Run and build against Azure SQL Database, right on your local environment. Try it before you deploy, run your tests in CI, and ship with no code change. Free for development, with no Azure subscription and no credit card required.
The Azure SQL Database container is the Azure SQL Database engine, running locally. It runs on any modern container runtime (Docker, Podman, containerd, Rancher Desktop) on macOS, Linux, and Windows, and works with the drivers, ORMs, and editors developers already use. It supports the same AI-native capabilities as Azure SQL Database in the Microsoft Azure cloud: the native vector type, vector search with VECTOR_DISTANCE, and in-database embeddings (DiskANN vector indexes are in development).
For the first time, developers can build, test, and ship applications against the Azure SQL Database engine without an Azure subscription and without a shared cloud instance. When you deploy to Azure SQL Database in the Microsoft Azure cloud, it is a connection-string change, not a code change.
Important
The container image is in a private registry. Sign up for the Private Preview to get the registry username and password you need to pull it. Signing up is the only way to get access.
- What is the Azure SQL Database container?
- Goals of the Private Preview
- Prerequisites
- Getting Started
- Agent skills
- Known limitations
- Feedback and how to engage
Point your AI coding agent at the container and let it start the engine, provision the database, scaffold the schema, write the migrations, and build the data layer. The repo ships 17 agent skills that work in Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and VS Code with GitHub Copilot:
npx skills add microsoft/azure-sql-database-containerClaude Code and Codex users can also install them as a native plugin (/plugin marketplace add microsoft/azure-sql-database-container). See the Agent skills page for per-tool install and what each skill does, or browse the skill source.
Each skill carries its knowledge in layers (instructions, bundled references/ with version-pinned config shapes, and an optional live layer via the public Microsoft Learn MCP for the current docs on demand). The MCP is optional; the skills work without it. See Knowledge layers and Using the Microsoft Learn MCP.
- File a bug: GitHub Issues
- Request a feature: GitHub Issues
- Report a problem with an agent skill: Skill feedback
- Ask a question, share a build, suggest an idea: GitHub Discussions
- Connect with the team: book a session or email azuresqldb-container@microsoft.com
- Real-time conversation: the private Teams channel shared via the early-access feedback channel
See Feedback and how to engage for the full guide on which channel fits which question, and SUPPORT.md for how to get help.
Pull requests are welcome. Read CONTRIBUTING.md first: it covers what we are looking for during the Private Preview, how to build the site locally, and the conventions the agent skills follow (which are easy to break in ways that only show up when an agent silently stops loading a skill).
This Private Preview is governed by a separate Private Preview license shared with you during sign-up. The samples in this repository are released under the MIT license.
This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products, or services. Authorized use of Microsoft trademarks or logos is subject to and must follow Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines. Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship. Any use of third-party trademarks or logos are subject to those third-party's policies.