Most database teams already collect a lot of monitoring data. What they don’t have enough of is time to work out what it means. When something looks wrong, the first job is usually to open several portals, find the affected resources, and work out what changed.
Database Hub in Microsoft Fabric already brings your Azure, Fabric, on-premises and multicloud databases into one view. Today we’re making that view easier to use: Copilot in Database Hub is now in public preview. You can ask questions about your estate in plain language and get answers grounded in what Database Hub already knows about your databases.
What you can do with Copilot in Database Hub
| Area | What Copilot helps with | Try asking |
|---|---|---|
| Prioritize | Rank the issues across your estate and show how many resources each one affects | “What should I fix first?” |
| Performance | Find resources near storage, memory or compute capacity, and explain what changed | “Are there any performance issues I should know about?” |
| Troubleshooting | Investigate slowdowns and blocking that affect your applications | “Are there any blocked queries in my database causing delays in app response?” |
| Security | Find risky configurations, such as public network access or endpoints without private access | “What are the biggest security risks in my environment?” |
| Migration readiness | Bring SQL Server assessment results into one answer | “Analyze migration readiness across my SQL Server estate” |
Ask Copilot from wherever you’re working
Copilot is on every main page in Database Hub. Select Ask Copilot in the top right of the page you’re on:
- Overview: you’re looking at the issue counts and want to know what to fix first.
- Estate: you’re going through resources and their issues and want to know which of this matter.
- Performance monitoring: you’re watching metrics for Microsoft SQL, PostgreSQL or Cosmos DB and want to know why something changed.
The Copilot pane opens beside the page, so you keep your place while you ask.
Database Hub Overview page showing security, performance and optimization issues, with the Ask Copilot selected
Ask Copilot button on the Estate and Performance monitoring pages in Database Hub.
Get started with suggested questions
Copilot opens with suggested questions grouped by the three things teams ask about most:
- Check performance: How are my databases performing? or Are there any performance issues I should know about?
- Review security: How secure are my databases?, What should I fix first to improve security? or What are the biggest security risks in my environment?
- Assess migration readiness: Show my existing SQL Server migration assessment results, or Analyze migration readiness across my SQL Server estate.
Ask, follow up, then go deeper
Here’s a typical investigation:
- Ask a broad question. “What should I fix first to improve security?”
- Read the ranked summary. Copilot lists the top findings across your estate, such as endpoints without private access or public network access left on. It shows how many resources each one affects, so the biggest risks come first.
- Narrow it down. “Which of those are production databases?” or “Show me the resources with public network access enabled.”
- Open the evidence. Go from Copilot’s answer to the affected resources in Estate. Each resource lists its issues, such as Public network access is enabled or Memory is near capacity. Then act with the tools and processes you already use, including opening the resource in the Azure portal, SSMS or VS Code.
Troubleshoot what’s slowing your apps down
When users report that an app is slow, the hard part is finding which database is responsible and why. Open Copilot from Performance monitoring and start with the symptom:
- “Are there any blocked queries in my database causing delays in app response?”
- “Why did CPU spike on this database in the last hour?”
- “Which databases are close to their storage, memory or compute limits?”
- “What changed on this database since yesterday?”
Copilot summarizes what it finds and points you to the affected resource. Switch to the Performance monitoring charts to see the trend for yourself before you change anything.
Plan your SQL Server migrations
For SQL Server teams planning a move, “Analyze migration readiness across my SQL Server estate” collects assessment results into one answer, instead of you checking one server at a time. Follow up with “Which servers have blockers?” to see where to start.
How Copilot works
Copilot in Database Hub answers from the information Database Hub already has about your estate: your resource inventory, the security, performance and optimization issues it detects, and the performance telemetry it collects. It uses that context to rank, summarize and explain, then links you back to the resource or chart so you can check the evidence.
Copilot sees only the resources your own Azure and Fabric permissions allow. It doesn’t give you access to anything you couldn’t already see.
Tips for better answers
- Start broad, then narrow. Ask “What should I fix first?” and then filter by environment, service or issue type.
- Name what you care about. A resource name, a time window or a symptom gives you a more specific answer than a general question does.
- Ask from the right page. Ask about trends from Performance monitoring and about resources and issues from Estate.
- Check before you act. Use the linked resources and charts to confirm what Copilot found.
Built with clear boundaries
- Grounded in Database Hub. Copilot answers from the information available in Database Hub.
- Your permissions, nothing more. Copilot works within your existing Azure and Fabric permissions.
- You stay in control. Copilot helps you understand and prioritize. It doesn’t change your databases.
- Responsible AI. Copilot is powered by AI, so mistakes are possible. Review its answers before you act on them in production.
Get started
- Opt in: Turn on Copilot for your organization. Copilot in Database Hub is an opt-in experience. Nothing is turned on for your users until a Fabric administrator chooses to enable it. In the Fabric admin portal, under Tenant settings > Copilot and AI, enable these settings, and make sure the enabled scope includes the users who need Copilot:
- Users can use Copilot, AI Agents and other AI experiences powered by Azure OpenAI
- Users can use Copilot, AI Agents and other AI experiences powered by OpenAI as a Microsoft Subprocessor
- Data sent to OpenAI as a Microsoft Subprocessor can be processed outside your capacity’s geographic region, compliance boundary, or national cloud instance
You can turn each setting on for the whole organization or only for specific security groups, so you can start with a pilot group.
Important: Review the OpenAI as a Microsoft Subprocessor settings with your security and compliance team before you enable them. See OpenAI as a subprocessor in Microsoft Fabric for data processing commitments and current limitations.
- Open Database Hub in Microsoft Fabric.
- Select Ask Copilot on Overview, Estate or Performance monitoring, and start with a suggested question.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Copilot on by default? No. Copilot in Database Hub is opt-in. A Fabric administrator decides whether to enable it and for whom.
- Which databases does Copilot cover? The same resources Database Hub shows you: Azure SQL, Fabric, on-premises and multicloud databases connected to your hub, within your permissions.
- Does Copilot need a specific capacity, and how is it billed? Copilot in Fabric needs a paid Fabric capacity (F2 or higher) or a Power BI Premium capacity (P1 or higher). It doesn’t need a separate per-user license. Copilot usage is measured in tokens and consumes your Fabric capacity units (CUs). You can track it in the Fabric Capacity Metrics app under the operation name Copilot in Fabric. For rates and examples, see Copilot consumption, usage, and billing in Fabric. To bill all Copilot usage for a group of users to one capacity, see Fabric Copilot capacity.
- Does Copilot change my databases? No. Copilot helps you understand and prioritize. You make changes with your existing tools and processes.
- Is Copilot available in government or sovereign clouds? Not currently. OpenAI-operated models aren’t available in government clouds (GCC, GCC High, DoD) or sovereign clouds.
Why don’t I see Ask Copilot? Check with your Fabric administrator that the tenant settings above are enabled and that their scope includes you.
Learn more
- Database Hub overview
- Overview of Copilot in Fabric
- Enable and configure Copilot in Microsoft Fabric
- Copilot and Agent tenant settings
- OpenAI as a subprocessor in Microsoft Fabric
- Copilot consumption, usage, and billing in Fabric
- Fabric Copilot capacity
What’s next
This preview is the start. We’ll keep growing what Copilot can answer, based on what you ask it. Tell us what you ask first, and what you wish it could answer: select Feedback in Database Hub.