Manage TiDB Cloud Serverless Branches

This document describes how to manage TiDB Cloud Serverless branches using the TiDB Cloud console. To manage it using the TiDB Cloud CLI, see ticloud branch.

Required access

• To create a branch or connect to a branch, you must be in the Organization Owner role of your organization or the Project Owner role of the target project.
• To view branches for clusters in a project, you must belong to that project.

For more information about permissions, see User roles.

Create a branch

To create a branch, perform the following steps:

1. In the TiDB Cloud console, navigate to the Clusters page of your project, and then click the name of your target TiDB Cloud Serverless cluster to go to its overview page.

2. Click Branches in the left navigation pane.

3. In the upper-right corner of the Branches page, click Create Branch. A dialog is displayed.

   Alternatively, to create a branch from an existing parent branch, locate the row of your target parent branch, and then click ... > Create Branch in the Action column.

4. In the Create Branch dialog, configure the following options:

   • Name: enter a name for the branch.
   • Parent branch: select the original cluster or an existing branch. main represents the current cluster.
   • Include data up to: choose one of the following:
     • Current point in time: create a branch from the current state.
     • Specific date and time: create a branch from a specified time.

5. Click Create.

Depending on the data size in your cluster, the branch creation will be completed in a few minutes.

View branches

To view branches for your cluster, perform the following steps:

1. In the TiDB Cloud console, navigate to the Clusters page of your project, and then click the name of your target TiDB Cloud Serverless cluster to go to its overview page.

2. Click Branches in the left navigation pane.

   The branch list of the cluster is displayed in the right pane.

Connect to a branch

To connect to a branch, perform the following steps:

1. In the TiDB Cloud console, navigate to the Clusters page of your project, and then click the name of your target TiDB Cloud Serverless cluster to go to its overview page.
2. Click Branches in the left navigation pane.
3. In the row of your target branch to be connected, click ... in the Action column.
4. Click Connect in the drop-down list. The dialog for the connection information is displayed.
5. Click Generate Password or Reset Password to create or reset the root password.
6. Connect to the branch using the connection information.

Alternatively, you can get the connection string from the cluster overview page:

1. In the TiDB Cloud console, navigate to the Clusters page of your project, and then click the name of your target TiDB Cloud Serverless cluster to go to its overview page.
2. Click Connect in the upper-right corner.
3. Select the branch you want to connect to in the Branch drop-down list.
4. Click Generate Password or Reset Password to create or reset the root password.
5. Connect to the branch using the connection information.

Delete a branch

To delete a branch, perform the following steps:

1. In the TiDB Cloud console, navigate to the Clusters page of your project, and then click the name of your target TiDB Cloud Serverless cluster to go to its overview page.
2. Click Branches in the left navigation pane.
3. In the row of your target branch to be deleted, click ... in the Action column.
4. Click Delete in the drop-down list.
5. Confirm the deletion.

Reset a branch

Resetting a branch synchronizes it with the latest data from its parent.

To reset a branch, perform the following steps:

1. In the TiDB Cloud console, navigate to the Clusters page of your project, and then click the name of your target TiDB Cloud Serverless cluster to go to its overview page.
2. Click Branches in the left navigation pane.
3. In the row of your target branch to be reset, click ... in the Action column.
4. Click Reset in the drop-down list.
5. Confirm the reset.

What's next

• Integrate TiDB Cloud Serverless branching into your GitHub CI/CD pipeline