How does SHOW GRANTS work internally in MySQL?

In MySQL, the `SHOW GRANTS` statement is used to display the privileges or permissions granted to a user or the current user. Internally, when this command is executed, MySQL retrieves information from its system tables, specifically the `mysql.user`, `mysql.db`, and `mysql.tables_priv` tables where user privileges are stored. Each row in these tables defines a specific privilege at different levels such as global, database, table, or column levels.

The results from the `SHOW GRANTS` command provide a breakdown of all permissions granted, formatted as GRANT statements that can be used to recreate the same user privileges elsewhere. This is useful for auditing and for backup purposes.

An example of how to use this command is shown below:

SHOW GRANTS FOR 'username'@'hostname';

mysql SHOW GRANTS user privileges MySQL commands database security