Write SQL with Gemini assistance

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Preview — Gemini Code Assist

This feature is subject to the "Pre-GA Offerings Terms" in the General Service Terms section of the Service Specific Terms. You can process personal data for this feature as outlined in the Cloud Data Processing Addendum, subject to the obligations and restrictions described in the agreement under which you access Google Cloud. Pre-GA features are available "as is" and might have limited support. For more information, see the launch stage descriptions.

As an early-stage technology, Gemini can generate output that seems plausible but is factually incorrect. We recommend that you validate all output from Gemini before you use it. For more information, see Gemini for Google Cloud and responsible AI.

This document describes how you can use Gemini, an AI-powered collaborator in Google Cloud, to help you do the following in Cloud SQL Studio:

• Generate SQL queries using natural language prompts
• Complete SQL statements in the query editor
• Explain SQL queries in the query editor

Gemini doesn't use your prompts or its responses as data to train its models. For more information, see How Gemini for Google Cloud uses your data.

This document is intended for database administrators and data engineers who are familiar with SQL, data analysis, and Cloud SQL. If you're new to Cloud SQL, see Cloud SQL overview.

Before you begin

1. Ensure that you have set up Gemini in Databases.
2. To complete the tasks in this document, ensure that you have the necessary Identity and Access Management (IAM) permissions.
3. Confirm access to Cloud SQL Studio. If you don't have access to Cloud SQL Studio, then see Cloud SQL Studio required roles and permissions

4. Optional: To follow along with the examples in this document, create a Singers table using the following schema:

   CREATE TABLE
   Singers (
     SingerId   BIGINT PRIMARY KEY,
     FirstName  VARCHAR(1024),
     LastName   VARCHAR(1024),
     SingerInfo VARBINARY(MAX),
     BirthDate  DATETIMEOFFSET
   );
   

   After you create the Singers table, click refreshRefresh to update your database schema.

Required roles and permissions

Caution: Users with broad database access could experience data loss when using Gemini in Databases. We recommend that you use an account with fewer database privileges when using Gemini in Databases.

To get the permissions that you need to complete the tasks in this document, ask your administrator to grant you the Cloud SQL Admin (roles/cloudsql.admin) IAM role on the project. For more information about granting roles, see Manage access.

You might also be able to get the required permissions through custom roles or other predefined roles.

You also need the cloudaicompanion.companions.generateChat permission to use explain SQL statements in the query editor and cloudaicompanion.companions.generateCode to use help me code.

Generate SQL queries using natural language prompts

You can give Gemini natural language comments (or prompts) to generate queries that are based on your schema. For example, you can prompt Gemini to generate SQL in response to the following prompts:

• "Create a table that tracks customer satisfaction survey results."
• "Add a date column called birthday to the Singers table."
• "How many singers were born in the 90s?"

If your schema changes, such as addition of a new table or column, then click refreshRefresh to update your schema before using Gemini.

Note: When you enter a prompt for Gemini in Cloud SQL, information about your database's schema is included with the prompt. This metadata can include table and column names, data types, and column descriptions. Your database data remains in Cloud SQL and isn't sent to Gemini.

To generate SQL in Cloud SQL with Gemini assistance, follow these steps:

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud SQL page.

   Go to Cloud SQL

2. Select an instance from the list.

3. In the navigation menu, click Cloud SQL Studio.

4. Sign in to Cloud SQL Studio using the name of your database, username, and password. The Explorer pane displays a list of objects in your database.

5. In the taskbar, click pen_sparkGemini to view Gemini features in Cloud SQL.

6. Ensure that Comment-to-query generation is enabled.

7. To query your database, click New SQL editor tab.

8. To generate SQL, type a comment in the query editor starting with -- followed by a single-line comment, and then press Return or Enter.

   For example, enter the following prompt:

   -- add a row to table singers
   

   Press Return or Enter. Gemini generates SQL that's similar to the following:

   INSERT INTO Singers (SingerId, FirstName, LastName, BirthDate)
   VALUES (1, 'Alex', 'M.', '1977-10-16');
   

   To continue the example using the Singers table, enter the following prompt:

   -- show all singers born in the 70s
   

   Gemini generates SQL that's similar to the following:

   SELECT *
   FROM Singers
   WHERE Singers.BirthDate
   BETWEEN '1970-01-01' AND '1979-12-31'
   
   

   Note: Gemini might suggest different queries each time that you enter the same prompt.

