page_type	languages	products	description
sample	tsql sql csharp	azure-sql-database dotnet ef-core sql-server	Dynamic Schema Management With Azure SQL and Entity Framework

Dynamic Schema Management With Azure SQL and Entity Framework

A sample project that shows how to deal with dynamic schema in Azure SQL, using the native JSON support and Entity Framework Core. This repo is a variation of the "hybrid" sample discussed and shown in the

https://github.com/azure-samples/azure-sql-db-dynamic-schema

repository, but using Entity Framework Core instead of Dapper. Since EF Core 7, in fact, it is now possible to let the framework handle the serialization and deserialization of an object into a JSON column, making the code much cleaner and easier to maintain:

https://learn.microsoft.com/ef/core/what-is-new/ef-core-7.0/whatsnew#json-columns

Demo with local database

Make sure you have SQL Server 2025 install. The easiest way to do this is to use Docker or Podman and the VSCode MSSQL extension with a local SQL Server container.

IF you don't want to use a local database, you can also use an Azure SQL Database. You can use the Free Offer to have a completely free Azure SQL database to use.

Once you have the database running, create a new database named dynamic-schema-ef using the Database/00-create.sql script to also create a user for the sample application.

The Database/01-hybrid.sql script is there only for reference in case you want to create the database schema manually, but it is not needed if you use the Entity Framework Core migrations.

Generate migrations of not done yet

dotnet ef migrations add InitialCreate

Set the environment variable

$env:MSSQL="Server=tcp:127.0.0.1,1433;Database=dynamic-schema-ef;User ID=<db-admin-user>;Password=<db-admin-password>;TrustServerCertificate=True"

Deploy the database

dotnet ef database update

Run the sample app

Run in watch mode

dotnet watch

then use the Sample/sample.http file to test out the API.

Uncomment the ToDoExtension properties in the Entities/ToDo.cs file and the properties in the Controllers/ToDoHybridController.cs file to add more filed to your entity.

The new properties will be automatically serialized and deserialized by EF Core without the need to change the database schema, and you can use them in your application without any additional code.