A Better SQL Stylist — VS Code Formatter for T‑SQL

An opinionated formatter that gets your .sql and .txt (Yardi) files to look clean: UPPERCASE keywords, clean indentation, optional AS alignment, and block‑style comments.

Powered by Poor Man's T-SQL Formatter with custom house-style post-processing for the perfect balance of readability and consistency.

Quick Start

Install from Marketplace 👉 A Better SQL Stylist on Visual Studio Marketplace

Or, if you prefer, clone and build locally:

git clone https://github.com/MessiDaGod/SqlFormatterExtension.git
cd SqlFormatterExtension
npm i
npm run compile

Run in VS Code

Open this folder in VS Code.
Press F5 (Run → Start Debugging) to launch an Extension Development Host.
Open any .sql or .txt file and run Format Document (or select text and run Format Selection).

Make it your default SQL formatter

In the Extension Host window: Command Palette → Preferences: Open Settings (JSON) and add:

{
  "[sql]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "shakely-consulting.better-sql-stylist",
    "editor.formatOnSave": true
  },
  "sqlStylist.convertLineCommentsToBlock": true,
  "sqlStylist.alignAs": false
}

Package to VSIX (optional)

npm run package
# then install the .vsix in VS Code (Extensions → … → Install from VSIX)

Features

Poor Man's T-SQL Formatter engine — Battle-tested T-SQL formatting with extensive dialect support
UPPERCASE SQL keywords — Makes SQL more readable
Optional AS alignment — Align AS keywords in SELECT lists
Block‑style comment conversion — Convert -- to /* ... */
JOIN alignment and indentation — Clean, consistent JOIN formatting
WHERE / HAVING first predicate inline — Compact, readable predicates
Selection formatting — Format only selected text or entire document
Yardi .txt file support — Special handling for Yardi SQL files
Dual engine support — Choose between Poor Man's T-SQL (default) or built-in house formatter

Yardi File Support

When working with Yardi .txt files, the formatter intelligently preserves special Yardi syntax:

Ignores lines starting with // — Lines like //Select, //Detail, //End Select are preserved exactly as-is
Ignores //FILTER blocks — Everything between //FILTER and //END FILTER is preserved (case-insensitive)
Ignores //FORMAT blocks — Everything between //FORMAT and //END FORMAT is preserved (case-insensitive)
Formats the SQL between special markers — Only the actual SQL code gets formatted

Example Yardi file:

//Select
SELECT * FROM Users
//FORMAT
    badly  formatted   SQL   that   stays   this   way
//END FORMAT
SELECT
    FirstName,
    LastName
FROM Employees
//FILTER
  preserve this exactly
//END FILTER
WHERE Active = 1
//End Select

After formatting, the //FORMAT and //FILTER blocks remain untouched, while the rest gets formatted cleanly.

Options

sqlStylist.engine — pmtsql | house — choose formatter engine (default: pmtsql)
- pmtsql (default) — Uses Poor Man's T-SQL Formatter for robust T-SQL formatting
- house — Uses sql-formatter library with custom rules
sqlStylist.postProcessHouse — Apply house-style cleanup after pmtsql formatting (default: true)
sqlStylist.keywordCase — upper | lower | preserve (default: upper)
sqlStylist.tabWidth — spaces per indent (default: 4)
sqlStylist.linesBetweenQueries — blank lines between queries (default: 2)
sqlStylist.convertLineCommentsToBlock — turn -- comment-only lines into /* ... */ (default: true)
sqlStylist.alignAs — pad spaces to align AS in SELECT lists (default: false)
sqlStylist.commaBeforeColumn — use leading commas in SELECT lists (default: false)
sqlStylist.oneLineFunctionArgs — collapse common function args to single line (default: true)

Usage

Format Entire Document

Open a .sql or .txt file
Right-click → Format Document
Or use the keyboard shortcut (usually Shift+Alt+F on Windows/Linux, Shift+Option+F on Mac)

Format Selection Only

Select the SQL code you want to format
Right-click → Format Selection
Or use Format Document while text is selected

Notes & Limitations

Uses Poor Man's T-SQL Formatter by default for battle-tested T-SQL formatting.
Alternative house engine uses sql-formatter with the transactsql dialect.
alignAs is a simple text pass that works best when the formatter has put one select item per line.
Comment conversion only targets comment-only lines. Inline -- after code are left as-is.
Yardi special blocks (//FILTER, //FORMAT) are case-insensitive.

Publishing Updates

To publish a new version to the marketplace:

# Update version in package.json, then:
npm run publish
# or
node install.js publish

License

Dev Tips

See logs in View → Output → Better SQL Stylist.
Use npm run watch during development for auto-compilation
Run npm run ext:reinstall to test changes locally

A Better SQL Stylist (T-SQL Formatter)

shakely-consulting