---
title: Use the Visual Studio Code mssql extension
description: Use the mssql extension for Visual Studio Code to edit and run Transact-SQL scripts for SQL Server on Linux.
ms.topic: conceptual
ms.prod: sql
ms.technology: tools-other
ms.assetid: 9766ee75-32d3-4045-82a6-4c7968bdbaa6
author: markingmyname
ms.author: maghan
ms.date: 10/28/2019 
---

# Use Visual Studio Code to create and run Transact-SQL scripts

[!INCLUDE [SQL Server - Linux](../../includes/applies-to-version/sql-linux.md)]

This article shows how to use the **mssql** extension for Visual Studio Code to develop SQL Server databases. Because Visual Studio Code is cross-platform, you can use **mssql** extension on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

## Install and start Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is a cross-platform, graphical code editor that supports extensions.

1. [Download and install Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) on your machine.

2. Start Visual Studio Code.

    >[!NOTE]
    >If Visual Studio Code does not start when you are connected through an xrdp remote desktop session, see [VS Code not working on Ubuntu when connected using XRDP](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/3451).

## Install the mssql extension

The [mssql extension for Visual Studio Code](https://aka.ms/mssql-marketplace) lets you connect to a SQL Server, query with Transact-SQL (T-SQL), and view the results.

1. In Visual Studio Code, select **View** > **Command Palette**, or press **Ctrl**+**Shift**+**P**, or press **F1** to open the **Command Palette**.

2. In the **Command Palette**, select **Extensions: Install Extensions** from the dropdown.

3. In the **Extensions** pane, type *mssql*.

4. Select the **SQL Server (mssql)** extension, and then select **Install**.

   ![Install the mssql extension](./media/sql-server-develop-use-vscode/vscode-extension.png)

5. After the installation completes, select **Reload** to enable the extension.

## Create or open a SQL file

The mssql extension enables mssql commands and T-SQL IntelliSense in the code editor when the language mode is set to **SQL**.

1. Select **File** > **New File** or press **Ctrl**+**N**. Visual Studio Code opens a new Plain Text file by default. 

2. Select **Plain Text** on the lower status bar, or press **Ctrl**+**K** > **M**, and select **SQL** from the languages dropdown. 

   ![SQL language mode](./media/sql-server-develop-use-vscode/vscode-language-mode.png)

   > [!NOTE]
   > If this is the first time you have used the extension, the extension installs supporting SQL Server tools.

If you open an existing file that has a *.sql* file extension, the language mode is automatically set to SQL.  

## Connect to SQL Server

Follow these steps to create a connection profile and connect to a SQL Server.

1. Press **Ctrl**+**Shift**+**P** or **F1** to open the **Command Palette**. 

2. Type *sql* to display the mssql commands, or type *sqlcon*, and then select **MS SQL: Connect** from the dropdown.

   ![mssql commands](./media/sql-server-develop-use-vscode/vscode-commands.png)

   >[!NOTE]
   >A SQL file, such as the empty SQL file you created, must have focus in the code editor before you can execute the mssql commands.

3. Select the **MS SQL: Manage Connection Profiles** command.

4. Then select **Create** to create a new connection profile for your SQL Server.

5. Follow the prompts to specify the properties for the new connection profile. After specifying each value, press **Enter** to continue.

   | Connection property | Description |
   |---|---|
   | **Server name or ADO connection string** | Specify the SQL Server instance name. Use *localhost* to connect to a SQL Server instance on your local machine. To connect to a remote SQL Server, enter the name of the target SQL Server, or its IP address. To connect to a SQL Server container, specify the IP address of the container's host machine. If you need to specify a port, use a comma to separate it from the name. For example, for a server listening on port 1401, enter `<servername or IP>,1401`.<br/><br/>As an alternative, you can enter the ADO connection string for your database here. |
   | **Database name** (optional) | The database that you want to use. To connect to the default database, don't specify a database name here. |
   | **Authentication Type** | Choose either **Integrated** or **SQL Login**. |
   | **User name** | If you selected **SQL Login**, enter the name of a user with access to a database on the server. |
   | **Password** | Enter the password for the specified user. |
   | **Save Password** | Press **Enter** to select **Yes** and save the password. Select **No** to be prompted for the password each time the connection profile is used. |
   | **Profile Name** (optional) | Type a name for the connection profile, such as *localhost profile*. |

   After you enter all values and select **Enter**, Visual Studio Code creates the connection profile and connects to the SQL Server.

   > [!TIP]
   > If the connection fails, try to diagnose the problem from the error message in the **Output** panel in Visual Studio Code. To open the **Output** panel, select **View** > **Output**. Also review the [connection troubleshooting recommendations](../../linux/sql-server-linux-troubleshooting-guide.md).

6. Verify your connection in the lower status bar.

   ![Connection status](./media/sql-server-develop-use-vscode/vscode-connection-status.png)

As an alternative to the previous steps, you can also create and edit connection profiles in the User Settings file (*settings.json*). To open the settings file, select **File** > **Preferences** > **Settings**. For more information, see [Manage connection profiles](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-mssql/wiki/manage-connection-profiles).

