Postgres IDE in VS Code

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Extension features & initial reception

  • Many are pleased to see a first‑party Postgres IDE inside VS Code, especially those tired of switching between editor and tools like pgAdmin or Azure Data Studio.
  • Key positives: schema browser/ERD‑style view, query editor, result export, GitHub Copilot integration, and ability to run against remote DBs via VS Code’s SSH/tunnel features.
  • PMs on the thread state it works with any Postgres endpoint (on‑prem, any cloud), with some Azure‑specific auth options (e.g., Entra ID).

Comparison with existing DB tools

  • JetBrains tooling (DataGrip and DB integration in IntelliJ/PyCharm/etc.) is repeatedly described as the “gold standard”: rich autocomplete, schema‑aware SQL inside code strings, language injection, refactoring, formatting, multi‑DB support, and polished UI.
  • DBeaver, pgAdmin, Beekeeper, SQLTools, and various SQLite extensions are mentioned as alternatives; several people say JetBrains and DBeaver still feel more capable today.
  • Some see this as Microsoft catching up to what JetBrains has offered for years, but welcome competition—especially for AI features.

Licensing, proprietary concerns & VS Code ecosystem

  • Strong concern that the extension is proprietary and not truly open source; the GitHub repo mostly contains metadata and a privacy notice, not code.
  • Initial preview license explicitly banned commercial, non‑profit, or revenue‑generating use, causing alarm; project members say this was boilerplate and later updated to allow free use, but some argue you can’t rely on an HN comment over the written license.
  • Broader thread about VS Code: closed marketplace, closed Microsoft extensions (e.g., Python/Pylance), and blocking forks like VSCodium/Cursor from using first‑party extensions. Some call this “fake open source” or modern “embrace, extend, extinguish”; others counter that Microsoft has never promised everything would be FOSS and is behaving like a normal business.

Microsoft strategy: Postgres, SQL Server, and tooling

  • Some are surprised Microsoft invested in Postgres tooling before further SQL Server work; insiders say the Postgres extension is a fork of the existing MSSQL extension and that Azure Data Studio is being sunset.
  • Debate over SQL Server’s status: some call it “legacy” and too expensive versus Postgres; others insist it’s technically excellent and heavily used in enterprise, especially via Azure SQL.

AI/Copilot integration & workflows

  • Enthusiasm for Copilot being schema‑aware and living directly in the editor; others explicitly do not want AI “in everything.”
  • Several note LLMs are visibly less reliable with SQL/Postgres than with general programming, making them hesitant to trust AI for production queries.
  • Separate subthread discusses whether IDE database tools really beat CLI/psql; many CLI‑comfortable users still value rich autocomplete, navigation, and visualization when schemas get large.