id, name FROM roaches ORDER BY id;

  id |    name
-----+--------------
   1 | Roach One
   2 | Roach Two
   3 | Roach Three
(3 rows)

Remove the table, then exit the shell:
DROP TABLE roaches;
DROP TABLE
\q

In the SQL Shell input field, enter each statement and click Run (or press Enter). After each statement, the status changes to Succeeds or returns an Error. You can copy, edit, and re-run any previous statement, and export any results.

Create a table:

CREATE TABLE roaches (id INT PRIMARY KEY, name STRING);

The status changes to Succeeds.

Insert rows:

INSERT INTO roaches (id, name) VALUES (1, 'Roach One'), (2, 'Roach Two'), (3, 'Roach Three');

The status changes to Succeeds.

Read the rows back:
SELECT id, name FROM roaches ORDER BY id;
The results show three rows: 1, Roach One; 2, Roach Two; and 3, Roach Three.
Remove the table:
DROP TABLE roaches;
The status changes to Succeeds. The SQL Shell stays open in your browser; there is no shell to exit.

You now have a working cluster and a verified connection.

What’s next

Work through the tutorial to migrate an existing database with the .
Build an application: refer to .
See where to go at each stage of your Continuum work in .

Tutorials

Get Started

Migrate Data

Develop and Connect

Manage Workloads

Monitor and Optimize

Quickstart with Cockroach Continuum

Before you begin

Step 1. Connect to your cluster

Step 2. Run your first queries

What’s next

​Before you begin

​Step 1. Connect to your cluster

​Step 2. Run your first queries

​What’s next

Before you begin

Step 1. Connect to your cluster

Step 2. Run your first queries

What’s next