sample_app.pl

package MyShinyApp;
use Mojo::Base 'Mojolicious';
use DBI;

has dbh => \&_init_dbh;

sub startup { ... }

sub _init_dbh {
    my $self = shift;
    my $dbh = DBI->connect(
        'dbi:mysql:MyShinyDatabase', #TODO: Get db name from config
        undef, undef,
        {   mysql_auto_reconnect => 1,
            mysql_enable_utf8    => 1,
            mysql_init_command => "SET CHARACTER SET 'utf8'"
        }
    );
    unless ($dbh) {
        $self->log->fatal('Failed to connect to the database');
        exit(255);
    }
    return $dbh;
}

1;