Yearning is a locally deployed, open-source SQL audit and query-auditing platform for MySQL, built in Go and aimed at DBAs and developers who need SQL review, approval workflows and query control inside their own infrastructure.

What it is

Yearning is a self-hosted web platform for SQL detection and query auditing, written in Go and distributed under the AGPL-3.0 licence. It runs entirely inside the operator's own environment rather than as a hosted service, and it is designed specifically for MySQL. Its stated focus is privacy and efficiency: the README describes it as an open-source, locally deployable solution that keeps database credentials and SQL statements inside the organisation, with encryption mechanisms intended to protect sensitive data even if unauthorised access occurs.

The concrete problem it replaces is the informal, unbounded path by which SQL reaches production. Instead of developers sending statements to DBAs over chat or ticket systems and DBAs eyeballing them, Yearning turns SQL change and query access into a controlled workflow: audit tickets with approval steps, automated syntax and rule checks against predefined standards, and a query layer that restricts which data sources and databases a user may touch. It also replaces uncontrolled read access with audited, anonymised querying, since query records are saved and sensitive fields can be masked. For DDL and DML operations it generates rollback statements automatically and keeps a history log for traceability.

Key capabilities

• SQL audit tickets with approval workflows and automated syntax checks, validating statements for correctness, security and compliance.
• Automatic rollback generation for DDL and DML operations, plus a comprehensive history log for traceability.
• Query audit: restricts data sources and databases, anonymises sensitive fields, and saves query records for later reference.
• Check rules: an automated syntax checker supporting a wide range of rules, covering most automatic checking scenarios.
• RBAC: create and manage roles with specific permissions, restricting access to query work orders, auditing functions and other sensitive operations.
• AI Assistant: real-time SQL optimisation suggestions and text-to-SQL conversion, turning natural language input into optimised SQL statements.
• Privacy and encryption: locally deployable design with encryption mechanisms protecting sensitive data.
• SQL syntax highlighting and auto-completion for query writing.

Who users are and how they work

• DBA teams running MySQL estates that need every schema change to pass an approval gate before execution.
• Development teams submitting SQL change tickets, receiving automated syntax-check feedback and rollback statements alongside the approval.
• Security- or compliance-driven organisations that require query-level audit records and field anonymisation for read access.
• Administrators managing role definitions through RBAC, scoping who may open query work orders and who may approve.
• Operators needing text-to-SQL conversion and optimisation hints during query authoring, via the AI Assistant.

Getting started

Download the latest release, extract it, configure ./config.toml, then run ./Yearning install followed by ./Yearning run. Docker is also supported via the yeelabs/yearning image on port 8000, passing SECRET_KEY, MYSQL_USER, MYSQL_ADDR, MYSQL_PASSWORD and MYSQL_DB (and optionally Y_LANG), first with the /opt/Yearning install argument and then as a detached container.

How it compares

The provided facts list no paid products that Yearning replaces, and name no comparable tools. It stands alone in this registry on the evidence available.

When to use it — and when not to

A self-hoster must operate an external MySQL instance for Yearning itself, set MYSQL_ADDR and related credentials, and maintain config.toml before installation. The AGPL-3.0 licence is copyleft and will matter to organisations with strict licence policies, and 165 open issues suggest an active but not immaculate tracker. Teams outside the MySQL ecosystem should look elsewhere, since the platform is MySQL-specific.

## Initialize the database
./Yearning install

## Start Yearning
./Yearning run

## Help
./Yearning --help

## Initialize the database
docker run --rm -it -p8000:8000 -e SECRET_KEY=$SECRET_KEY -e MYSQL_USER=$MYSQL_USER -e MYSQL_ADDR=$MYSQL_ADDR -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e MYSQL_DB=$Yearning_DB -e Y_LANG=zh_CN yeelabs/yearning "/opt/Yearning install"

## Start Yearning
docker run -d -it -p8000:8000 -e SECRET_KEY=$SECRET_KEY -e MYSQL_USER=$MYSQL_USER -e MYSQL_ADDR=$MYSQL_ADDR -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=$MYSQL_PASSWORD -e MYSQL_DB=$Yearning_DB -e Y_LANG=zh_CN yeelabs/yearning