Announcing a new IDE for PostgreSQL in VS Code from Microsoft
We are excited to announce the public preview of the brand-new PostgreSQL extension for Visual Studio Code (VS Code), designed to simplify PostgreSQL database management and development workflows. With this extension, you can now manage database objects, draft queries with intelligent assistance from context-aware IntelliSense and our ‘@pgsql’ GitHub Copilot agent—all without ever leaving your favorite code editor. Addressing Developer Challenges Many of you face hurdles in managing time effectively, with 41% of developers struggling with task-switching, according to the 2024 StackOverflow Developer Survey. Additionally, the 2024 Stripe Developer Coefficient Report reveals that developers spend up to 50% of their time debugging and troubleshooting code and databases. These inefficiencies are further compounded by the absence of integrated tools that unify database management and application development. The PostgreSQL extension for VS Code addresses these challenges head-on by integrating Postgres database tools and the @pgsql GitHub Copilot agent, providing a unified application development and database management experience. By integrating robust features such as Entra ID authentication for centralized identity management and deep Azure Database for PostgreSQL integration, this extension empowers you to focus on building innovative applications rather than wrestling with fragmented workflows. Key Features The public preview release of the PostgreSQL extension for VS Code introduces a suite of powerful new capabilities that enhance productivity and streamline development for application developers working with Postgres. Schema Visualization Schema visualization is a breeze with our ‘right-click’ context menu options. o Right-click on the database entry in the Object Explorer and select “Visualize Schema” Single click to expand. Database aware GitHub Copilot AI assistance directly within VS Code providing PostgreSQL database context reduces the PostgreSQL learning curve and improves developer productivity. Simplified interaction with PostgreSQL databases and development tools using natural language. Commands such as "@pgsql" enable you to query databases, optimize schemas, and execute SQL operations with ease. Context menus, such as “Rewrite Query”, “Explain Query”, “Analyze Query Performance” provide AI Intelligence inside the query editor window. Real-time, expert-level guidance to help keep PostgreSQL databases performant and secure and improve code quality. PostgreSQL Copilot Context Menu Options Single click to expand. Using the PostgreSQL Copilot Context Menu, Single click to expand. GitHub Copilot Chat Agent Mode GitHub Copilot Chat agent mode provides a database context aware intelligent assistant that can perform multi-stage tasks, moving beyond the question-and-answer chat experience. Agent mode allows the Copilot to bring in additional context from your workspace and, with permission, it can write and debug code on its own. Agent mode transforms PostgreSQL development by providing real-time, AI-driven guidance that simplifies complex tasks like app prototyping, debugging, schema optimization, and performance tuning. In this example, we’ll ask the agent to create a new database on a specific server in my Saved Connections and enable the PostGIS extension. Single click to expand. The @pgsql agent begins by listing the server connections, connecting to the server ‘postgis’, drafts the script to modify the database and waits for permission to continue before making changes. Database modifications require explicit permission from the user. Add Database Connections with Ease Simplified connection management for local and cloud-hosted PostgreSQL instances. Support for multiple connection profiles and connection string parsing for easy setup. Direct browsing and filtering of Azure Database for PostgreSQL deployments. Integration with Entra ID for centralized security and identity management. Connect with ease to your existing Azure Database for PostgreSQL deployments with the “Browse Azure” option in the “Add New Connection” menu. Single click to expand. Connect to local Docker deployments with the Parameters or Connection String option. Single click to expand. Password-less authentication with Entra Id Streamlined Authentication: Eliminates the need for manual login, offering a seamless integration experience for you. Automatic Token Refresh: Ensures uninterrupted connectivity and minimizes the risk of authentication timeouts during development. Enhanced Security: Provides robust protection by leveraging Entra-ID's secure authentication protocols. Time Efficiency: Reduces overhead by automating token management, allowing you to focus on coding rather than administrative tasks. Enterprise Compatibility: Aligns with corporate security standards and simplifies access to PostgreSQL databases in enterprise environments. User Consistency: You can use your existing Entra-ID credentials, avoiding the need to manage separate accounts. Database Explorer Provides a structured view of database objects such as schemas, tables, and functions. Enables creation, modification, and deletion of database objects. Single click to expand. Query History Session query history is available below the Object Explorer. This allows you to quickly review previously run queries for reuse. Single click to expand. Query Editing with Context-aware IntelliSense Context-aware IntelliSense for auto-completion of SQL keywords, table names, and functions. Syntax highlighting and auto-formatting for improved query readability. Query history tracking for reusing previously executed queries. Single click to expand. What Sets the PostgreSQL Extension for