Your data
Connecting a database
Linking a live system so Belta can read from it. Everything happens on the Databases tab in Settings, and it is available to Owners and Admins.
What you can connect
Six engines are offered in the connection form.
- SQL Server
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL
- Oracle
- Supabase
- BigQuery
Add a connection
- 1Open Settings, choose Databases, and press Add a database. If nothing is connected yet the button says Add your first database.
- 2Leave the toggle on Connect a database.
- 3Give the connection a name. This is what everyone in the workspace will see when they pick a database in chat, so name it after the system rather than the server. Production or Sales ERP is more useful than an IP address.
- 4Choose the engine. The fields below change to match it.
- 5Fill in the server, database name, username and password. Leave the port blank to use the engine's default.
- 6Set any options the engine offers. SQL Server has Trust server certificate and Encrypt the connection; PostgreSQL and Supabase have an SSL mode; MySQL has an SSL mode and Allow public key retrieval.
- 7Press Test connection and wait for the result.
- 8Press Add database.
BigQuery is different
BigQuery has no server, port or username. Instead you give a Project ID, a Dataset, and the service account JSON key, which you paste whole into the field. The key is stored encrypted and is never shown back to you, so if you edit the connection later you paste it again.
The account you connect with
Create a dedicated read-only database user for DataBelta. The platform will only ever issue read commands, but a read-only account means the limit is enforced by your database as well, which is the answer your own security team will want.
Give that user access only to the tables the business actually asks about. Belta can only see what the account can see, so this is also the simplest way to keep payroll or personal data out of scope.
When someone else holds the password
You do not need the credentials yourself, and nobody needs to email them to you. At the bottom of the Databases tab there is a one-time invite link.
- 1Press Create invite link. It is copied to your clipboard.
- 2Send it to the one person who has the credentials. Only one person, because the link works once.
- 3They open it, fill in the connection form and test it, without an account and without joining your workspace.
- 4The connection appears in your list. The link expires after seven days if it is not used, and you can revoke it at any time.
Databases behind a firewall
If the database cannot be reached from the internet, it can be connected through an on-premise agent instead. The agent runs inside your network and dials out to DataBelta, so no inbound port is opened and nothing is exposed. A connection of this kind is marked as reached through an agent, has nothing to test or re-enter, and can only be renamed from this screen. If the agent is not running you will see Agent offline in chat.
Managing what you have connected
Each connection in the list carries Test, Edit and Remove. Test re-runs the connection check against the saved credentials, which is the fastest way to tell a password change from a network problem. A connection carrying a Paused chip will not answer questions. Pausing is not something you set from this screen, so if one appears paused unexpectedly, contact us.
Teach Belta your vocabulary
Under the connection list there are two boxes that apply to everyone in the workspace. They are the difference between an assistant that reads your tables and one that understands your business.
- 1The Schema prompt is a data dictionary in plain language: what each table and column represents, and how they relate. Write down the things a new analyst would have to be told, such as which status code means a cancelled order.
- 2The Analytics prompt is how figures are calculated: how to count things, how to avoid double counting, and which table is the canonical source for a common number like revenue.
- 3Press Generate with AI to have Belta read the schema and write both for you. It takes a minute or two, uses a small number of credits, and replaces whatever is in the boxes. You can leave the page while it runs.
- 4Read what it produced, correct the parts it could not know, and press Save.