When a GBase 8a cluster is set to READONLY mode, SELECT is not the only allowed operation. Statements that don't modify user data or cluster metadata — like SHOW , USE , and DESCRIBE — continue to work normally. Permitted Statements Data queries : SELECT is the central operation allowed in read‑only mode. Metadata and status inspections : All SHOW variants ( SHOW DATABASES; , SHOW TABLES; , SHOW COLUMNS FROM ...; , SHOW PROCESSLIST; , etc.), DESC / DESCRIBE , and queries against INFORMATION_SCHEMA or PERFORMANCE_SCHEMA . Session‑level commands : USE database_name; only changes the current database context for the session without touching persisted data. SET for session variables (e.g., SET NAMES utf8; ) is also allowed. Selected administrative commands : KILL QUERY terminates a running query — a connection‑management action that does not alter business data.…