# Azure SQL Database container
Run and build against Azure SQL Database, right on your local environment. Try it before you deploy, run your tests in CI, and ship with no code change. Free for development, with no Azure subscription and no credit card required.
[](https://aka.ms/azuresqldb-container-signup)
[](https://aka.ms/azuresqldb-container)
[](https://aka.ms/azuresqldb-container-bug)
[](https://aka.ms/azuresqldb-container-feature-request)
[](../../discussions)
[](https://skills.sh/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container)
<a href="https://aka.ms/azuresqldb-container-demo">
<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/HEAD/docs/assets/img/container-cover.png" alt="Watch the Azure SQL Database container demo" width="760">
</a>
<a href="https://aka.ms/azuresqldb-container-demo">**▶ Watch the demo**</a>
The Azure SQL Database container is the Azure SQL Database engine, running locally. It runs on any modern container runtime (Docker, Podman, containerd, Rancher Desktop) on macOS, Linux, and Windows, and works with the drivers, ORMs, and editors developers already use. It supports the same AI-native capabilities as Azure SQL Database in the Microsoft Azure cloud: the native vector type, vector search with `VECTOR_DISTANCE`, in-database embeddings, and DiskANN vector indexes with `CREATE VECTOR INDEX`.
For the first time, developers can build, test, and ship applications against the Azure SQL Database engine without an Azure subscription and without a shared cloud instance. When you deploy to Azure SQL Database in the Microsoft Azure cloud, it is a connection-string change, not a code change.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> The container image is in a private registry. **[Sign up for the Private Preview](https://aka.ms/azuresqldb-container-signup)** to get the registry username and password you need to pull it. Signing up is the only way to get access.
## Global Table of Contents
- [What is the Azure SQL Database container?](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/docs/what-is-the-container.md)
- [Goals of the Private Preview](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/docs/goals-of-the-private-preview.md)
- [Prerequisites](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/docs/prerequisites.md)
- [Getting Started](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/docs/getting-started.md)
- [Agent skills](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/docs/agent-skills.md)
- [Known limitations](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/docs/known-limitations.md)
- [Feedback and how to engage](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/docs/feedback-and-how-to-engage.md)
## Agent skills
Point your AI coding agent at the container and let it start the engine, provision the database, scaffold the schema, write the migrations, and build the data layer. The repo ships [17 agent skills](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/docs/agent-skills.md) that work in **Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and VS Code with GitHub Copilot**:
```bash
npx skills add microsoft/azure-sql-database-container
```
Claude Code and Codex users can also install them as a native plugin (`/plugin marketplace add microsoft/azure-sql-database-container`). See the **[Agent skills page](https://microsoft.github.io/azure-sql-database-container/agent-skills.html)** for per-tool install and what each skill does, or [browse the skill source](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/skills/README.md).
Each skill carries its knowledge in layers (instructions, bundled `references/` with version-pinned config shapes, and an optional live layer via the public [Microsoft Learn MCP](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/support/mcp) for the current docs on demand). The MCP is optional; the skills work without it. See [Knowledge layers](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/skills/README.md#knowledge-layers) and [Using the Microsoft Learn MCP](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/skills/README.md#using-the-microsoft-learn-mcp-optional).
## Feedback
- File a bug: [GitHub Issues](https://aka.ms/azuresqldb-container-bug)
- Request a feature: [GitHub Issues](https://aka.ms/azuresqldb-container-feature-request)
- Report a problem with an [agent skill](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/skills/README.md): [Skill feedback](https://aka.ms/sql-agent-skills-feedback)
- Ask a question, share a build, suggest an idea: [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/../../discussions)
- Connect with the team: [book a session](https://aka.ms/azuresqldb-container-meet) or email [azuresqldb-container@microsoft.com](mailto:azuresqldb-container@microsoft.com)
- Real-time conversation: the private Teams channel shared via the early-access feedback channel
See [Feedback and how to engage](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/docs/feedback-and-how-to-engage.md) for the full guide on which channel fits which question, and [SUPPORT.md](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/SUPPORT.md) for how to get help.
## Contributing
Pull requests are welcome. Read [CONTRIBUTING.md](https://github.com/microsoft/azure-sql-database-container/blob/HEAD/CONTRIBUTING.md) first: it covers what we are looking for during the Private Preview, how to build the site locally, and the conventions the agent skills follow (which are easy to break in ways that only show up when an agent silently stops loading a skill).
## License
This Private Preview is governed by a separate Private Preview license shared with you during sign-up. The samples in this repository are released under the MIT license.
## Trademarks
This project may contain trademarks or logos for projects, products, or services. Authorized use of Microsoft
trademarks or logos is subject to and must follow
[Microsoft's Trademark & Brand Guidelines](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/trademarks/usage/general).
Use of Microsoft trademarks or logos in modified versions of this project must not cause confusion or imply Microsoft sponsorship.
Any use of third-party trademarks or logos are subject to those third-party's policies.
