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Database

DuckDB to TiDB integration — real-time, two-way sync

Keep DuckDB and TiDB in sync without custom scripts. Cut weeks of integration work, eliminate silent data drift, and give your team a single, reliable source of truth.

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Adopted by fast-scaling companies moving mission-critical data in real time

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Why teams connect DuckDB and TiDB

Keep DuckDB and TiDB synchronized in real time, across engines, regions, or services, in one or both directions.

Two databases that must agree is one of the oldest problems in engineering: different engines for different workloads, separate services with overlapping reference data, a migration in flight, or regional instances that share a subset of records. Hand-rolled replication across systems means change capture, conflict handling, and type mapping, all built and maintained by your team.

Stacksync syncs tables or collections between DuckDB and TiDB continuously and bi-directionally, translating types between the two engines and resolving conflicts by rules you configure. Rows written on either side appear on the other within seconds.

Common use cases

  • 01 Push aggregates computed in DuckDB out to a CRM or business tools so analysis results reach operational systems.
  • 02 Use DuckDB as a transform step: read synced Parquet exports, aggregate with SQL, and write results back to an operational database.
  • 03 Serve mixed transactional and analytical workloads on synced data using TiFlash columnar replicas
  • 04 Two-way sync between TiDB tables and SaaS tools so operational edits made in either system converge

Common sync patterns

Shared reference data between services

Services that own separate databases stay consistent on the records they share, without a custom replication layer.

Regional or environment copies

Mirror selected tables to another region or environment continuously, filtered to just the rows that should travel.

Cross-engine sync

Keep the same dataset live in both DuckDB and TiDB, so each workload runs on the engine that suits it.

What you can sync between DuckDB and TiDB

Representative objects on each side — any object or custom field can map to any target. Schemas are auto-detected; types are converted between the two systems.

DuckDB objects TiDB objects How this pairing syncs
Tables Columnar tables created via SQL; the destination for materialized sync data. Tables Row data stored in TiKV; the primary unit for reads, writes, and CDC. Same entity on both sides — records pair one-to-one and field-level changes reconcile in both directions.
Views SQL views used to shape or filter data for downstream consumers. Views Logical views for shaping reads before syncing outward. Same entity on both sides — records pair one-to-one and field-level changes reconcile in both directions.
Schemas Namespaces within a database used to organize tables in sync outputs. Indexes Secondary indexes that keep incremental sync queries efficient. Schemas is specific to DuckDB and Indexes to TiDB — each maps to any object or custom field on the other side.
External files (Parquet/CSV/JSON) Files DuckDB queries in place without loading, common as a sync interchange format. Sequences Server-side ID generation relevant when external systems write rows. External files (Parquet/CSV/JSON) is specific to DuckDB and Sequences to TiDB — each maps to any object or custom field on the other side.
Attached databases Additional database files or external systems attached into one session for cross-source queries. Databases MySQL-style schemas addressed by any MySQL-compatible client. Attached databases is specific to DuckDB and Databases to TiDB — each maps to any object or custom field on the other side.
Database files Single-file .duckdb databases that jobs read and write directly on disk or object storage. Columns MySQL-compatible types mapped to fields in the paired system. Database files is specific to DuckDB and Columns to TiDB — each maps to any object or custom field on the other side.

How changes propagate between DuckDB and TiDB

Each direction of the sync is driven by what the source system can signal and what the destination accepts — detection, delivery, and expected latency below.

DuckDB TiDB Interval-based propagation

DetectionStacksync polls DuckDB for changes on an incremental schedule, reading only records changed since the previous pass. Polling or full re-reads.

DeliveryEach detected change is applied to TiDB as a row-level write, with types converted between the two schemas.

TiDB DuckDB Sub-second propagation

DetectionChanges in TiDB are captured at the source via change data capture — no polling loop against its API. Log-based CDC via TiCDC, which captures row changes from TiKV and streams them to downstream sinks.

DeliveryEach detected change is applied to DuckDB as a row-level write, with types converted between the two schemas.

Rate-limit considerations

  • DuckDB: No API rate limits; throughput is bounded by local compute and I/O.
  • TiDB: Throughput scales with cluster size rather than fixed API quotas.
What ships with DuckDB ⇄ TiDB

Connect DuckDB and TiDB for flexible, real-time data sync.

