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.Announcing Azure HorizonDB
Affan Dar, Vice President of Engineering, PostgreSQL at Microsoft Charles Feddersen, Partner Director of Program Management, PostgreSQL at Microsoft Today at Microsoft Ignite, we’re excited to unveil the preview of Azure HorizonDB, a fully managed Postgres-compatible database service designed to meet the needs of modern enterprise workloads. The cloud native architecture of Azure HorizonDB delivers highly scalable shared storage, elastic scale-out compute, and a tiered cache optimized for running cloud applications of any scale. Postgres is transforming industries worldwide and is emerging as the foundation of modern data solutions across all sectors at an unprecedented pace. For developers, it is the database of choice for building new applications with its rich set of extensions, open-source API, and expansive ecosystems of tools and libraries. At the same time, but at the opposite end of the workload spectrum, enterprises around the world are also increasingly turning to Postgres to modernize their existing applications. Azure HorizonDB is designed to support applications across the entire workload spectrum from the first line of code in a new app to the migration of large-scale, mission-critical solutions. Developers benefit from the robust Postgres ecosystem and seamless integration with Azure’s advanced AI capabilities, while enterprises can gain a secure, highly available, and performant cloud database to host their business applications. Whether you’re building from scratch or transforming legacy infrastructure, Azure HorizonDB empowers you to innovate and scale with confidence, today and into the future. Azure HorizonDB introduces new levels of performance and scalability to PostgreSQL. The scale-out compute architecture supports up to 3,072 vCores across primary and replica nodes, and the auto-scaling shared storage supports up to 128TB databases while providing sub-millisecond multi-zone commit latencies. This storage innovation enables Azure HorizonDB to deliver up to 3x more throughput when compared with open-source Postgres for transactional workloads. Azure HorizonDB is enterprise ready on day one. With native support for Entra ID, Private Endpoints, and data encryption, it provides compliance and security for sensitive data stored in the cloud. All data is replicated across availability zones by default and maintenance operations are transparent with near-zero downtime. Backups are fully automated, and integration with Azure Defender for Cloud provides additional protection for highly sensitive data. All up, Azure HorizonDB offers enterprise-grade security, compliance, and reliability, making it ready for business use today. Since the launch of ChatGPT, there has been an explosion of new AI apps being built, and Postgres has become the database of choice due in large part to its vector index support. Azure HorizonDB extends the AI capabilities of Postgres further with two key features. We are introducing advanced filtering capabilities to the DiskANN vector index which enable query predicate pushdowns directly into the vector similarity search. This provides significant performance and scalability improvements over pgvector HNSW while maintaining accuracy and is ideal for similarity search over transactional data in Postgres. The second feature is built-in AI model management that seamlessly integrates generative, embedding, and reranking models from Microsoft Foundry for developers to use in the database with zero configuration. In addition to enhanced vector indexing and simplified model management to build powerful new AI apps, we’re also pleased to announce the general availability of Microsoft’s PostgreSQL Extension for VS Code that provides the tooling for Postgres developers to maximize their productivity. Using this extension, GitHub Copilot is context aware of the Postgres database which means less prompting and higher quality answers, and in the Ignite release, we’ve added live monitoring with one-click GitHub Copilot debugging where Agent mode can launch directly from the performance monitoring dashboard to diagnose Postgres performance issues and guide users to a fix. Alpha Life Sciences are an existing Azure customers “I’m truly excited about how Azure HorizonDB empowers our AI development. Its seamless support for Vector DB, RAG, and Agentic AI allows us to build intelligent features directly on a reliable Postgres foundation. With Azure HorizonDB, I can focus on advancing AI capabilities instead of managing infrastructure complexities. It’s a smart, forward-looking solution that perfectly aligns with how we design and deliver AI-powered applications.” Pengcheng Xu, CTO Alpha Life Sciences For enterprises that are modernizing their applications to Postgres in the cloud, the security and availability of Azure HorizonDB make it an ideal platform. However, these migrations are often complex and time consuming for large legacy codebase conversions. To simplify this and reduce the risk, we’re pleased to announce the preview of GitHub Copilot powered Oracle migration built into the PostgreSQL Extension for VS Code. Built into VS Code, teams of engineers can work with GitHub Copilot to automate the end-to-end conversion of complex database code using rich code editing, version control, text authoring, and deployment in an integrated development environment. Azure HorizonDB is the next generation of fully managed, cloud native PostgreSQL database service. Built on the latest Azure infrastructure with state-of-the-art cloud architecture, Azure HorizonDB is ready to for the most demanding application workloads. In addition to our portfolio of managed Postgres services in Azure, Microsoft is deeply invested into the open source Postgres project and is one of the top corporate upstream contributors and sponsors for the PostgreSQL project, with 19 Postgres project contributors employed by Microsoft. As a hyperscale Postgres vendor, it’s critical to actively participate in the open-source project. It enables us to better support our customers down to the metal in Azure, and to contribute our learnings from running Postgres at scale back to the community. We’re committed to continuing our investment to push the Postgres project forward, and the team is already active in making contributions to Postgres 19 to be released in 2026. Ready to explore Azure HorizonDB? Azure HorizonDB is initially available in Central US, West US3, UK South and Australia East regions. Customers are invited to apply for early preview access to Azure HorizonDB and get hands-on experience with this new service. Participation is limited, apply now at aka.ms/PreviewHorizonDB
