This is the first post in a series where we dive deep into the MySQL binary log format. We'll manually read binary log files byte by byte to understand exactly what goes under the hood of MySQL replication.

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Introduction

Have you ever wondered what's actually inside a MySQL binary log? Sure, you can use mysqlbinlog to decode events, but what if you wanted to parse them yourself? Whether you're building a Change Data Capture (CDC) system, debugging replication issues, or just curious about MySQL internals, understanding the raw binary log format is invaluable knowledge.

In this series, we'll take a hands-on approach: instead of just describing the format, we'll actually read real binary log files byte by byte, decoding each field as we go. By the end, you'll be able to look at a hex dump and understand exactly what MySQL wrote.

Series Overview

This series will cover the following topics:

1. Introduction and Data Types (this post) — Length mappings and encoding schemes
2. File Header and Common Event Header — Magic number and the 19-byte structure every event shares
3. FORMAT_DESCRIPTION_EVENT — The self-describing event that tells us how to read everything else
4. PREVIOUS_GTIDS_LOG_EVENT — Tracking GTID history across binary logs
5. GTID_LOG_EVENT — The globally unique transaction identifier
6. QUERY_EVENT — DDL statements and transaction boundaries
7. TABLE_MAP_EVENT — Table metadata for row-based replication
8. WRITE_ROWS_EVENT — INSERT operations
9. UPDATE_ROWS_EVENT — UPDATE operations
10. DELETE_ROWS_EVENT — DELETE operations

The Workload

Throughout this series, we'll use a simple workload to generate our binary logs:

USE presentation;

CREATE TABLE person (
    ID INT PRIMARY KEY,
    name VARCHAR(150) DEFAULT NULL
);

INSERT INTO person VALUES (1, 'Marcelo');
UPDATE person SET name = 'Marcelo Altmann' WHERE ID = 1;
DELETE FROM person WHERE ID = 1;

This gives us a complete lifecycle: table creation, insert, update, and delete — enough to demonstrate all the major event types.

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Data Type Encodings

Before we start reading events, we need to understand how MySQL encodes different types of values in the binary log. There are four main encoding schemes.

Fixed-Length Values (Little-Endian)

Most numeric fields use fixed-length encoding with little-endian byte order. For example, a 4-byte integer 0xaabbccdd is stored as:

dd cc bb aa

This is important! When you see 7a000000 in a hex dump, you read it as 0x0000007a = 122 in decimal.

Let's see more examples:

Hex Bytes	Little-Endian Value	Decimal
01000000	0x00000001	1
7a000000	0x0000007a	122
7e000000	0x0000007e	126
0400	0x0004	4

Null-Terminated Strings

Some strings are null-terminated, meaning they end with a 0x00 byte:

61 62 63 64 00   →   "abcd"

The parser reads bytes until it encounters 0x00, which marks the end of the string. This is commonly used for database names and table names in certain events.

Packed Integers

For variable-length integers that are typically small but can occasionally be large, MySQL uses a compact encoding:

First Byte	Meaning
0x00 - 0xFA (0-250)	The value itself (1 byte total)
0xFC (252)	Read the next 2 bytes as a 16-bit integer
0xFD (253)	Read the next 3 bytes as a 24-bit integer
0xFE (254)	Read the next 8 bytes as a 64-bit integer

For example:

• 0x42 = 66 (single byte, value is the byte itself)
• 0xFC 05 01 = 261 (0xFC signals 2 more bytes, 05 01 little-endian = 0x0105 = 261)
• 0xFD 01 02 03 = 197121 (0xFD signals 3 more bytes, 01 02 03 = 0x030201 = 197121)

This encoding is efficient: small values (0-250) use just 1 byte, while still supporting very large values when needed.

Type-Length-Value (TLV)

Optional metadata fields often use TLV encoding, which allows for extensible, self-describing data:

01 02 aa bb
│  │  └──┴── Value (length bytes)
│  └─────── Length
└────────── Type

The structure is:

1. Type (1 byte): Identifies what kind of data follows
2. Length (1 byte): How many bytes the value occupies
3. Value (variable): The actual data

For example, 01 02 aa bb means: Type=1, Length=2, Value=0xaabb.

TLV encoding is used extensively in newer events like GTID_LOG_EVENT for optional fields. This allows MySQL to add new fields without breaking compatibility with older parsers — they can simply skip unknown types.

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Why Understanding These Encodings Matters

When you're debugging replication issues or building a CDC tool like Readyset, you'll encounter these patterns constantly:

1. Fixed-length little-endian is used for timestamps, positions, sizes, and IDs in event headers
2. Null-terminated strings appear in database and table names
3. Packed integers encode column counts and string lengths in row events
4. TLV provides extensibility for metadata in GTID and other modern events

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What's Next?

Now that we understand the basic encoding schemes, we're ready to look at the actual binary log structure. In the next post, we'll examine the file header (magic number) and the common event header — the 19-byte structure that begins every event in the binary log.

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Next up: Part 2: File Header and Common Event Header

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This series is based on a presentation given at the MySQL Online Summit. The goal is to help MySQL users understand what goes under the hood of replication by manually decoding binary log files.