Published: 2026-02-12

Polyglot Notebooks Are Being Deprecated — What Now?

Polyglot Notebooks (formerly .NET Interactive Notebooks), a key feature of Azure Data Studio, are being deprecated alongside ADS. If you used them for interactive SQL and data exploration, here's what's changing and where to go next.

What Were Polyglot Notebooks?

Polyglot Notebooks let you mix SQL, C#, Python, JavaScript, and other languages in a single interactive document. In Azure Data Studio, they were popular for:

• Database exploration — running SQL queries alongside analysis code
• Runbooks — documented step-by-step procedures with executable code
• Data analysis — combining SQL results with C# or Python processing
• Team documentation — sharing executable database procedures

What's Going Away

With Azure Data Studio's retirement on February 28, 2026, the Polyglot Notebooks integration in ADS will stop receiving updates. The VS Code extension may linger, but Microsoft has not confirmed ongoing support for it outside of ADS.

Key things you lose:

• Native SQL kernel that connected to ADS database connections
• Integration with ADS IntelliSense and schema awareness
• Built-in chart rendering from SQL results in notebook cells
• The ability to share executable database runbooks with your team

Alternatives for SQL-Focused Workflows

1. Jupyter Notebooks with SQL Kernels

Jupyter remains the gold standard for interactive notebooks. With extensions like ipython-sql or jupysql, you can run SQL queries directly in notebook cells. Pair it with Python for data analysis and visualization. The downside: no integrated IntelliSense for SQL.

2. VS Code Notebooks with MSSQL Extension

VS Code supports notebook-style editing through the Polyglot Notebooks extension. It can still run SQL cells against SQL Server, though the experience is less polished than ADS and the extension's future is uncertain.

3. Jam SQL Studio — Jupyter-Compatible SQL Notebooks + Claude Code AI

Jam SQL Studio now includes SQL Notebooks — Jupyter-style notebooks with SQL code cells, Markdown documentation, shared sessions, and inline results. Open your Polyglot .ipynb files directly: SQL and JavaScript cells work immediately, while C# and F# cells are imported as Markdown.

The built-in AI Chat Sidebar, powered by your locally installed Claude Code CLI, lets you add, edit, and execute notebook cells with natural language — directly inside the notebook. It reuses your existing Claude Code setup with no extra subscription or API key configuration in Jam SQL.

On top of notebooks, Jam SQL Studio provides an AI Workspace with a local MCP server for safe, policy-controlled agent queries — something no notebook tool has.

Moving Your Notebooks

If you have existing Polyglot Notebooks (.dib or .ipynb files with Polyglot kernels), here's how to preserve your work:

1. Open in Jam SQL Studio — use More > Open Notebook to open .ipynb files directly. SQL and JavaScript cells are preserved.
2. Set up connections via GUI — instead of magic commands, use the built-in connection manager to connect to SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQLite.
3. Run your notebooks — temp tables and session variables persist across cells, just like in Polyglot Notebooks.
4. C#/F# cells — imported as Markdown with source in code fences. If you need these, consider keeping VS Code for those specific workflows.

Looking Forward

The deprecation of Polyglot Notebooks reflects a broader shift in the developer tools landscape. Interactive notebooks remain valuable for data exploration, and Jam SQL Studio brings this capability to a dedicated SQL IDE with multi-engine support and AI integration.

See the full comparison of Jam SQL Studio vs Polyglot Notebooks for a detailed feature breakdown and migration guide.