The MySQL server is not configured to use a ROW binlog_format, which is required for this connector to work properly

Root cause

MySQL binlog_format is STATEMENT or MIXED. Debezium requires ROW-level binary logging to capture individual row changes with full before/after images.

How to fix

1. Set in my.cnf and restart MySQL: binlog_format=ROW and binlog_row_image=FULL
2. Or set dynamically (takes effect for new connections):
   SET GLOBAL binlog_format = 'ROW';
3. On RDS: modify the parameter group — binlog_format cannot be set dynamically on RDS.
4. On RDS: enable automated backups or read replicas to activate binlog.