Real-time sync, workflow automation, event queues, EDI, and monitoring, for every DuckDB–TiDB connection.

Real-time

Two-way sync

Changes in DuckDB or TiDB instantly reflect in both systems. No stale data, no manual imports.

No-code + pro-code

Workflow automation

Trigger automated workflows whenever DuckDB or TiDB data changes, update records, fire webhooks, or kick off sequences without brittle API scripts.

At scale

Event queues

Handle millions of events per minute without losing a single DuckDB or TiDB record.

Observability

Monitoring

Track your DuckDB ⇄ TiDB sync health, view errors, and replay failed events in one click.

Trading partners

EDI

Transform legacy EDI complexity into simple database interactions between DuckDB and TiDB.

How the DuckDB and TiDB connectors work

DuckDB

Integration surface
In-process SQL engine via client libraries (Python, Node.js, JDBC, CLI); no server or network API by default
Authentication
None built in; access control is file-system level (MotherDuck adds token auth for its hosted service)
Change detection
Polling or full re-reads; no change feed or transaction log API
Capabilities
read · write
Rate limits
No API rate limits; throughput is bounded by local compute and I/O

TiDB

Integration surface
MySQL wire protocol (SQL)
Authentication
Database credentials (MySQL-compatible username/password)
Change detection
Log-based CDC via TiCDC, which captures row changes from TiKV and streams them to downstream sinks; polling also works
Capabilities
read · write · CDC
Rate limits
Throughput scales with cluster size rather than fixed API quotas
How it works

How to connect DuckDB to TiDB — three steps, no code

Configure and sync within minutes, no code. Whether you sync 50k or 100M+ records, Stacksync handles the queues, infra, and plumbing. Integrations are non-invasive and need zero setup on your systems.

  1. 01

    Connect your apps

    Authenticate DuckDB and TiDB with each platform's native method — OAuth, API keys, or service accounts — plus secure options like SSH tunneling, IP whitelisting, and VPC peering.

    • OAuth 2.0
    • SSH tunnel
    • VPC peering
    DuckDB connected
    TiDB connected
    OAuth 2.0
    SSH tunnel
    SSL certificate
    VPC peering
  2. 02

    Choose tables

    Pick the DuckDB and TiDB objects to sync — Stacksync auto-detects both schemas, including custom fields where the platform exposes them. Sync to existing tables, or let Stacksync create new ones with ideal data types.

    • Standard objects
    • Custom objects
    • Auto-schema
    objects · DuckDB ⇄ TiDB
    Customers 12,480
    Sales Orders 8,213
    Invoices 5,902
    Items 1,344
  3. 03

    Map fields

    Fields map automatically even when names and types differ. Stacksync handles transformation and type casting for you, zero configuration required.

    • Auto-map
    • Type casting
    • Transforms
    DuckDB TiDB
    Company company_name text
    Email email text
    Amount amount numeric
    Created created_at timestamp
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FAQ

DuckDB and TiDB integration FAQ

SECURITY

Security teams trust Stacksync

As a data company, we understand the importance of keeping your data secure. Stacksync is built with security best practices to keep your data safe at every layer, and is DPF-certified for US, EU, UK and CH data transfers.

Learn more about security
SOC 2 Type II
ISO 27001
HIPAA BAA
GDPR
CCPA
DPF US-EU-UK-CH
→ SECURITY WITH BENEFITS

SSO & SCIM

Let your users access Stacksync from your centralized user management systems. Works with Okta, Azure, Google SSO and more.

Alerts

Immediately get alerted about record syncing issues over email, Slack, PagerDuty and WhatsApp. Resolve issues from a centralized dashboard with retry and revert options.

Secure connection options

Securely connects to your systems with:

OAuth 2 SSH Tunnelling SSL certificates IP Whitelisting VPN gateway VPC peering and more

Related integrations

Every pair below is a real-time, two-way sync. Search all 373 integrations available for DuckDB and TiDB.

Popular · 3 of 373
All DuckDB integrations All TiDB integrations Browse all integrations
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