## Create a SQL database

1. In the new SQL file that you started earlier, type *sql* to display a list of editable code snippets.

   ![SQL snippets](./media/sql-server-develop-use-vscode/vscode-sql-snippets.png)

2. Select **sqlCreateDatabase**.

3. In the snippet, type `TutorialDB` to replace 'DatabaseName':

   ```sql
   -- Create a new database called 'TutorialDB'
   -- Connect to the 'master' database to run this snippet
   USE master
   GO
   IF NOT EXISTS (
      SELECT name
      FROM sys.databases
      WHERE name = N'TutorialDB'
   )
   CREATE DATABASE [TutorialDB]
   GO
   ```

4. Press **Ctrl**+**Shift**+**E** to execute the Transact-SQL commands. View the results in the query window.

    ![Create database messages](./media/sql-server-develop-use-vscode/vscode-create-database-messages.png)

    > [!TIP]
    > You can customize the shortcut keys for the mssql commands. See [Customize shortcuts](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-mssql/wiki/customize-shortcuts).

## Create a table

1. Delete the contents of the code editor window.

2. Press **Ctrl**+**Shift**+**P** or **F1** to open the **Command Palette**.

3. Type *sql* to display the mssql commands, or type *sqluse*, and then select the **MS SQL: Use Database** command.

4. Select the new **TutorialDB** database.

   ![Use database](./media/sql-server-develop-use-vscode/vscode-use-database.png)

5. In the code editor, type *sql* to display the snippets, select **sqlCreateTable**, and then press **Enter**.

6. In the snippet, type `Employees` for the table name.

7. Press **Tab** to get to the next field, and then type `dbo` for the schema name.

8. Replace the column definitions with the following columns:

   ```sql
   EmployeesId INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY,
   Name [NVARCHAR](50)  NOT NULL,
   Location [NVARCHAR](50)  NOT NULL
   ```

9. Press **Ctrl**+**Shift**+**E** to create the table.

## Insert and query

1. Add the following statements to insert four rows into the **Employees** table.

   ```sql
   -- Insert rows into table 'Employees'
   INSERT INTO Employees
      ([EmployeesId],[Name],[Location])
   VALUES
      ( 1, N'Jared', N'Australia'),
      ( 2, N'Nikita', N'India'),
      ( 3, N'Tom', N'Germany'),
      ( 4, N'Jake', N'United States')
   GO
   -- Query the total count of employees
   SELECT COUNT(*) as EmployeeCount FROM dbo.Employees;
   -- Query all employee information
   SELECT e.EmployeesId, e.Name, e.Location
   FROM dbo.Employees as e
   GO
   ```

   While you type, T-SQL IntelliSense helps you to complete the statements:

   ![T-SQL IntelliSense](./media/sql-server-develop-use-vscode/vscode-intellisense.png)

   > [!TIP]
   > The mssql extension also has commands to help create INSERT and SELECT statements. These were not used in the previous example.

2. Press **Ctrl**+**Shift**+**E** to execute the commands. The two result sets display in the **Results** window.

   ![Results](./media/sql-server-develop-use-vscode/vscode-result-grid.png)

## View and save the result

1. Select **View** > **Editor Layout** > **Flip Layout** to switch to a vertical or horizontal split layout.

2. Select the **Results** and **Messages** panel headers to collapse and expand the panels.

   ![Toggle headers](./media/sql-server-develop-use-vscode/vscode-toggle-messages-pannel.png)

   > [!TIP]
   > You can customize the default behavior of the mssql extension. See [Customize extension options](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-mssql/wiki/customize-options).

3. Select the maximize grid icon on the second result grid to zoom in to those results.

   ![Maximize grid](./media/sql-server-develop-use-vscode/vscode-maximize-grid.png)

   > [!NOTE]
   > The maximize icon displays when your T-SQL script produces two or more result grids.

4. Open the grid context menu by right-clicking on the grid.

   ![Context menu](./media/sql-server-develop-use-vscode/vscode-grid-context-menu.png)

5. Select **Select All**.

6. Open the grid context menu again and select **Save as JSON** to save the result to a *.json* file.

7. Specify a file name for the JSON file.

8. Verify that the JSON file saves and opens in Visual Studio Code.

   ![Save as JSON](./media/sql-server-develop-use-vscode/vscode-save-as-json.png)

If you need to save and run SQL scripts later, for administration or a larger development project, save the scripts with a *.sql* extension.

## Next steps

If you're new to T-SQL, see [Tutorial: Write Transact-SQL statements](../../t-sql/tutorial-writing-transact-sql-statements.md) and the [Transact-SQL Reference (Database Engine)](../../t-sql/language-reference.md).

For more information on using or contributing to the mssql extension, see the [mssql extension project wiki](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode-mssql/wiki).

For more information on using Visual Studio Code, see the [Visual Studio Code documentation](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs).