# Sessions and scoping

A session stores information about the current connection.

## What is session context?

A session stores information about the current connection, including:

- The active namespace
- The active database
- Session metadata

This context is automatically used by all queries.

## Switching context with `USE`

You can change the current namespace and database using the `USE` statement:

```surql
USE NS my_namespace DB my_database;
```

After running this, all queries will operate within that context.

The name `main` is used as the default name for the current namespace and database [when starting SurrealDB](/docs/reference/cli/surrealdb-cli/commands/sql.md#default-namespace-and-database).

## Parameters

As parameters are set on the connection level, setting a parameter name to a value is one way to persist a value across different namespaces and databases.

In the following example, `person:one` is allowed to be created inside a different namespace and database as that record ID does not yet exist inside `other_ns/other_db`. The `$person` parameter is what enabled the `person:one` value to be reused.

```surql
LET $person = CREATE ONLY person:one;
USE NS other_ns DB other_db;
CREATE $person;
```

Beyond this, the only way to persist values beyond the current session is to use [an SDK](/docs/languages/javascript.md) or [an extension](/docs/learn/extensions/plugins/overview.md).

## Accessing session information

You can access session details using [`session::*`](/docs/reference/query-language/functions/database-functions/session.md) functions.

```surql
-- Current namespace
session::ns();
-- Current database
session::db();
-- Session ID
RETURN session::id();
```

## Using session context in queries

You can use session information inside queries:

```surql
IF session::db() != "production" {
    THROW "This query must run in the production database";
};
-- Debugging session state
{
    namespace: session::ns(),
    database: session::db(),
    session: session::id()
};
```