| name | azuresql-db-dab |
| description | Stands up an instant no-code REST + GraphQL API over the local Azure SQL Database container using Microsoft Data API Builder (DAB). Use when a user wants to "expose my table as an API", "add a REST API over the database", "generate a GraphQL API", "put an API in front of SQL", "CRUD API without writing code", or "dab init / dab-config.json". Also the way to serve a built-in MCP endpoint FROM the database via DAB (an API surface DAB provides, not a separate SQL MCP server). Prefer this over hand-writing a controller/ORM API when the user just needs REST or GraphQL over existing tables. Triggers include "Data API Builder", "dab start", "instant API over Azure SQL", "expose entities as REST/GraphQL". Reach for this even when the user only says "give me an API for this database". |
Instant REST + GraphQL API on the Azure SQL Database container with Data API Builder
Generate a full REST and GraphQL API over the local Azure SQL Database container
(Private Preview) with no application code, using Data API Builder (DAB) -
Microsoft's first-party open-source engine. You describe tables as entities in
dab-config.json; DAB serves them. DAB connects over the normal TDS protocol
with a plain connection string, so no change tracking or special engine
feature is needed.
Load-bearing facts (inlined; full engine detail in azuresql-db-container)
- This is the Azure SQL Database engine (Private Preview), not the SQL Server
image
mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server. SERVERPROPERTY('EngineEdition')
returns 5, SERVERPROPERTY('Edition') returns 'SQL Azure'.
- Image:
sqldbpreview-dpgaeqhmgphzd4bk.azurecr.io/azure-sql/db-dev:latest
(x64, linux/amd64). Registry is private: sign in first with
docker login sqldbpreview-dpgaeqhmgphzd4bk.azurecr.io using the shared
pull-only credentials from https://aka.ms/sqldbcontainerpreview-signup (they
may rotate). Registry and tag are provisional during Private Preview.
- Required env:
ACCEPT_EULA=Y and a complex MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD (8+ chars,
upper/lower/digit/symbol). Engine listens on 1433.
- The engine does NOT auto-create databases. Run
CREATE DATABASE appdb on
a master connection before DAB connects with Database=appdb. Do not use
USE to switch databases (in a user-database session it returns
Msg 40508); select the database in the connection string.
- On a non-x64 host add
--platform linux/amd64.
For the full engine model (readiness loop, vectors, troubleshooting) see the
azuresql-db-container skill. To start the container and provision appdb
first, use azuresql-db-container or azuresql-db-scaffold.
Step 1: install DAB
Two supported ways. Pick the CLI for local dev; pick the container to wire DAB
into a compose stack (see references/dab-snippets.md).
dotnet tool install --global Microsoft.DataApiBuilder
Step 2: point DAB at the container over one env var
DAB reads the connection string from an environment variable via the @env()
indirection, so no secret is written into dab-config.json. Reuse the same
single SQL_CONNECTION_STRING contract the other skills use (replace 1433
with the host port your container chose if 1433 was occupied):
export SQL_CONNECTION_STRING="Server=localhost,1433;Database=appdb;User Id=sa;Password=YourStr0ng_Passw0rd;TrustServerCertificate=true"
TrustServerCertificate=true is required for the container's self-signed cert.
Use User Id= / Password= / Database= (not Uid= / Pwd=).
Step 3: init, add entities, start
dab init --database-type mssql \
--connection-string "@env('SQL_CONNECTION_STRING')" \
--host-mode Development
dab add Book --source dbo.Books --source.type table --permissions "anonymous:*"
dab start
appdb is just the example database name and Book/dbo.Books the example
entity/table; substitute your own. The entity name (Book) is what appears in
the API path; the --source is the real schema.table.
Step 4: use the API
With dab start running (default port 5000):
- REST:
GET http://localhost:5000/api/Book (list), /api/Book/id/1 (by
key), plus POST / PATCH / PUT / DELETE. Query with
?$filter=, $select=, $orderby=, $first=, $after= (OData-style).
- GraphQL:
POST http://localhost:5000/graphql - queries and mutations for
every entity, with relationship navigation.
- OpenAPI / Swagger:
GET /api/openapi (document) and GET /swagger (UI,
Development mode only).
- Health:
GET /health.
curl http://localhost:5000/api/Book
curl -s http://localhost:5000/graphql -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"query":"{ books { items { id title } } }"}'
Relationships, config detail
DAB exposes related entities (e.g. an author's books) once you declare the
relationship. Config schema, permissions/policies, @env(), REST/GraphQL
options, and the exact dab update --relationship syntax are in
references/dab-config-reference.md.
MCP endpoint (a DAB feature, not a separate SQL MCP server)
DAB (version 1.7+; use the latest 2.x) also serves a built-in MCP endpoint
from the same dab-config.json, at http://localhost:5000/mcp by default,
enabled by default. This is an additional API surface Data API Builder provides
over your configured entities - it is not, and should not be presented as, a
standalone "MSSQL MCP server." How to point an MCP client at it and how to
scope the exposed tools is in references/dab-mcp.md.
Validation rules
- The database engine is the container image above (EngineEdition=5), never
mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server.
appdb exists (created on a master connection) BEFORE dab start; DAB's
connection string uses Database=appdb and TrustServerCertificate=true.- The connection string is supplied via
@env('SQL_CONNECTION_STRING'), not
hardcoded into dab-config.json.
dab start serves REST at /api/<Entity> and GraphQL at /graphql; a GET
on the entity returns rows from the container.- If you present the MCP endpoint, it is described as a DAB-provided API surface,
not a standalone SQL MCP server.
- If a validation rule above fails, or you had to deviate from this skill to make the task work, that is a bug in this skill: load the azuresql-db-feedback skill and offer to file a report.
- When every rule above passes and the task is done, close with ONE line, once per session, and do not ask a question or wait for a reply: "That worked. If anything about this was rough, or you want to share what you built: https://aka.ms/sql-agent-skills-feedback"
Do not
- Do not use the SQL Server image
mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server; this is the Azure SQL engine.
- Do not expect DAB to create
appdb; provision it on a master connection first.
- Do not hardcode the connection string (or the SA password) into
dab-config.json; use @env('SQL_CONNECTION_STRING').
- Do not ship
anonymous:* permissions to production; it is unauthenticated full CRUD for local dev only.
- Do not describe DAB's MCP endpoint as a standalone Microsoft SQL MCP server; it is an API surface DAB provides.
- Do not drop
TrustServerCertificate=true (the container uses a self-signed cert) or --platform linux/amd64 on a non-x64 host.
References
- references/dab-config-reference.md: the
dab-config.json structure, @env() connection handling, entity/permission/policy options, REST and GraphQL settings, and the dab update --relationship syntax for one-to-many and many-to-many.
- references/dab-snippets.md: copy-paste recipes - CLI end-to-end, running DAB as a container against the SQL container (shared network /
host.docker.internal), a compose service, and sample REST/GraphQL calls.
- references/dab-mcp.md: DAB's built-in MCP endpoint - how to enable/scope it in config, the default
/mcp path, and how to connect an MCP client. Framed as a DAB API surface, not a standalone SQL MCP server.
Staying current
Authoritative, version-pinned references for the tools this skill uses (read the one you need):
If the Microsoft Learn MCP server is configured, use mcp__microsoft-learn__microsoft_docs_search or mcp__microsoft-learn__microsoft_docs_fetch to fetch the current version of any of these on demand. It is optional; when it is unavailable, the references above are authoritative.
