diff --git a/singlestoredb/management/workspace.py b/singlestoredb/management/workspace.py
index 827032f98..8ba179c30 100644
--- a/singlestoredb/management/workspace.py
+++ b/singlestoredb/management/workspace.py
@@ -1391,13 +1391,10 @@ def connect(self, **kwargs: Any) -> connection.Connection:
                 msg='An endpoint has not been set in this '
                     'starter workspace configuration',
             )
-        # Parse endpoint as host:port
-        if ':' in self.endpoint:
-            host, port = self.endpoint.split(':', 1)
-            kwargs['host'] = host
-            kwargs['port'] = int(port)
-        else:
-            kwargs['host'] = self.endpoint
+
+        kwargs['host'] = self.endpoint
+        kwargs['database'] = self.database_name
+
         return connection.connect(**kwargs)
 
     def terminate(self) -> None:
@@ -1455,7 +1452,7 @@ def starter_workspaces(self) -> NamedList['StarterWorkspace']:
 
     def create_user(
         self,
-        user_name: str,
+        username: str,
         password: Optional[str] = None,
     ) -> Dict[str, str]:
         """
@@ -1463,7 +1460,7 @@ def create_user(
 
         Parameters
         ----------
-        user_name : str
+        username : str
             The starter workspace user name to connect the new user to the database
         password : str, optional
             Password for the new user. If not provided, a password will be
@@ -1485,7 +1482,7 @@ def create_user(
             )
 
         payload = {
-            'userName': user_name,
+            'userName': username,
         }
         if password is not None:
             payload['password'] = password
@@ -1854,7 +1851,8 @@ def create_starter_workspace(
         self,
         name: str,
         database_name: str,
-        workspace_group: dict[str, str],
+        provider: str,
+        region_name: str,
     ) -> 'StarterWorkspace':
         """
         Create a new starter (shared tier) workspace.
@@ -1865,28 +1863,21 @@ def create_starter_workspace(
             Name of the starter workspace
         database_name : str
             Name of the database for the starter workspace
-        workspace_group : dict[str, str]
-            Workspace group input (dict with keys: 'cell_id' and 'name').
+        provider : str
+            Cloud provider for the starter workspace (e.g., 'aws', 'gcp', 'azure')
+        region_name : str
+            Cloud provider region for the starter workspace (e.g., 'us-east-1')
 
         Returns
         -------
         :class:`StarterWorkspace`
         """
-        if not workspace_group or not isinstance(workspace_group, dict):
-            raise ValueError(
-                'workspace_group must be a dict with keys: '
-                "'cell_id' and 'name'",
-            )
-        if set(workspace_group.keys()) != {'cell_id', 'name'}:
-            raise ValueError("workspace_group must contain only 'cell_id' and 'name'")
 
         payload = {
             'name': name,
             'databaseName': database_name,
-            'workspaceGroup': {
-                'name': workspace_group['name'],
-                'cellID': workspace_group['cell_id'],
-            },
+            'provider': provider,
+            'regionName': region_name,
         }
 
         res = self._post('sharedtier/virtualWorkspaces', json=payload)
diff --git a/singlestoredb/tests/test_management.py b/singlestoredb/tests/test_management.py
index cc31e7236..4b2af1bd3 100755
--- a/singlestoredb/tests/test_management.py
+++ b/singlestoredb/tests/test_management.py
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ def clean_name(s):
     return re.sub(r'[^\w]', r'-', s).replace('_', '-').lower()
 
 
+def shared_database_name(s):
+    """Return a shared database name. Cannot contain special characters except -"""
+    return re.sub(r'[^\w]', '', s).replace('-', '_').lower()
+
+
 @pytest.mark.management
 class TestCluster(unittest.TestCase):
 
@@ -370,39 +375,31 @@ class TestStarterWorkspace(unittest.TestCase):
 
     manager = None
     starter_workspace = None
-    starter_workspace_user = {
-        'username': 'starter_user',
-        'password': None,
-    }
-
-    @property
-    def starter_username(self):
-        """Return the username for the starter workspace user."""
-        return self.starter_workspace_user['username']
-
-    @property
-    def password(self):
-        """Return the password for the starter workspace user."""
-        return self.starter_workspace_user['password']
 
     @classmethod
     def setUpClass(cls):
         cls.manager = s2.manage_workspaces()
 
-        shared_tier_regions = [
+        shared_tier_regions: NamedList[Region] = [
             x for x in cls.manager.shared_tier_regions if 'US' in x.name
         ]
-        cls.password = secrets.token_urlsafe(20) + '-x&$'
+        cls.starter_username = 'starter_user'
+        cls.password = secrets.token_urlsafe(20)
 
-        name = clean_name(secrets.token_urlsafe(20)[:20])
+        name = shared_database_name(secrets.token_urlsafe(20)[:20])
+
+        cls.database_name = f'starter_db_{name}'
+
+        shared_tier_region: Region = random.choice(shared_tier_regions)
+
+        if not shared_tier_region:
+            raise ValueError('No shared tier regions found')
 
         cls.starter_workspace = cls.manager.create_starter_workspace(
             f'starter-ws-test-{name}',
-            database_name=f'starter_db_{name}',
-            workspace_group={
-                'name': f'starter-wg-test-{name}',
-                'cell_id': random.choice(shared_tier_regions).id,
-            },
+            database_name=cls.database_name,
+            provider=shared_tier_region.provider,
+            region_name=shared_tier_region.region_name,
         )
 
         cls.starter_workspace.create_user(
@@ -470,14 +467,14 @@ def test_connect(self):
         ) as conn:
             with conn.cursor() as cur:
                 cur.execute('show databases')
-                assert 'starter_db' in [x[0] for x in list(cur)]
+                assert self.database_name in [x[0] for x in list(cur)]
 
         # Test missing endpoint
         workspace = self.manager.get_starter_workspace(self.starter_workspace.id)
         workspace.endpoint = None
 
         with self.assertRaises(s2.ManagementError) as cm:
-            workspace.connect(user='admin', password=self.password)
+            workspace.connect(user=self.starter_username, password=self.password)
 
         assert 'endpoint' in cm.exception.msg, cm.exception.msg