--- title: build locally, ship to Azure | daily.dev description: Azure SQL Developer is now in private preview — it's the actual Azure SQL Database engine packaged as a Docker container for local development and CI. Unlike... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/build-locally-ship-to-azure-qvnuc6kv7 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: build locally, ship to Azure | daily.dev og:description: Azure SQL Developer is now in private preview — it's the actual Azure SQL Database engine packaged as a Docker container for local development and CI. Unlike... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/build-locally-ship-to-azure-qvnuc6kv7 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/QVNuC6kv7.png og:image:alt: build locally, ship to Azure og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # build locally, ship to Azure **[DevBlogs](https://daily.dev/sources/devblogs)** · 7 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Azure SQL Developer is now in private preview — it's the actual Azure SQL Database engine packaged as a Docker container for local development and CI. Unlike SQL Server images or cloud-only workflows, this is the same engine running in Azure, meaning T-SQL, system views, error messages, and driver behavior are identical. Developers can build and test at local-disk speed with no Azure subscription or credit card required, then deploy to production by changing only the connection string. It supports popular ORMs and drivers (Prisma, EF Core, SQLAlchemy, TypeORM, etc.), includes native VECTOR type and AI embedding functions for RAG prototyping, and works fully offline after the first pull. AI coding agents (GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor) can be equipped with a curated skills catalog via `npx skills add microsoft/azure-sql-database-container` to scaffold schemas and manage migrations automatically. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What is Azure SQL Developer and how is it different from running SQL Server locally? Azure SQL Developer is a container that runs the actual Azure SQL Database engine locally, not the separate SQL Server image, so it has the same T-SQL, defaults, system views, and error messages as the cloud service. It is free for local development and CI, requires no subscription or credit card, and works offline after the first image pull. _Developers weighing local database options against cloud parity can track releases like this on daily.dev._ ### How do I switch an app from local Azure SQL Developer to production Azure SQL Database? Only the connection string needs to change; the application code stays identical. Locally you connect with a server value of localhost,1433 and SQL authentication, while in Azure you point to the app.database.windows.net server using Active Directory Default authentication, since both environments run the same underlying engine. _Teams automating cloud deployments can follow workflow changes like this via daily.dev._ ### Which AI coding agents support the Azure SQL Developer container skills? The agent skills package for Azure SQL Developer, installed via npx skills add microsoft/azure-sql-database-container, works across GitHub Copilot in VS Code and CLI, Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor. These skills teach the agent to scaffold schemas, write migrations, and use the local engine correctly instead of substituting SQL Server behavior. _Developers picking an AI coding agent for database work can compare tool support on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [How to build an app on Azure SQL with an AI coding agent](https://daily.dev/posts/how-to-build-an-app-on-azure-sql-with-an-ai-coding-agent-hyseem3y2) · DevBlogs · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [A better way to work with SQL Server](https://daily.dev/posts/a-better-way-to-work-with-sql-server-thprghiwd) · InfoWorld · 3 upvotes · 0 comments - [SQL Server on Azure Local is now generally available](https://daily.dev/posts/sql-server-on-azure-local-is-now-generally-available-xrfa8g07s) · Microsoft Azure · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#azure](https://daily.dev/tags/azure), [#backend](https://daily.dev/tags/backend), [#docker](https://daily.dev/tags/docker), [#vector-search](https://daily.dev/tags/vector-search) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/build-locally-ship-to-azure-qvnuc6kv7) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"build locally, ship to Azure","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/build-locally-ship-to-azure-qvnuc6kv7","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/build-locally-ship-to-azure-qvnuc6kv7"},"datePublished":"2026-07-23T15:04:00.018Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T08:03:16.047Z","description":"Azure SQL Developer is now in private preview — it's the actual Azure SQL Database engine packaged as a Docker container for local development and CI. 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