VS Code Apart? The PostgreSQL extension for VS Code stands out in the crowded landscape of developer database management tools due to its unparalleled functionality and intuitive design. Here’s what makes it special: Enhanced Productivity: Features like context-aware IntelliSense and SQL formatting save time and minimize errors. pgsql GitHub Copilot Chat agent: Database and workspace context awareness, enabling smarter and more contextually relevant assistance for developers – combined with the ability to perform multi-step tasks. Streamlined Onboarding: The Connection Manager ensures you can get started within minutes. Improved Security: Entra ID integration provides robust access control and centralized identity management, including the ability to browse your Azure Database for PostgreSQL instances. Comprehensive Toolset: You can manage database objects, execute queries, and deploy instances all within VS Code. Seamless Cloud Integration: Deep integration with Azure Database for PostgreSQL simplifies cloud database management. Getting Started with the PostgreSQL extension for Visual Studio Code Installing the PostgreSQL extension for VS Code is simple: Open the Extensions view in VS Code. Search for "PostgreSQL" in the Extensions Marketplace. Select and install the Preview PostgreSQL extension with the blue elephant seen in the screenshot below. xtension ID: (ms-ossdata.vscode-pgsql) Also available in the online Visual Studio Code Marketplace. Enabling the PostgreSQL GitHub Copilot Chat You will need the GitHub Copilot and GitHub Copilot chat extensions installed in VS Code to be able to log into their GitHub Account and use "@pgsql" in the chat interface to interact with their PostgreSQL database. Feedback and Support We value your insights. Use the built-in feedback tool in VS Code to share your thoughts and report issues. Your feedback will help us refine the extension and ensure it meets the needs of the developer community. Regarding the standard preview license language included in this first release - Our goal is to ensure this extension is widely available and consumable by all Postgres users equally. We’re going to update the license. Stay tuned for updates. Get Started The PostgreSQL extension for VS Code offers significant enhancements to development efficiency and productivity. We encourage you to explore the public preview today and experience improved workflows with PostgreSQL databases. To learn more and get started, visit: https://aka.ms/pg-vscode-docs Special thanks to Jonathon Frost, Principal PM for all of his work on the @pgsql GitHub Copilot.Use GitHub Copilot Agent Mode to create a Copilot Chat application in 5 minutes
GitHub Copilot just got an upgrade—Agent Mode is here. 🚀 With GitHub Copilot Agent Mode, you can build applications faster than ever. In just 5 minutes, you can create a Facebook Messenger-style Copilot Chat app using Flask and GPT-4o. Simply upload a screenshot, prompt Copilot, and watch it generate your code. Fine-tune your UI, integrate GitHub Models, and deploy effortlessly. The future of AI-powered development is here—everyone can program. Are you ready to try it?Deploy your ASP.NET Core Web API with the help of GitHub Copilot for Azure in Visual Studio Code.
Introducing GitHub Copilot for Azure, your personal assistant to streamline the deployment process. It provides you with clear, step-by-step instructions to deploy your applications and assists with troubleshooting, making your development journey smoother and more efficient. In this blog, we’ll explore how to deploy an ASP.NET Core API to Azure using GitHub Copilot for Azure in Visual Studio Code. By leveraging Copilot’s AI capabilities, I’ll guide it with prompts to streamline the deployment process. Together, we’ll learn how to transform a locally developed API into a cloud-hosted solution with ease. Prerequisites An Azure account and a subscription. Create Azure for free or pay as you go A GitHub account and GitHub Copilot Subscription. creating-an-account-on-GitHub and quick start on copilots Visual Studio code. See more info on setting up vs code GitHub Copilot and GitHub Copilot Chat Extension. Set up GitHub Copilot in VS Code and Getting started with Copilot Chat in VS Code .NET SDK. Download it here, C# Dev-kit Extension in VS Code. More on C# Dev-kit Prepare I will be deploying the TodoApi developed with ASP.NET Core. The source code is available on GitHub. Follow these steps to have the project on your local machine. Head to the GitHub repo: Github-Copilot-for-Azure-TodoApi-Sample Clone the Repository on your terminal or download as Zip: git clone https://github.com/kemboi590/Github-Copilot-for-Azure-TodoApi-Sample-.git Change directory to the cloned folder: cd Github-Copilot-for-Azure-TodoApi-Sample- Install required Packages: dotnet restore Open with Visual Studio Code: code . Here is an illustration of the steps: Run the application - Open the inbuilt terminal on Visual Studio Code and type the following: dotnet run The API is now running and we can test it using REST Client. Calling REST APIs From the IDE Install the rest client extension. - Open the extension and search for Rest Client and install it. Open TodoApi.http file and start testing the routes: GitHub Copilot Set up When you install GitHub Copilot Extension, you also get GitHub Copilot Chat, a conversational extension that provides conversational AI assistance Go to extensions Search for GitHub Copilot Install GitHub Copilot for Azure GitHub Copilot for Azure extension is designed to help streamline the process of developing for Azure. On extensions, search for GitHub Copilot for Azure Install the extension Start your Conversation with GitHub Copilot for Azure extension Open the chat, use the shortcut