At Microsoft Ignite 2025, we've reached a major milestone in unifying operational and analytical data for the era of AI, by making SQL database in Fabric (Generally Available). Built on the trusted SQL Server and Azure SQL Database engine, SQL database in Fabric delivers a simplified, fully integrated SaaS experience with enterprise-grade scalability, performance, and intelligence.
As part of this journey, the query editor and Copilot experiences have become the core of how developers and data professionals interact with SQL database in Fabric. Since introducing them in preview last year, we’ve made it easier than ever to explore your data, write queries, and build solutions all directly in your browser.
Before diving into what’s new, check out our previous blog posts if you missed these:
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What’s New in Query Editor
1. Open in SSMS and VS Code with Just a Few Clicks
Connecting from the query editor to your favorite SQL tools is now faster than ever. Previously, opening your database in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) required manually entering connection details. Now, just like Visual Studio Code (VS Code), you can launch SSMS directly from the query editor with the Open in button — no copy-pasting or setup required. With a single click, SSMS opens and pre-fills your connection information, streamlining workflows for users who prefer its advanced tooling.
For VS Code users, you can also leverage the Fabric browse experience in the MSSQL extension. The feature allows developers to connect seamlessly to SQL databases or to SQL analytics endpoints in Fabric without manually copying connection strings or using the Open in button.
2. Bulk Query Management
Managing your saved queries is now simpler and faster. Preview customers told us that with auto-save enabled, query lists could grow long and deleting them one by one was tedious. With this new capability, you can delete multiple queries at once: just hold Shift, select the queries, right-click, and choose Delete.
3. Shared Queries
You can now create shared queries that are visible to everyone with admin, contributor, or member permissions in your workspace. This enables your team to view, run, and edit shared SQL scripts directly from the web editor — without the hassle of copy-pasting code or sharing snippets elsewhere. Shared queries help teams collaborate from a single source of truth, making it faster and easier to build, review, and iterate together.
4. SQL Code Snippets
In addition to using the Templates available in the ribbon, which provide quick-start templates for creating database objects, you can now simply type 'sql' in the query editor to instantly insert a T-SQL (DDL, DML, or DQL) snippet. Choose from a growing library of predefined snippets to accelerate authoring and ensure consistency across your scripts.
5. Keyboard Shortcuts Pane
We’ve made it easier to discover and learn keyboard shortcuts with a new Keyboard Shortcuts pane in the query editor. You can now open it directly from Help > Keyboard Shortcuts in the ribbon to view all available commands in one place. Many of the same editing shortcuts you know from VS Code are available here, offering consistent and efficient experience for developers. Press F1 to open the command palette for quick navigation and execution.
What’s New in Copilot
1. New tools coming to Copilot Chat
Previously, the Copilot sidecar chat supported two key scenarios:
| Scenarios | What you can do |
| Natural language to SQL (NL2SQL) | Generate T-SQL code from natural language prompts. |
| Documentation-based Q&A | Ask questions about Fabric SQL Database or Data Warehouse capabilities and get answers grounded in official Microsoft Learn documentation. |
With this release, Copilot now includes a richer set of tools, enabling you to ask a broader range of questions and perform more types of tasks that go beyond query generation and Q&A.
| Scenarios | What you can do |
| Diagnose performance and resource issues | Analyze CPU or memory usage, detect blocked sessions, identify slow queries, and summarize system trends. |
| Inspect and optimize database design | Find missing or unused indexes, heaps, and tables without primary keys or clustered indexes. |
| Explore and modify schema objects | Create or alter tables, add computed or VECTOR columns, and review triggers and constraints. |
| Author, debug, and document SQL code | Generate, explain, refactor, and document T-SQL scripts with best practices applied automatically. |
| Search and learn interactively | Search database objects or text, inspect settings, and get step-by-step guidance on administrative and troubleshooting tasks. |
Try asking Copilot:
- 'Which queries are consuming the most CPU in my database right now?'
- 'Why is my database running slowly today?'
- 'List tables without a primary key or clustered index.'
- 'Find missing index recommendations for my database.'
- 'Add a VECTOR column to the Products table.'
- 'Explain what this T-SQL script does, step by step.'
- 'Refactor this SQL query to follow best practices.'
- 'Search my database for any column containing the word ‘error’.'
- 'Generate a resource usage report for the last hour.'
- 'How do I create an Extended Events session to capture long-running queries?'
2. Read/Write Execution Mode Selector
In the Copilot sidecar chat, a new mode selector gives you greater control over how Copilot interacts with your database. You can now toggle between two execution modes:
- Read-only mode: Copilot generates SQL code but does not execute any DDL/DML statements that modify the schema. You can review and run the code manually by inserting it into the editor.
- Read/write with approval mode: Copilot can execute DDL/DML commands, but only after you explicitly approve the action.
For SELECT queries, because they don’t modify your schema and are safe to run, Copilot now automatically returns the results instead of just providing a code snippet, so you can gain data insights faster.
What's Next?
We’re continuing to make the query editor and Copilot experiences in SQL database in Fabric even better. Here’s a look at what’s coming next:
- Schema Designer: Visualize your database schema with an interactive diagram and built-in table editing capabilities — create tables, define columns, and set primary or foreign keys and constraints.
- Edit Data: Update your data directly within tables through an Excel-like editing experience that provides real-time validation and instant feedback.
- Enhanced Data Grid: Benefit from column resizing, advanced sorting and filtering, and improved overall performance for your results grid.
- Copilot Inline Chat: Ask questions, generate SQL from natural language, use quick commands, and get contextual assistance directly in the SQL text editor as you type.
- Copilot in Performance Dashboard: Gain intelligent insights and recommendations from Copilot to help you monitor, analyze, and optimize database performance.
Help Us Improve the Product by Submitting your Feedback
Select the feedback button in the ribbon to share your experiences or offer suggestions.
Or use the thumbs up/down button to submit feedback for Copilot.
We closely review all submissions and highly value your input, which plays a key role in shaping our roadmap and priorities. Alternatively, visit the Fabric community forums to join discussions, share feedback, and contribute and vote for product improvement ideas.
Call to Action
Get started with using the Query Editor and Copilot in SQL database in Fabric today! Learn more about it with these resources.
- Checkout out our SQL database in Microsoft Fabric (Preview) documentation to start building your apps!
- Explore end-to-end tutorials in Microsoft Fabric.
- Enable Copilot in Fabric.
- Discover new features in the Microsoft Fabric Roadmap.