Database DevOps tooling for Microsoft SQL brings the benefits of database-as-code to your development workflow. At its core are SQL database projects, which enable you to source control your database schema, perform reliable deployments to any environment, and integrate code quality checks into your development process. Whether you're managing a single database or orchestrating complex deployments across multiple environments, SQL projects in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) provide the foundation for modern database DevOps practices.
Introducing SQL projects in SSMS
With the 22.4 release of SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), we are excited to launch the public preview of SQL projects with the new "Database DevOps" workload in SSMS. This marks a significant milestone in our journey to bring the power of SQL projects to database professionals in different roles and with different preferences for development environments. The initial public preview brings the core create, build, and publish workflow to SSMS with the backing of Microsoft.Build.Sql projects, which are also supported in VS Code. This means that you can create a SQL project in SSMS, check it into source control, and then work with it in VS Code or vice versa, enabling a seamless experience across different tools and teams.
This is just the beginning of our plans for SQL projects in SSMS, and we are committed to expanding the capabilities and integrations in future releases based on your feedback and needs. Additional functionality in upcoming releases includes creating and updating projects from databases directly as well as the graphical schema compare interface. If you're looking to bring an existing database into source control and start with SQL projects in SSMS today, you have two options for quickly accessing your database definition. The mssql extension in VS Code provides a menu item in object explorer for "Create project from database" and the SqlPackage CLI has a command to generate the .sql files that can be copied directly into the SQL project directory:
dotnet tool install -g microsoft.sqlpackage sqlpackage /action:extract /sourceconnectionstring:"<connection string>" /targetfile:"databasefiles" /p:extracttarget=schemaobjecttype
What about Visual Studio SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT)?
SQL projects in SSMS are based on Microsoft.Build.Sql projects and requires a minimum SDK version of 2.1.0. While a preview of SSDT for Microsoft.Build.Sql projects is available for Visual Studio 2022, only the original SQL projects are supported in SSDT for Visual Studio 2026. The SQL projects tooling ecosystem includes multiple development environments, CI/CD integrations, and even customization through the DacFx .NET library. Our goal is that this ecosystem enables you and your teams to manage SQL database schemas and deployments in a more automated and reliable way, and this requires that tools used by your teams surface SQL projects such that they can be integrated into your existing workflows.
I understand that initial messaging about Microsoft.Build.Sql projects for Visual Studio and changes when that work was delayed has led to some confusion, so we’re operating with as much transparency as we can with the SQL projects roadmap at aka.ms/sqlprojects-roadmap. You'll note at this time that Microsoft.Build.Sql support in Visual Studio 2026 is not yet on the roadmap. Please continue to voice your feedback on the Developer Community, which is extremely valuable as we are actively reviewing the integration.
Get to know SQL projects
SQL projects represent a fundamental file format for database development and automation, enabling both a declarative approach to defining and deploying database schemas as well as supporting migration-based deployment methods with consolidated change visibility and code quality checks. By adopting SQL projects, teams can achieve greater consistency, collaboration, and efficiency in their database development processes, ultimately leading to more reliable and maintainable database systems. The integration of SQL projects with modern development tools and platforms further enhances their value, making it easier for teams to implement DevOps practices and automate their database workflows.
Documentation is available at aka.ms/sqlprojects-docs, and our public roadmap at aka.ms/sqlprojects-roadmap shows what's coming next. We'd love to hear your feedback — your input directly shapes our priorities and helps us build the database DevOps experience that works best for your teams. Get started with the public preview of SQL projects in SSMS today by downloading SSMS 22 or updating your current SSMS to 22.4 and modifying the SSMS install to include the Database DevOps workload.
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