> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Connections In Use, CockroachDB

> Connections In Use for CockroachDB clusters. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it.

**Card class:** [Non-Hero](/nerve-centre/overview#card-classes-explained)  •  **Category:** [Capacity](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type)

## At a glance

> **Connections In Use** is the count of open SQL client connections across the cluster right now. It is the raw numerator behind connection-pool health: every application worker, BI tool, and migration job that holds a session to CockroachDB shows up here. Reading it next to your configured maximum tells you how much connection headroom is left before clients start queuing or being refused.

|                    |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               |
| ------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **What it tracks** | Connections In Use for the selected period, summed across all live nodes.                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| **Data source**    | The `sql.conns` time-series metric (open SQL connections per node), also visible in the DB Console SQL dashboard "Open SQL Sessions" graph and in `SHOW SESSIONS` / `crdb_internal.cluster_sessions`.                                                                         |
| **Time window**    | `RT` (real-time, refreshed on each poll).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| **Alert trigger**  | None on this card directly. The saturation ratio is alerted on [Connection Pool Saturation %](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/cockroachdb/connection-pool-saturation) and [Connection Pool at >90% Saturation](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/cockroachdb/connection-pool-at-90-saturation). |
| **Roles**          | DBA, platform, SRE                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |

## What it tracks

This card reports the total number of established SQL connections held against the cluster at poll time, aggregated from the per-node `sql.conns` gauge. Each connection consumes memory and a slot against the cluster setting `server.max_connections_per_gateway` (and, on CockroachDB Cloud, against the plan's connection ceiling). The count rises with application concurrency, connection-pool sizing in the client (for example a pgbouncer or HikariCP pool), and any long-lived analytics sessions. Watched on its own, Connections In Use is a workload signal: a steady climb usually means a pool is leaking or a new service has been deployed without right-sizing its pool. Watched against the maximum, it becomes the early-warning input to saturation: connections in use divided by the configured limit is the saturation percentage that the pool alert cards trip on.

## Reconciling against the source

To verify the live figure natively, run `SELECT count(*) FROM crdb_internal.cluster_sessions;` or `SHOW SESSIONS;` for the per-session detail, and compare against the DB Console SQL dashboard "Open SQL Sessions" panel. On CockroachDB Cloud, the Metrics tab plots the same `sql.conns` series. Small discrepancies are normal because sessions open and close continuously; sample over a few polls rather than trusting a single instantaneous reading.

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### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre

*Connections In Use* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across CockroachDB and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English.

[Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.