Microsoft Shifts SQL Developers to VS Code MSSQL Extension After Ending Azure Data Studio Support in 2026
Updated
Updated · InfoWorld · May 14
Microsoft Shifts SQL Developers to VS Code MSSQL Extension After Ending Azure Data Studio Support in 2026
1 articles · Updated · InfoWorld · May 14
Microsoft is directing SQL Server and Azure SQL users to the MSSQL extension for Visual Studio Code after ending support for Azure Data Studio, its lighter-weight query and development tool.
Launched in late 2024, the extension connects to local and cloud databases, saves connections, supports schema design and publishing through open-source DacFx, and handles development, administration and analysis in one editor.
Query tooling is central to the switch: Estimated Plan analyzes performance without running SQL, Actual Plan tests live execution, and a visualizer maps expensive steps in a query tree.
Preview features widen the pitch beyond developers, adding a Data API builder for REST, GraphQL and MCP endpoints plus SQL Notebooks for analysts and data scientists.
The move fits Microsoft's broader strategy of replacing stand-alone Azure tools with cross-platform VS Code extensions, with PostgreSQL and Cosmos DB already available and MySQL still in development.
With developers in VS Code and admins in SSMS, is a new divide forming in database management?
Will Microsoft's AI Data API Builder make custom backend coding for databases a thing of the past?