T-SQL Analyzer for VS Code

Catch T-SQL mistakes as you type. This extension analyzes your .sql files in real time and highlights design, naming, and performance issues right in the editor — no build step required.

diagnostics screenshot

Features

Live squiggles — problems appear while you edit, just like compiler errors
100+ built-in rules — covering design best practices, naming conventions, and performance pitfalls
Hover for details — hover over any squiggle to see the rule id, a plain English description, and a link to the full documentation
Zero configuration — works out of the box with sensible defaults
Customizable — disable individual rules, promote warnings to errors, or target a specific SQL Server version
Status bar indicator — shows when analysis is running

Getting Started

Install the .NET 10 SDK (or later).
Install this extension from the VS Code Marketplace.
Open any .sql file — analysis starts automatically.

That's it. The analyzer tooling is downloaded automatically on first use; there is nothing else to install.

Customizing Rules

All rules are enabled by default. You can fine-tune them in Settings using a simple expression:

What you want	Expression
Disable a single rule	`-SqlServer.Rules.SRD0004`
Disable all naming rules	`-SqlServer.Rules.SRN*`
Promote a rule to an error	`+!SqlServer.Rules.SRN0005`
Combine several	`-SqlServer.Rules.SRD0004;+!SqlServer.Rules.SRN0005`

Browse the full rule catalogue at github.com/ErikEJ/SqlServer.Rules/docs.

Settings

Setting	Default	Description
`tsqlAnalyzer.enable`	`true`	Turn live analysis on or off.
`tsqlAnalyzer.rules`	(all enabled)	Rules expression (see above).
`tsqlAnalyzer.sqlVersion`	`Sql170`	Target SQL Server version (`Sql160`, `Sql170`, `SqlAzure`, `SqlDwUnified`, …).
`tsqlAnalyzer.debounceMs`	`400`	Milliseconds to wait after the last keystroke before analyzing.
`tsqlAnalyzer.additionalAnalyzers`		Extra analyzer `.dll` paths to load (advanced).
`tsqlAnalyzer.serverPath`		Path to a local analyzer build (advanced — leave empty to use the published package).

Commands

Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P) and type T-SQL Analyzer:

T-SQL Analyzer: Analyze Active File — run analysis on demand.
T-SQL Analyzer: Restart Analysis Server — restart the background analyzer process (useful after updating settings).

MCP Server

This extension also contributes the T-SQL Analyzer as an MCP server, so you can get feedback on your SQL code directly from GitHub Copilot Chat. It appears automatically in the MCP server list — start it from there to enable the analyzer tools in agent mode. No manual configuration is required (the MCP server is the same analyzer tooling downloaded on first use, and requires VS Code 1.101+ and the .NET 10 SDK).

Requirements

.NET 10 SDK or later.

Building from Source

npm install
npm run compile
npm run package   # produces tsqlanalyzer.vsix