# Via SurrealDB Studio

Select a namespace and database, then query an instance from the SurrealDB Studio query view.

Query an instance from [SurrealDB Studio](https://app.surrealdb.com) without setting up a client.

Studio is already connected to your instances, so signing in is the whole authentication step. Use it to explore data, write a query, and check the effect of a schema change.

## Select a namespace and database

Queries run against a specific database inside a specific namespace, so select both before you run anything.

1. Open the instance and go to the query view.
2. Select the **Namespace** control and choose a namespace. If the instance has none, the same control offers to create one.
3. Select the **Database** control and choose a database, or create one.

![The namespace and database selectors in the SurrealDB Studio query view, each showing a dropdown of the namespaces and databases available on the instance.](~/assets/img/image/cloud/namespace-database.png)

An instance created with the **Empty** starting-data option has neither, so this is the first thing to do after you deploy one.

## Run a query

With both selected, the editor runs SurrealQL against that database. Results appear beneath the query, and records created by a statement show up immediately in the explorer.

![The SurrealDB Studio query view with a SurrealQL statement in the editor and its result set displayed in the panel below.](~/assets/img/image/cloud/querying-instance.png)

## Next steps

- **[SurrealDB Studio](/docs/explore/studio.md):** the rest of the interface, including the schema designer, the explorer, and keyboard shortcuts.
- **[SurrealQL](/docs/reference/query-language.md):** the query language reference.
- **[Connect via SDK](/docs/manage/instances/connect/via-sdk.md):** moving from exploration to application code.