SQL Prompt for VS Code

SQL Prompt is a SQL Server IntelliSense and formatting extension for VS Code, inspired by Redgate SQL Prompt. It reads the schema of the database you are connected to through the ms-mssql extension and uses it for completion, navigation and scaffolding, and it formats T-SQL with style files exported from Redgate SQL Prompt.

Features at a glance

Completion

• Tables, views and table-valued functions after FROM, JOIN, APPLY, INSERT INTO, UPDATE and MERGE, with an automatic alias (dbo.PRESTITI_TESTATA AS pt)
• After JOIN, the tables related by a foreign key come first, with the ON condition already written (dbo.Customers AS c ON o.CustomerId = c.CustomerId); all columns of a composite key are joined with AND
• ON predicates from foreign keys, column completion qualified with the right alias, ★ Expand all columns for SELECT *
• After INSERT INTO <table>: the column list with a matching VALUES row; inside VALUES (...): NULL, DEFAULT, GETDATE() and similar
• The keyword that comes next: ON after a joined table, BY after ORDER/GROUP, the object type after ALTER/CREATE/DROP, SET after UPDATE <table>, AND/OR after a complete predicate…
• Other databases on the same server: OtherDb.schema. loads that database on demand
• Scalar functions with their parameters, stored procedures with named parameters after EXEC
• Built-in T-SQL functions (MIN, MAX, AVG, COUNT, ISNULL, COALESCE, CAST, CONVERT, DATEADD, DATEDIFF, LEN, SUBSTRING, ROW_NUMBER() OVER (…)…) with argument placeholders, only where they are valid (no aggregates in WHERE); DATEADD( offers the dateparts, CAST(x AS and CONVERT( the data types
• Parameter hints while typing inside the parentheses of a built-in or database function (signature help)
• Window functions: OVER after an aggregate or ranking call (SUM(x) , ROW_NUMBER() ), then PARTITION BY / ORDER BY, the columns, ASC/DESC and the common frames (ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW…)

Ranking

• What starts with what you typed comes first: typing libr puts dbo.LIBRI before ui.vwLibri
• Then foreign keys to the tables already in the query, the objects you pick most often (per database), tables before views, leftovers such as _BAK and _OLD last

Writing faster

• Statement shortcuts: ssf, scf/sct, st<N>, ap/av/af, plus your own (details)
• ALTER scaffolding: ALTER PROCEDURE → pick an object → its current definition replaces the header (details)
• Accepting a suggestion replaces the whole word being typed, wherever the cursor is in it (Biblioteca.dbo.prestitite → Biblioteca.dbo.PRESTITI_TESTATA AS pt)

Navigation and editing

• Go to Definition (F12) on tables, views, procedures and functions: opens the object's script
• Rename a table alias with F2, updating every reference in the statement

Formatting

• Format Document with style files exported from Redgate SQL Prompt, leading commas included (details)

Requirements

• VS Code 1.75+
• SQL Server for VS Code extension (ms-mssql.mssql), installed automatically as a dependency
• A reachable SQL Server database

Getting started

1. Open a .sql file.
2. Connect it with ms-mssql (status bar button, or Command Palette > MS SQL: Connect).
3. SQL Prompt loads the schema in the background: the status bar shows the progress (objects…, columns…, relationships…, routine signatures…). Table completion works as soon as the objects are in; columns, foreign keys and parameters follow.
4. Type SELECT * FROM and pick a table.

SELECT *
FROM dbo.Orders AS o
    JOIN dbo.Customers AS c ON o.CustomerId = c.CustomerId   -- picked from the JOIN suggestions
WHERE o.

Schema loading and cache

• The schema is loaded in stages, so completion is usable before the whole load is done.
• Each database's schema is cached on disk and reused after a window reload until the database changes (DDL changes are detected with a cheap check). The cache keeps at most 24 databases for up to 14 days.
• Switching to an editor connected to another database, or running USE OtherDb, reloads the schema for that database.
• SQL Prompt: Reload Schema forces a fresh load, skipping every cache.
• Long object definitions are read in chunks, so procedures longer than 65,535 characters arrive whole in Go to Definition and ALTER scaffolding. A definition that still arrives incomplete is never inserted.

Statement shortcuts

Type a shortcut at the start of a line and accept it from the completion list.

Shortcut	Inserts
ssf	SELECT * FROM
scf, sct	SELECT COUNT(*) FROM
st<N> (st10, st25, st100…)	SELECT TOP N * FROM
ap / av / af	ALTER PROCEDURE / ALTER VIEW / ALTER FUNCTION , then the list of existing objects

Add your own, or change or remove the built-in ones, with sqlPrompt.snippets.shortcuts. $CURSOR$ marks where the cursor ends up, \n starts a new line, and an empty string removes a shortcut:

{
  "sqlPrompt.snippets.shortcuts": {
    "sd": "SELECT DISTINCT ",
    "bt": "BEGIN TRAN;\n$CURSOR$\nROLLBACK;",
    "ssf": "SELECT *\nFROM ",
    "av": ""
  }
}

Changes apply immediately, without a reload.

ALTER scaffolding

Type ALTER PROCEDURE , ALTER VIEW or ALTER FUNCTION (also after CREATE OR), or use the ap/av/af shortcuts, and start typing a name. The existing objects of that kind are suggested; accepting one replaces the ALTER ... header with the current definition of the object, with CREATE rewritten to ALTER, ready to edit.

