SQL Server Management Studio 22.7 brings "What's New" page, T-SQL formatting, and lots more

SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is the tool of choice for most developers working with SQL infrastructure and data. Microsoft recently released SSMS version 22, and in the past few months, it has been steadily releasing point upgrades to refine the integrated development environment (IDE). Now, it has released SSMS version 22.7.0 with a bunch of new features and interfaces.

For starters, SSMS 22.7 has netted a native "What's New" page, which highlights the top features and bug fixes present in the latest release. However, Microsoft says that this page won't annoy you much as it will only show up each time you update SSMS, and once you dismiss it, it won't be shown again to you until the next release.

Secondly, Microsoft has finally introduced T-SQL formatting inside SSMS. The good thing about this is that it does not require installing any additional components, as it is built into the native experience. All you have to do is right-click the query editor window and select Format SQL from the context menu. Additionally, you also have several customization options at your disposal, such as the ability to automatically place semicolons at the end of a statement, split clauses across multiple lines, and more. However, this capability is only in preview for now.

Additionally, Microsoft has introduced a preview of Agent Mode, which allows the AI model to automatically perform complex workflows on your behalf. Furthermore, Agent Mode will operate in read-only mode by default, so that you don't have to worry about the AI model accidentally deleting your data.

On a related note, Microsoft is finally allowing users to configure the execution context of GitHub Copilot. This can be controlled per database using the CONSTITUTION.md file, where you specify the user details for the agentic executor. You can find details about this and additional bugfixes in Microsoft's blog post here.