# An AI chatbot that answers from your live database

> Connect your MySQL or MariaDB database and an AI agent answers stock, order and availability questions live on WhatsApp, Telegram and your website. Read-only.

Canonical: https://heykiko.io/features/database-answers
Last updated: 2026-11-05

Connect your MySQL or MariaDB database, choose the tables Kiko may read, and it answers questions like “is this in stock?” or “has my order shipped?” from your live data, on WhatsApp, Telegram and your website. Kiko only ever reads, and a customer who isn't signed in can only look up their own record, never anyone else's.

## How a live answer works

1. **Connect your database**: Enter its address and a read-only login, choose the tables Kiko may read, and say in a sentence what they hold.
2. **A customer asks**: “Is the Harbour sofa in stock?” or “Where's order 10482?”, in their own words, on any channel.
3. **Kiko looks it up**: It writes a query for your tables, which is checked before it runs: reading only, within your chosen tables, with a row and time limit.
4. **It answers from the result**: In plain words, in the customer's language, and every lookup is listed for your team to see.

Included on every plan, after a 14-day free trial.

## What customers can ask

- **Stock and availability**: Whether a product is in stock, where, and when it's due back.
- **Their order**: Its status, items and delivery, found by the order number they type.
- **Prices and details that change**: Anything your tables keep current, such as prices, sizes or opening slots, instead of a page that goes out of date.
- **Alongside your knowledge**: Kiko uses the database for live facts and your website and files for everything else, in the same answer.

## What your team sees

- **Every lookup**: The customer's question and the query Kiko ran, newest first, for each database.
- **Tables you chose**: Exactly which tables Kiko may read, and what you told it they contain.
- **Test the connection**: Check that HeyKiko can still reach your database at any time.
- **Lookups in the Playground**: Testing your agent runs real lookups, so you see the answers customers will get.

## What you can set

In Knowledge › Database, for each agent.

| Setting | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Database | MySQL or MariaDB: host, port, database name and a read-only username and password. |
| Use SSL | For databases that need an encrypted connection. |
| Tables your agent can read | Choose each one; leave off anything private, such as payments or staff. |
| What it contains | A sentence or two that tells Kiko which questions to answer from it. |
| Answer from it now | Start using the database straight away, or connect it first and switch it on later. |

## Good to know

- **Read-only, three ways over**: Use a login that can only read. On top of that, every lookup runs in a read-only transaction that is always rolled back, and each query is checked before it's sent. Kiko can't change your data.
- **Customers can't browse your data**: Someone who isn't signed in, which includes everyone on WhatsApp and Telegram, never sees names, emails, phone numbers or addresses, can't ask for totals or counts, and can read a table of people's records only with an exact value they typed, such as their order number. These rules are in code, not in Kiko's instructions.
- **An order number is the key**: A customer with an order number sees its status, items and total, though never whose order it is.
- **MySQL and MariaDB only**: PostgreSQL, SQL Server and spreadsheets aren't connected yet. Your database must be reachable from the internet; addresses on private networks are refused.
- **Your password is encrypted**: Database passwords are stored encrypted, and the connection uses SSL when you turn it on. Source: [Security and data](/security)

## Questions about connecting Kiko to your database

### Can an AI chatbot answer from my database?

Yes. Connect your MySQL or MariaDB database in HeyKiko, choose the tables Kiko may read, and it looks up live answers, such as stock or an order's status, on WhatsApp, Telegram and your website.

### Can the chatbot change or delete my data?

No. Kiko only reads. Use a read-only database login; every lookup also runs in a read-only transaction that is rolled back, and each query is checked before it runs.

### Can customers see other customers' data?

No. A customer who isn't signed in never sees names, emails, phone numbers or addresses, can't ask for totals, and can look up a record only with an exact value they typed, such as their own order number. The rules are enforced in code.

### Which databases are supported?

MySQL and MariaDB. PostgreSQL, SQL Server and spreadsheets aren't connected yet.

### Do I need to write SQL?

No. You choose the tables and describe what they hold in a sentence; Kiko writes each query itself, and you can see every lookup it made.

### Can customers check their order status in WhatsApp?

Yes, if your orders are in your database. A customer types their order number and Kiko replies with its status, items and delivery, without showing whose order it is.

### Which plans include database answers?

Connecting a database is on every plan, after a 14-day free trial with no card.

## Related

- [Train on your website and files](https://heykiko.io/features/train-on-your-website)
- [Online stores](https://heykiko.io/solutions/online-stores)
- [WhatsApp AI chatbot](https://heykiko.io/channels/whatsapp-ai-chatbot)
- [Security and data](https://heykiko.io/security)
- [Pricing](https://heykiko.io/pricing)
- [Human hand-off](https://heykiko.io/features/human-handoff)
- [Appointment booking](https://heykiko.io/features/appointment-booking)
- [Shared inbox](https://heykiko.io/features/shared-inbox)
- [Lead capture](https://heykiko.io/features/lead-capture)
- [Product recommendations](https://heykiko.io/features/product-answers)
- [Cases and approvals](https://heykiko.io/features/cases-and-approvals)
- [Test and tune your agent](https://heykiko.io/features/test-your-agent)
- [Knowledge access by role](https://heykiko.io/features/knowledge-access)
- [Ask Kiko](https://heykiko.io/features/ask-kiko)
- [Privacy controls](https://heykiko.io/features/privacy-controls)