MS SQL with VS Code + GitHub Copilot
A Blog from Mike Irving, Software Developer
By Mike Irving - Published: 3/8/2025
A colleague recently expressed a few frustrations with SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), particularly it being slow to load, and the need to throw away all their work-in-progress tabs on exit.
I thought I'd look into an alternative.
Initially I looked at Azure Data Studio. It has the advantage of being able to connect to other database types, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Cosmos DB. However, it is being retired in February 2026, so I didn't want to explore that any further.
Visual Studio Code
I then deduced that I didn't really want another heavy install, so I turned my attention to the world's most used code editor - Visual Studio Code, or "VS Code" for short.
Getting Started is easy, simply search for and install the SQL Server (mssql) Extension from the Extensions Marketplace in VS Code.
Alternatively, find the Extension on the Visual Studio Marketplace, here.
Once installed, you will be presented with a Quick Start splash screen.
Connecting to a database is straightforward, and very like SSMS.
Specify your Server name, or Browse Azure, and then specify your Authentication details.
Upon successful connection, you can find your Connection, Browse Databases, run a Query and get some results, in a manner not dissimilar to SSMS.
GitHub Copilot
Now the interesting bit, let's use GitHub Copilot to help us Query our database.
Open the GitHub Copilot Chat, and away we go with a task or question.
We will task GitHub Copilot with creating a Query for us.
Of course it will need help. It is conversational, so carry on chatting.
Copilot confirms the Query creation in the chat, and identifies some potential errors.
Here's the created Query, along with alternatives. You can see the Name and Description column names are wrong, perhaps due to my information not being specific enough.
Let's give Copilot the correct column names in the Chat.
GitHub Copilot corrects the query, and reports the setup in the Chat.
Checking the results of the Query now, we can see we have our desired Name and Description data included.
We can go further with this. Let's ask GitHub Copilot to turn this into a Stored Procedure.
Voila, we have a Create Procedure definition.
Of course, it's up to you how far you go with this. GitHub Copliot is there to assist.
As we're in Visual Studio Code, we can flip between SQL tabs and our Code tabs at will, with Copilot poised to help.
We can also change the model that GitHub Copilot will use.
I found certain models were better than others in this SQL Server context.
As we're in VS Code, we can also very easily terminate the program, with our tabs restored when we reopen!
Further Reading:
Microsoft Learn - MSSQL Extension for VS Code
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