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VS 2022 - Unable to load SDK-style sqlproj in "SQL Server Object Explorer"

Giulio Vito De Musso 20 Reputation points
2025-07-23T16:33:33.8433333+00:00

Hello,

I'm migrating a sqlproj from the "classical" structure to the new SDK-style because I need to execute the "dotnet build my.sqlproj" command in an Azure DevOps pipeline Linux agent and the classical sqlproj would work only on Windows agents.

I followed the documentation here to migrate the sqlproj to SDK-style

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/tools/sql-database-projects/howto/convert-original-sql-project?view=sql-server-ver17&pivots=sq1-command-line

and I also installed the following components in my Visual Studio 2022

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note the "SQL Server Data Tools SDK-Style (Preview)"

Now, in order to complete the developer experience as before the migration, I need to work with the new sqlproj in Visual Studio 2022 in the "SQL Server Object Explorer" view. I can open the view, am able to connect to the target DB but the "projects" list is empty.

As told, I can correctly see the solution and project in the "Solution Explorer" so VS is loading it, but I'm not able to see the project in the "SQL Server Object Explorer" panel.

Solution Explorer: (I can see the Solution and SqlProj loaded)
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"SQL Server Object Explorer" panel: The sqlproj is not loaded

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Is there any known bug or advice you can give me? I fear I will have to trasform the sqlproj back to the classical one and find one another solution to execute the DACPAC build in pipeline, but the SDK-style is so promising

Developer technologies | Visual Studio | Extensions
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  1. Varsha Dundigalla(INFOSYS LIMITED) 795 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff
    2025-07-24T06:49:28.64+00:00

    Thank you for reaching out and sharing screenshots.
    You can’t see your SDK-style .sqlproj in SQL Server Object Explorer (SSOX) because Visual Studio 2022 doesn’t support SDK-style SQL projects in SSOX.

    Why: SSOX only works with classic-style SQL projects. SDK-style projects are designed for modern DevOps workflows and are supported in Solution Explorer, not SSOX.

    What You Can Do Instead:

    • Use Solution Explorer to manage and build the project.
    • Use the command line (dotnet build, sqlpackage) for builds and deployments.
    • For interactive database features (like schema compare), use Azure Data Studio or VS Code with the SQL Database Projects extension.
    • If you need full SSOX support, consider switching back to a classic SQL project.

    Let us know if you need any more help with this.

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