• The header is rewritten with the object's real [schema].[name], so a definition saved before an sp_rename or a schema transfer still alters the right object.
• ALTER inside a comment or a string does not trigger it; bracketed names ([My Proc) work.
• The list comes from the database of the current editor and is cached for 60 seconds. A notification appears if loading takes longer than a moment.
• If you keep typing while the definition loads, nothing is inserted: your text is never overwritten.
• Encrypted objects, or a missing VIEW DEFINITION permission, leave no readable definition: a warning is shown and nothing changes.

Access to your mssql connections

SQL Prompt reads the schema through the connections you open in the ms-mssql extension; it never asks for credentials itself. Which mssql API it uses depends on the installed version:

• Newer ms-mssql versions (shared connections API, after 1.46.0): the first time a connected .sql file is synced, VS Code asks whether SQL Prompt may use your SQL Server (mssql) connections. Allow it once and later syncs no longer ask. SQL Prompt then opens its own connections from the same connection profiles (one per connection and database, closed when VS Code shuts down). If you decline, SQL Prompt shows one warning and stops asking; run SQL Prompt: Reload Schema to be asked again, or allow it from the Accounts menu. You can revoke access at any time from Accounts > Manage Trusted Extensions, or by signing out of Shared connections under SQL Server (mssql).
• ms-mssql 1.46.0 and earlier: SQL Prompt uses the older connection sharing API, which ms-mssql has deprecated. ms-mssql shows its own approval dialog, and may show a notice that the API is being retired.
• If the installed ms-mssql offers neither API, SQL Prompt shows one warning and schema-aware features (completion of objects and columns, Go to Definition, ALTER scaffolding) are unavailable; formatting keeps working.

The mssql extension's own suggestions

ms-mssql has its own IntelliSense, and its suggestions would appear in the same list as SQL Prompt's. VS Code has no way to hide another extension's suggestions other than through a setting, so SQL Prompt turns off mssql.intelliSense.enableSuggestions once, where sqlPrompt.suppressMssqlIntellisense says:

Value	Effect
user (default)	Written once in your User settings: no project or .code-workspace file is touched
workspace	Written once in this workspace's settings
off	mssql's suggestions stay on; both lists appear together

The first time, a notification explains what was changed and lets you pick another option. The value is never toggled on connect or disconnect, and the value that earlier versions left in the workspace settings is removed. Only completion suggestions are affected: Script As, Execute Query and the other ms-mssql features keep working.

SQL Formatter

SQL Prompt includes a document formatter that integrates with VS Code's Format Document command (⇧⌥F).

Style selection

The active formatting style is shown in the status bar. Click it to open the style picker, or use Command Palette > SQL Prompt: Select Formatting Style. Format Document always uses the active style.

To create or change a style, run SQL Prompt: Edit Formatting Styles (also available from the style picker): the options are grouped by section as in SQL Prompt, with a live preview of the result. Saved files stay compatible with SQL Prompt.

To make SQL Prompt the default formatter for SQL files, add this to your settings.json:

{
  "[sql]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "borile91.vscode-sqlprompt"
  }
}

Configuring the styles folder

Style files are standard JSON exports from Redgate SQL Prompt. Point the extension to the folder that contains them:

{
  "sqlPrompt.formatting.stylesFolder": "/path/to/your/styles"
}

The folder is scanned immediately, with no reload required. Every .json file in that folder is loaded as a named style. The active style is persisted per workspace via sqlPrompt.formatting.activeStyle.

Example style file (MyStyle.json), with leading commas:

{
  "metadata": { "name": "My Style" },
  "casing": {
    "reservedKeywords": "uppercase"
  },
  "lists": {
    "placeSubsequentItemsOnNewLines": "always",
    "placeCommasBeforeItems": true,
    "addSpaceBeforeComma": true,
    "commaAlignment": "beforeItem"
  },
  "whitespace": {
    "wrapLinesLongerThan": 200
  }
}

A safety guard compares the formatted text with the original and discards the result if any code would be lost or moved into a comment.

See docs/formatting/FORMATTING.md for the options the formatter applies today, and docs/formatting/Defaults.json for the full set of SQL Prompt keys (not all of them are implemented yet).

Commands

Command	Description
SQL Prompt: Connect to Database	Opens the ms-mssql connection flow for the current file
SQL Prompt: Disconnect	Disconnects the SQL Prompt language server
SQL Prompt: Reload Schema	Reloads the schema, skipping the caches (also asks again for access to mssql connections if it was declined)
SQL Prompt: Select Formatting Style	Opens the style picker
SQL Prompt: Edit Formatting Styles	Opens the style editor: options by section with a live preview, like the SQL Prompt dialog in SSMS

Settings reference

Setting	Type	Default	Description
sqlPrompt.suppressMssqlIntellisense	user | workspace | off	user	Where to turn off the ms-mssql extension's own suggestions (details)
sqlPrompt.snippets.shortcuts	object	{}	Your statement shortcuts, added to the built-in ones (details)
sqlPrompt.formatting.stylesFolder	string	—	Absolute path to the folder containing .json style files
sqlPrompt.formatting.activeStyle	string	—	Name of the active style (filename without .json, or metadata.name from the file)
sqlPrompt.trace.server	off | messages | verbose	off	Traces the communication between VS Code and the language server

Packaging and local install (VSIX)

npm install -g @vscode/vsce
vsce package
code --install-extension vscode-sqlprompt-<version>.vsix

Releases are published to the Visual Studio Marketplace and to GitHub Releases automatically on every push to main that changes the extension (see docs/DEVELOPMENT.md).

Additional documentation

• Development documentation: docs/DEVELOPMENT.md
• Formatting guide: docs/formatting/FORMATTING.md
• Planned next work: docs/ROADMAP.md
• Commit guidelines: docs/COMMIT_GUIDELINES.md