keys: ctr + shift + I or open chat by clicking on the chat Icon. To use GitHub Copilot for Azure use azure then describe what you want it to help you with. I will share with you my prompts that I am using so that you can use them as well. Note: Your GitHub Copilot for Azure may not give the same output as mine. Here are the steps to Deploy our WebApp. Describe what you want GitHub Copilot for Azure to help you with. - Give a clear information so that the copilot will get to respond better. - Try this prompt: @Azure I have developed an ASP.NET Core web API using Visual Studio Code, which is a simple TodoAPI with CRUD Functionalities with no database, I would like to deploy it on azure with your help because I have no experience. Which services should I use and which options do I have to have it on azure - GitHub Copilot for Azure Suggest that for an API, we should use Azure App Services Let’s ask for more details @Azure to deploy Azure App services on Visual Studio Code, which are the available options? We now have three options, o Using Visual Studio Code Extension – App Service Extension o Manual Process – On Azure Portal o Automated CI/CD Pipeline on GitHub App Service Extension - I will go with the first Option (Using Visual Studio Code– App Service Extension) Asking for more steps I will ask GitHub Copilot to give me some steps I will use to deploy using App Service Extension @Azure Guide me on the steps using App Service Extension - Open the extensions and install App Service Extension - You will be requested to sign in to your azure account. Ensure you have azure subscription so that you can be able to deploy your API. Working with Azure tools - You will note that Azure icon is available is the side bar - Click on it and you will see the App Services under your subscription. Create an App Service Web App from the available options - Click on App Service and click on Create button (+) to create an App Service Web App. Web App Name - Give a unique name of your new web app and click Enter - I will name mine azure-copilot-demo Choose Runtime Stack - If you are following along with TodoApi project, select .NET 9 and click Enter. Select Pricing Tier Let’s ask copilot of these pricing tiers: @Azure While selecting the pricing tiers, i see three options. Free F1 Basic B1 Premium P1V2 Which one do I select I will select Basic (B1) because I consider my project small-to-medium applications and low-traffic production workloads. Web App created on the Terminal for Azure - It will take some few seconds for the web app to be created Publish your App - Want to know why should you publish your project? - Let’s ask GitHub copilot for Azure for clarification: @Azure what does this command do? - Open the terminal on the folder with the project and type the following command: dotnet publish -c Release -o ./bin/Publish New bin/publish Folder has been created - The folder contains our project which is now ready to deploy Deploy - Right Click on the new web app (azure-copilot-demo) on the list and choose deploy to web app - Browse the /bin/publish folder and select it: Deployment success - It will take some few mins for the Web App to be deployed. Check on your terminal for Azure. - Wait for some time then your web pp will be running on Azure. Working with deployed Web App - I will also use REST Client to test the deployed web App on Visual Studio Code. - The end pot I will be using will be: https://azure-copilot-demo.azurewebsites.net/ - Without starting the server this time, replace the Host Address with the one you got after deploying the web App. POST Request: - Test the other routes and they should all be working just fine. Conclusion We have been able to deploy our TodoApi with the help of GitHub Copilot for Azure. I hope you had a great time following a long and were able to deploy your application as well. You are not limited to deploying the Web Apps alone with the help of GitHub Copilot for Azure. Feel free to explore other services and remember to share feedback. Resources Get started with GitHub Copilot for Azure Preview Get started with GitHub Copilot Training Module on Microsoft Learn Example prompts for learning about Azure and your application with GitHub Copilot for Azure PreviewCreate your own Visual Studio Code Chat Participant with Phi-3.5 by GitHub Models
Visual Studio Code provides an API that allows companies and individuals to create different participants based on their business to expand their capabilities in different proprietary fields. In this article, we will focus on Phi-3.5-mini-instruct (128k) and Phi-3.5-vision-instruct (128k) of GitHub Models to create your own Visual Studio Code Chat Participant.Copilot Explains - Error troubleshooting in Jupyter Notebooks
Data scientists and AI engineers love to work with Jupyter Notebooks because they make so much easier to look at the result of each and every data exploration step or data modeling experiment and take decisions accordingly. However, Jupyter notebooks are not immune to errors and sometimes understanding error messages - in particular if you aren’t a native English speaker or you are a beginner - and troubleshooting code might be painful and time consuming.Supercharging Your Data Science Projects with GitHub Tools
Technology is advancing at a rapid pace, bringing new innovations that are transforming our workplaces. One role that is being especially disrupted by these advancements is that of the data scientist. Data science is already an exciting field, but new tools are taking it to the next level in terms of productivity and capabilities. With the help of these new technologies, data scientists can work faster and more efficiently than ever before. In this post, we will show you these advancements in action.
