Yearning — Open Source MySQL SQL Audit Platform

Introduction

Yearning is a self-hosted MySQL SQL audit platform that adds a review and approval workflow to database changes. It targets teams that need controlled access to production databases with full audit trails and automated SQL syntax checking.

What Yearning Does

• Provides a web UI for submitting, reviewing, and executing SQL changes
• Enforces approval workflows before SQL runs against production databases
• Checks SQL syntax and performance implications before execution
• Supports role-based access control with separate DBA and developer roles
• Maintains complete audit logs of all queries and schema changes

Architecture Overview

Yearning is a Go application with a Vue.js frontend. It connects to target MySQL databases through a connection pool and proxies all SQL operations through its audit engine. The audit engine validates statements against configurable rules (naming conventions, index requirements, dangerous operations) before allowing execution.

Self-Hosting & Configuration

• Deploy with Docker using the official image for quick setup
• Configure MySQL connection details for each target database
• Set up LDAP or local authentication for user management
• Define audit rules for SQL validation (naming, indexing, etc.)
• Configure approval chains with required reviewer counts

Key Features

• SQL syntax validation with customizable rule sets
• Multi-level approval workflow (developer, reviewer, DBA)
• Query result export to CSV and Excel
• Auto-completion and syntax highlighting in the SQL editor
• Scheduled SQL execution for maintenance windows

Comparison with Similar Tools

• DBeaver — general database client; Yearning adds audit and approval workflows
• Bytebase — schema migration focus; Yearning focuses on ad-hoc SQL audit
• Archery — similar SQL audit tool; Yearning has a more modern UI and active maintenance
• Chat2DB — AI-powered queries; Yearning focuses on governance and audit compliance

FAQ

Q: Does Yearning support databases other than MySQL? A: Currently Yearning focuses on MySQL and MariaDB. PostgreSQL support is community-requested.

Q: Can I integrate Yearning with my CI/CD pipeline? A: Yes. Yearning provides a REST API for programmatic SQL submission and approval status checks.

Q: How does the approval workflow work? A: Developers submit SQL statements, reviewers validate them, and DBAs execute approved changes against the target database.

Q: Is there support for scheduled execution? A: Yes. Approved SQL can be scheduled to run during defined maintenance windows.

Sources

• https://github.com/cookieY/Yearning
• https://yearning.io