How to Query Hugging Face Data in MySQL Workbench
You can use the SQL Gateway from the ODBC Driver for Hugging Face to query Hugging Face data through a MySQL interface. Follow the procedure below to start the MySQL remoting service of the SQL Gateway and work with live Hugging Face data in MySQL Workbench.
Connect to Hugging Face Data
If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can use the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure the DSN. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.
HuggingFace Hub uses token-based authentication to enable access to its API. The API provides access to machine learning models, datasets, spaces, papers, and other resources on the HuggingFace Hub platform.
Using API Key Authentication
To authenticate to HuggingFace Hub, you will need to provide an API Key (Access Token). To obtain your access token:
- Log in to your HuggingFace account at https://huggingface.co
- Navigate to Settings > Access Tokens
- Click "New token" to create a new access token
- Select the appropriate permissions (read or write)
- Copy the token value
After obtaining your access token, set the following connection properties:
- AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
- APIKey: Set this to your HuggingFace access token.
Example connection string
Profile=C:\profiles\HuggingFace.apip;ProfileSettings='APIKey=hf_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx';
Configure the SQL Gateway
See the SQL Gateway Overview to set up connectivity to Hugging Face data as a virtual MySQL database. You will configure a MySQL remoting service that listens for MySQL requests from clients. The service can be configured in the SQL Gateway UI.

Query Hugging Face from MySQL Workbench
The steps below outline connecting to the virtual Hugging Face database created in the SQL Gateway from MySQL Workbench and issuing basic queries to work with live Hugging Face data.
Connect to Hugging Face through the SQL Gateway
- In MySQL Workbench, click to add a new MySQL connection.
- Name the connection (CData SQL Gateway for Hugging Face).
- Set the Hostname, Port, and Username parameters to connect to the SQL Gateway.
- Click Store in Vault to set and store the password.
- Click Test Connection to ensure the connection is configured properly and click OK.
NOTE: When we refer to Username and Password, we mean the credentials for the user(s) created for the SQL Gateway.
Query Hugging Face Data
- Open the connection you just created (CData SQL Gateway for Hugging Face).
- Click File -> New Query Tab.
- Write a SQL query to retrieve Hugging Face data, like SELECT * FROM `CData API Sys`.Collections;
With access to live Hugging Face data from MySQL Workbench, you can easily work with Hugging Face, just like you would a MySQL database. Get started now with a free, 30-day trial of the CData API Driver for ODBC and the CData SQL Gateway.