diff --git a/src/lib/dolt-client.ts b/src/lib/dolt-client.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e583848
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/dolt-client.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+import fs from 'node:fs/promises';
+import path from 'node:path';
+
+import mysql from 'mysql2/promise';
+
+export class DoltConnectionError extends Error {
+  constructor(message: string, public readonly cause?: unknown) {
+    super(message);
+    this.name = 'DoltConnectionError';
+  }
+}
+
+interface DoltMetadata {
+  dolt_server_port: number;
+  dolt_database: string;
+  dolt_server_host?: string;
+}
+
+async function readDoltMetadata(projectRoot: string): Promise<DoltMetadata> {
+  const metadataPath = path.join(projectRoot, '.beads', 'metadata.json');
+  let raw: string;
+  try {
+    raw = await fs.readFile(metadataPath, 'utf-8');
+  } catch (err) {
+    throw new DoltConnectionError(
+      `Cannot read Dolt metadata at ${metadataPath} — is this a bd (beads) project?`,
+      err
+    );
+  }
+
+  let parsed: Record<string, unknown>;
+  try {
+    parsed = JSON.parse(raw) as Record<string, unknown>;
+  } catch (err) {
+    throw new DoltConnectionError(`Invalid JSON in ${metadataPath}`, err);
+  }
+
+  const port = parsed.dolt_server_port;
+  const database = parsed.dolt_database;
+  if (typeof port !== 'number' || typeof database !== 'string') {
+    throw new DoltConnectionError(
+      `${metadataPath} is missing required fields: dolt_server_port (number) and dolt_database (string)`
+    );
+  }
+
+  return {
+    dolt_server_port: port,
+    dolt_database: database,
+    dolt_server_host: typeof parsed.dolt_server_host === 'string' ? parsed.dolt_server_host : undefined,
+  };
+}
+
+// Cache pools per resolved project root to avoid reconnecting on every request
+const poolCache = new Map<string, mysql.Pool>();
+
+export async function getDoltConnection(projectRoot: string): Promise<mysql.Pool> {
+  const key = path.resolve(projectRoot);
+
+  const existing = poolCache.get(key);
+  if (existing) {
+    return existing;
+  }
+
+  const metadata = await readDoltMetadata(projectRoot);
+  const host = metadata.dolt_server_host ?? '127.0.0.1';
+
+  const pool = mysql.createPool({
+    host,
+    port: metadata.dolt_server_port,
+    database: metadata.dolt_database,
+    user: 'root',
+    password: '',
+    connectionLimit: 5,
+    waitForConnections: true,
+    queueLimit: 0,
+  });
+
+  // Verify server is reachable before caching — fail fast with a typed error
+  try {
+    const conn = await pool.getConnection();
+    conn.release();
+  } catch (err) {
+    await pool.end().catch(() => {});
+    throw new DoltConnectionError(
+      `Cannot connect to Dolt SQL server at ${host}:${metadata.dolt_server_port} (database: ${metadata.dolt_database})`,
+      err
+    );
+  }
+
+  poolCache.set(key, pool);
+  return pool;
+}