9. Review the SQL suggestion and take any of the following actions:

   • To view the options for accepting the SQL generated by Gemini, hold the pointer over the query. The following options are displayed:
     • Accept: To accept the suggested query, press Tab, then click Run.
     • Accept word: To accept the suggested query partially, press Control+Right arrow. (or Command+Right arrow on macOS), then click Run.
   • To edit the original SQL, press Tab, edit the SQL, and then click Run.
   • To dismiss the suggestion, press Esc or continue typing.

Help me code tool

To use the Help me code tool, follow these steps:

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud SQL page.

   Go to Cloud SQL

2. Select an instance from the list.

3. In the navigation menu, click Cloud SQL Studio.

4. Sign in to Cloud SQL Studio using the name of your database, username, and password. The Explorer pane displays a list of objects in your database.

5. To query your database, click the New tab.

6. Click pen_spark Help me code next to the query editor.

7. In the Help me code window, enter a prompt. For example, add a row to table singers and click Generate.

   Gemini generates SQL that's similar to the following:

   INSERT INTO Singers (SingerId, FirstName, LastName, BirthDate)
   VALUES (1, Alex, 'M.', '1977-10-16');
   

   Note: Gemini might suggest different syntax each time that you enter the same prompt.

8. Review the generated SQL and take any of the following actions:

   • To accept SQL generated by Gemini, click Insert to insert the statement into the query editor. Then click Run to execute the suggested SQL.
   • To ask Gemini to generate a new query, click Edit. After you've edited your prompt, click Update. You can then decide to accept the new generated statement or dismiss the suggestion.
   • To dismiss the suggestion, close the Help me code window.

Complete SQL statements in the query editor

To help you write SQL code, Gemini in Cloud SQL provides AI-assisted code completion suggestions. With Gemini enabled, when you enter text in the Cloud SQL Studio query editor, Gemini predicts and autofills SQL code.

To use inline code suggestions, follow these steps:

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud SQL page.

   Go to Cloud SQL

2. Select an instance from the list.

3. In the navigation menu, click Cloud SQL Studio.

4. Sign in to Cloud SQL Studio using the name of your database, username, and password. The Explorer pane displays a list of objects in your database.

5. In the taskbar, click pen_sparkGemini to view Gemini features in Cloud SQL.

6. Select SQL completion.

7. To query your database, click the New SQL editor tab.

8. Enter a query and a space or newline at the end of the line. As you enter text, Gemini shows suggested SQL that's based on the supported objects in the selected database's schema.

   For example, to add a row to the Singers table, begin to write the following query:

   INSERT INTO Singers
   

   Gemini suggests SQL that's similar to the following:

   INSERT INTO Singers
   (SingerId, FirstName, LastName, BirthDate)
   VALUES
     (1, 'Marc', 'Singer', '1970-03-24')
   

   Note: Gemini might suggest different queries each time that you enter the same statement.

9. Review the SQL suggestion and take any of the following actions:

   • To view the options for accepting the SQL generated by Gemini, hold the pointer over the query. The following options are displayed:
     • Accept: To accept the suggested query, press Tab, then click Run.
     • Accept word: To accept the suggested query partially, press Control+Right arrow. (or Command+Right arrow on macOS), then click Run.
   • To edit the original SQL, press Tab, edit the SQL, and then click Run.
   • To dismiss the suggestion, press Esc or continue typing.

Explain SQL statements in the query editor

You can use Gemini in Cloud SQL to explain SQL queries in natural language. This explanation can help you understand the syntax, underlying schema, and business context for complex or long queries.

1. In the Google Cloud console, go to the Cloud SQL page.

   Go to Cloud SQL

2. Select an instance from the list.

3. In the navigation menu, click Cloud SQL Studio.

4. Sign in to Cloud SQL Studio using the name of your database, username, and password. The Explorer pane displays a list of objects in your database.

5. To query your database, click the New tab.

6. In the query editor, paste the query you want explained.

7. Highlight the query that you want Gemini to explain, and then click spark Explain this query.

   The explanation for the SQL query appears in the Gemini Chat window.

What's next

• Read Gemini in Google Cloud overview.
• Learn how Gemini uses your data.
• Learn how to analyze your data in Google Cloud using Gemini.