Run your first SQL statement

Create a project, add a database and run a statement in the Scratchpad.

In short

SQL Tester runs a stored procedure, function, view or plain SQL against a database your team owns and shows everything that came back. Save a run as a test and your team can re-run it and see when its result changes. Every run rolls back by default, and Production is always read-only.

Before you start

Who: In an organization you need "Use SQL Tester" (a Member holds it, a Viewer does not). Inside a project your level decides the rest. View reads. Run runs saved tests. Edit changes tests and runs any statement in the Scratchpad. Manage connects databases and shares the project.
Plan: SQL Tester is part of every plan, Free included. Your plan sets your runs, projects and environments (Plan & usage shows them). Production execution and load testing are on the paid plans.
First: a database your team owns and a login with the fewest rights the tests need. You can also start with no database (see /help/sql-tester/try-it-not-saved).

Run your first statement

Open SQL Tester, press "New project" in the Projects rail, name it (for example Billing DB) and press "Create".
The new project asks you to connect it: "Connect Billing DB to a database". Choose the Provider, paste the "Connection string" and press "Connect". "More options" names the environment and sets its Tier. To add more databases later, see Add an environment.
Open the "Scratchpad" tab and choose the environment.
Type the SQL. Its kind follows from what you type: one statement runs as a Query, several as a Script.
The line under "Run" says the kind and the transaction, such as "Query. Rolled back after each run". Open it to choose another "Kind" - "Stored procedure", "Scalar function", "Table function" and "View" name an object under "Object name", such as dbo.GetInvoice, and a procedure or function takes parameters - or another "Transaction".
Leave it on "Rolled back after each run" and press "Run". The result appears under it, and the run joins "Your recent runs".

The quick way Before you have a project, SQL Tester shows a Connect card. It creates the project and environment, then runs SELECT 1 AS answer so a first result is on screen before you type anything.

Find your way around

The Projects rail on the left holds your projects. When a project has environments, the header shows an environment picker with a colored tier dot: the Tests board and the Scratchpad run against it.

Share a project

Open the project and press "Share" in its header, or press the Visible to line under its name.
Under "Who can open it", choose Private, Team, Team and below, Everyone or Read-only for others, and the team it is filed under.
Add a person, a team or a role at a level, with "Access until" if the share should end. Changes apply at once.

Good to know

A project is personal (only you) or belongs to the organization you were working in. A project in your Personal Workspace is never shared.
A new organization project filed under a team starts open to that team; filed under no team it starts private, because it holds a database credential. The create dialog says which.
Environments are the managers' to change. Nobody is ever shown a connection string or a secret.
"People who can run may also run against production" is off for a new project. Until a manager turns it on, only people who can change the project run its tests against Production.
Your role is the ceiling: without Use SQL Tester you reach no project.
Your recent Scratchpad runs are listed under the editor, private to you and kept 30 days.
Every test in a Run all tests counts as a run. Your plan sets your runs, projects and environments; whatever the plan, one person can start at most 30 runs, connection tests and catalog syncs a minute.
Where you may not add the sample to a shared workspace, the first screen leads with "Try it (not saved)": a practice copy of the sample database just for you. See /help/sql-tester/try-it-not-saved.
What happens next: the project belongs to the workspace you are in. Nobody is shown a connection string or a secret. Delete the project from its header if you manage it.

If something goes wrong

"Add an environment to this project before running it.": add or enable an environment.
"A team project has to be created in an organization workspace.": switch to the organization first.
A usage limit message: you reached your plan's runs or 30 runs a minute. Wait, or ask an organization admin about the plan.

/help/sql-tester/connections-and-environments
/help/sql-tester/try-it-not-saved
/help/sql-tester/reading-a-result
/help/sql-tester/saving-cases
/help/sql-tester/safety-tiers-and-load-testing