Hybrid search is usually described as combining keyword search with vector search. Microsoft SQL does that, for sure, but we do quite a bit more right out of the box. SQL dynamically evaluates queries and switches between kNN and ANN vector search based on cost and selectivity. These two types of hybrid search, work together, ensuring your semantic...

BlockOnPossibleDataLoss can frustrate developers, but it's one of the most important safeguards in database deployment. Here's how to keep your local development loop fast while protecting the data that matters.

Often in applications, we write database queries. And often, the same query is executed again and again. To make queries against large tables faster, we can add an index. This is a general improvement for anyone accessing the table. However, there is a specially designed index called a covering index that can make queries against large tables parti...

Learn why SET NOCOUNT ON improves stored procedure efficiency, reduces unnecessary messages, and matters to .NET developers.

With On-Behalf-Of authentication, SQL MCP Server lets agents access Microsoft SQL without losing the user identity behind the request. Azure SQL can audit the signed-in user who invoked the operation, not just the agent, app, or MCP server that carried it out.

Data API builder (DAB) 2.0 adds compound paths for REST endpoints, giving developers more control over how their API surface is organized. Instead of mirroring database topology, endpoints can now reflect simple names, business areas, or schema ownership.

You’ve probably experienced both of these, perhaps at the same time. First, that desire to let an agent get at your data. It’s driven by simplification and better experiences for the user and for you: fewer screens, fewer queries, fewer reports, and less code overall. Second, and perhaps more importantly, that unrelenting reluctance and reticenc...

Run SQL MCP Server on Azure App Service without containers. This walkthrough uses Data API builder to configure authentication, expose MCP, REST, and GraphQL endpoints, and deploy as code.

SQL MCP Server gives enterprises a secure, feature-rich way to enable agents to access data. This is accomplished without exposing the schema, risking consistency, or relying on fragile natural language parsing. SQL MCP Server is a feature of Data API builder, so deployments have a proven entity abstraction system, RBAC security at the API layer wi...

Data API builder (DAB) 1.7+ delivers secure MCP-based CRUD access with deterministic, policy-enforced query generation and an upcoming aggregate tool that enables complex, production-safe analytical questions without exposing raw SQL to AI agents.