> ## 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, MySQL

> Connections In Use for MySQL instances. 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 live count of client connections currently established to the MySQL instance, read from the `Threads_connected` status variable. It is the raw numerator behind pool saturation: how many seats at the table are taken right now, before you compare against the `max_connections` ceiling. A steady reading that tracks your traffic shape is healthy; a flat-line at the ceiling, or a slow upward creep that never falls back, is the early signal of a connection leak or an undersized pool.

## What it tracks

The card reports `Threads_connected` from `SHOW GLOBAL STATUS`, sampled in real time. That value is every connection currently open, whether actively running a query or sitting idle in a pool. It is distinct from `Threads_running` (connections actively executing at this instant) and from `max_connections` (the configured ceiling). Reading it alongside those two tells the whole capacity story: in-use against the ceiling gives headroom, in-use against running tells you how much of the pool is idle. A high in-use count with a low running count is the classic fingerprint of an oversized or leaky application pool holding sessions open without doing work. On managed services the same value appears as the RDS/Aurora `DatabaseConnections` CloudWatch metric and the Cloud SQL `mysql.connections` metric.

## Reconciling against the source

Run `SHOW STATUS LIKE 'Threads_connected';` on the instance for the live figure, or `SELECT COUNT(*) FROM information_schema.PROCESSLIST;` to see the same connections enumerated; on Amazon RDS / Aurora cross-check the `DatabaseConnections` CloudWatch metric, and on Cloud SQL the `mysql.connections` metric.

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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 MySQL 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.