Azure SQL Devs’ Corner
Voices from the Azure SQL PM Team, focusing on development and developers
Latest posts
Masking Sensitive Data in Azure SQL
Applications often need access to data without needing access to everything. Social Security numbers, email addresses, and phone numbers are common examples. Storing them is required. Exposing them broadly is not. This is especially valuable when exposing a database to an AI agent through MCP servers like SQL MCP Server, where safety and reversibility matter. Learn more about SQL MCP Server Azure SQL includes built-in features that let the database protect sensitive values automatically. The application does not decide what is visible. The database does. Working demo https://gist.github.com What We Ar...
Enable Soft Delete in Azure SQL
Sometimes applications need to remove data without actually losing it. Soft delete keeps rows in the database while making them invisible to normal application access. This is especially valuable when exposing a database to an AI agent through MCP servers like SQL MCP Server, where safety and reversibility matter. Learn more about SQL MCP Server Filtering on an column in every query is fragile. One missed filter exposes your data. Row Level Security enforces visibility rules inside the database so application code cannot bypass them. Working demo https://gist.github.com What We Are Building A table...
Introducing Budget Bytes: Build Powerful AI Apps for Under $25
When developers hear "cloud" and "AI," their first thought is often about cost. "How much will this cost me to learn? Can I build something meaningful without racking up a surprise bill?" Budget Bytes is a new series is designed to inspire developers to build affordable, production-quality AI applications on Azure with a budget of $25 or less. Yes, you read that right, twenty-five dollars! What is Budget Bytes? Budget Bytes is an episodic video series featuring developers building end-to-end scenarios from scratch. But here's what makes it different: This season c...
Semantic Reranking with Azure SQL, SQL Server 2025 and Cohere Rerank models
Supporting re‑ranking has been one of the most common requests lately. While not always essential, it can be a valuable addition to a solution when you want to improve the precision of your results. Unfortunately, there isn’t a universal, standardized API for a “re‑rank” call across providers, so the most reliable approach today is to issue a manual REST request and build the payload according to the documentation of the re‑ranker you choose. How a Re-ranking Model Improves Retrieval Vector search is excellent for quickly finding likely matches, but it can still surface items that aren’t the best answer. A re‑r...
Data API builder’s “request-body-strict” Simplifies Client Code
Data API builder (DAB) provides REST and GraphQL endpoints over SQL Server, Azure Cosmos DB, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQL Data Warehouse. The configuration value controls how REST endpoints treat unknown JSON properties in the payload: Read the documentation. Let's try it out The database table Imagine a simple table called Category with only two columns: The configuration file Create your Data API builder configuration file with the following command line commands: The JSON payload When you call the REST endpoint for Category at , the resulting JSON looks like this: The C...
MSSQL Extension for VS Code: Introducing Edit Data (Public Preview)
Overview Working with table data is an essential part of database development — whether you’re validating behavior, debugging issues, or quickly seeding data. But switching between tools or writing repetitive T-SQL statements can slow down your workflow. We are excited to announce the Public Preview of Edit Data in the MSSQL extension for Visual Studio Code — a modern, interactive way to browse and modify table data directly within the editor. Edit Data (Preview) brings a familiar, spreadsheet-like experience, combining inline editing, validation, pagination, and real-time script generation into a fast and intu...
New T-SQL AI Features are now in Public Preview for Azure SQL and SQL database in Microsoft Fabric
At the start of this year, we released a new set of T-SQL AI features for embedding your relational data for AI applications. Today, we have brought those features to Azure SQL and SQL database in Microsoft Fabric. This post will help you get started using the new AI functions of Azure SQL. Prerequisites Set up your environment The following section guides you through setting up the environment and installing the necessary software and utilities. Set up the database The following section guides you through using the embeddings model to create vector arrays on relation data and use ...
MSSQL Extension for VS Code: GitHub Copilot Chat GA and New Public Previews for Edit Data, Data-tier Application, and more
The MSSQL Extension for VS Code continues to evolve, delivering features that make SQL development more integrated, more consistent, and more developer-friendly. In version v1.37.0, we’re announcing the Public Preview of Edit Data, Data-tier Application (DACPAC/BACPAC) export & import, and the SQL Database Projects Publish Dialog, along with the General Availability of GitHub Copilot — four capabilities that bring modern data editing, migration workflows, schema publishing, and AI-powered assistance directly into your development workflow inside Visual Studio Code. What’s new in MSSQL extension for VS Code...
Public preview of vector indexing in Azure SQL DB, Azure SQL MI, and SQL database in Microsoft Fabric
We are happy to share that DiskANN vector indexing is now in public preview across Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance, and SQL database in Microsoft Fabric. DiskANN is a cutting-edge algorithm for efficient vector similarity search, making it ideal for powering recommendation systems, image and multimedia search, and advanced retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) solutions. Built for large-scale vector search, DiskANN integrates seamlessly with the Microsoft SQL query engine, enabling you to combine semantic search with the full power of T‑SQL, joins, filters, analytics, without moving data or addin...