What’s new and coming soon in SQL analytics endpoint in Fabric
We’re thrilled to share a series of exciting updates and upcoming enhancements to the SQL analytics endpoint in Microsoft Fabric. These improvements are designed to make your experience more powerful and reliable.
From Preview to GA – Metadata sync REST API
Last month, we introduced the SQL analytics endpoint metadata sync REST API in preview, enabling programmatic refresh of your SQL endpoint to keep tables in sync with the latest changes in your lakehouse, mirrored and native databases. You can read more about the preview in the Refresh SQL analytics endpoint Metadata REST API (Preview) blog post.
General Availability (GA) for this API is coming later this week. With this release, there will be changes to the response structure. To ensure a smooth transition and avoid any breaking changes, please follow the guidance in our Items – Refresh SQL Endpoint Metadata documentation to set the required preview parameter to true.
Coming Soon – Case Insensitive collation support
We’re excited to announce that one of the most requested features – Case Insensitive collation support is on the way for SQL analytics endpoints. It will be configurable at the workspace level, with the default collation set to case sensitive. This feature will be available for new artifacts only.
On the Horizon – VARCHAR(MAX) support
Another highly requested feature—support for VARCHAR(MAX) in SQL endpoint—is also in development. This enhancement will provide greater flexibility for handling large text fields, for string and binary data.
Improved reliability and data freshness
While the REST API for metadata sync has been a valuable tool, we have heard your feedback on the need for a more reliable and responsive SQL endpoint that minimizes reliance on manual syncs. We’re actively working on improvements to address data staleness and ensure faster updates with a defined SLO for data freshness. A private preview of this capability will be launching soon.
If you’re interested in participating, please use the sign-up form.
Next Steps
Thank you for being part of the journey as we evolve SQL analytics endpoint into a more robust, performant, and user-friendly experience. We deeply appreciate your continued use of SQL analytics endpoint and your invaluable feedback.
Sign up for the private preview of the new improvements in SQL analytics endpoint. To learn more about the REST API, visit the Fabric REST APIs docs and check out this GitHub page for a code sample. Stay tuned to the Microsoft Fabric blog, Fabric roadmap for updates and continue to share your ideas and vote them on Fabric ideas.
