# SQL Studio

The Lenses SQL Studio provides a familiar query editor that allows:

1. Writing Lenses SQL queries to retrieve results.
2. Data visualization in two formats, tree and grid.
3. Downloading of results.
4. Managing multiple queries at once by providing a tabbed interface.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Note**\
Queries are executed using the Lenses SQL Snapshot engine.
{% endhint %}

### Navigate to SQL Studio  <a href="#navigate-to-sql-studio" id="navigate-to-sql-studio"></a>

1. From the Header Bar Menu, go to the **Dashboard** panel.
2. On the side navigation, select **SQL Studio** under the Data section.

<figure><img src="https://docs.lenses.io/5.2/lenses-sql/sql-studio/images/lensesio-sql-studio.png" alt="SQL-studio"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

SQL access is unified over any data format for Apache Kafka and Elasticsearch. Learn more about [Lenses SQL](https://docs.lenses.io/5.2/lenses-sql/) for Kafka.

### Results  <a href="#results" id="results"></a>

Data returned from the queries can be visualized in **Tree** and **Grid** format. The format can be toggled from the top of the result set. The data set can also be **Downloaded** in a JSON format.

<figure><img src="https://docs.lenses.io/5.2/lenses-sql/sql-studio/images/lensesio-sql-studio-results.png" alt="Kafka SQL query"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Capabilities  <a href="#capabilities" id="capabilities"></a>

#### Autocompletion  <a href="#autocompletion" id="autocompletion"></a>

The SQL editor gives a context-aware autocomplete to use specific fields from the topic payload. It supports nested fields and typical SQL projections.

#### Data discovery  <a href="#data-discovery" id="data-discovery"></a>

You can see the Datasets list and your Recent queries on the right panel. To explore the fields in datasets:

1. On the right panel, select the connection(s) to explore.
2. Search and click on a dataset.
3. A flat view of the fields appears.

*More information on* [*how to manage connections*](https://docs.lenses.io/using-lenses/connection-management)*.*

You can click on the play button to view data from the topic.

<figure><img src="https://docs.lenses.io/5.2/lenses-sql/sql-studio/images/lensesio-sql-studio-data-discovery.png" alt="SQL-studio-data-discover"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

#### Explore schema with SQL  <a href="#explore-schema-with-sql" id="explore-schema-with-sql"></a>

Use `DESCRIBE TABLE` to explore fields, data formats, and configurations via SQL.

#### Manage Queries  <a href="#manage-queries" id="manage-queries"></a>

**Recent Queries**

Recent queries are displayed, but only for the current session. They are not currently retained.

Click on the play button to run a previous query. If a query is already running, you will be asked if you want to stop it first.

**All Running queries**

You can see all running queries by Lenses users using SQL:

`SHOW QUERIES`

You can force stop a query by another user using SQL:

`KILL QUERY <id>`

Recent queries are displayed, but only for the current session. They are not currently retained. Click on the play button to run a previous query. If a query is already running, you will be asked if you want to stop it first.

### SQL reference guide  <a href="#sql-reference-guide" id="sql-reference-guide"></a>

[Lenses SQL documentation](https://docs.lenses.io/5.2/lenses-sql/)