The header declares the Connector/C client structures, constants, and mysql_* functions and links the mariadb client library. The target system must still provide a compatible MariaDB Connector/C development library and its runtime dependencies.

The API owns several opaque handles and result buffers. Check every connection and query result, release result sets with the matching Connector/C function, and close each connection on every exit path. Database credentials, TLS policy, character set, query construction, and recovery remain application responsibilities.