TiDB Cloud Zero

Provisions an ephemeral TiDB database via a single unauthenticated API call. No sign-up, no billing. Instances auto-expire in 30 days unless claimed.

TiDB is MySQL-compatible and also supports vector search (VECTOR type + vector indexes), full-text search, and horizontal scaling. Use standard MySQL clients/drivers to connect.

Important Notes

• The API is unauthenticated and free. Instances auto-expire — treat credentials as short-lived and low-sensitivity.
• Prefer environment variables (e.g. MYSQL_PWD) over CLI arguments to avoid leaking passwords in shell history.
• Always connect with TLS (--ssl-mode=REQUIRED for CLI, ssl: true for drivers).
• If the user wants to keep the instance, open instance.claimInfo.claimUrl before expiresAt to convert it into a regular TiDB Starter instance.

API

POST https://zero.tidbapi.com/v1beta1/instances

/v1alpha1 is deprecated. You should migrate to /v1beta1 as soon as possible.