◆ Microsoft SQL Server

Monitor SQL Server performance

This is real work, not a feature someone invented — it comes from real job ads and real questions people asked. Below are four ready AI prompts: get it done, make it easy for the next person to say yes to, work out the right move when you are stuck, and stop it coming back.

4prompts
See the prompt↓All Microsoft SQL Server tasks

The same task, four prompts

today's deadline · the next reviewer · the stuck moment · the pattern
AExecute — do the immediate taskGenerate a report showing the top 10 most expensive queries by CPU time on the 'SalesDB'…+
Generate a report showing the top 10 most expensive queries by CPU time on the 'SalesDB' database for the last 24 hours. Include the query text, execution count, and average duration.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
BImprove — make it easier to acceptBefore I present these performance metrics to the application team, make this report…+
Before I present these performance metrics to the application team, make this report actionable. Highlight any queries that have seen a significant increase in CPU usage or duration over the last week, and suggest potential indexing improvements for the top 3 offenders. Make sure the output is easy to read for someone who isn't a DBA.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
CDecide — diagnose the stuck momentUsers are complaining that the daily sales report, which usually runs in minutes, is now taking…+
Users are complaining about slow report generation, but the usual performance counters look normal.
Users are complaining that the daily sales report, which usually runs in minutes, is now taking over an hour. I've checked CPU, memory, and disk I/O on the 'Reporting' host and they all seem within normal bounds. There haven't been any recent code deployments or schema changes. I'm afraid of a full outage during peak hours. What's the most likely hidden bottleneck, and how can I quickly pinpoint it without restarting the host or causing further disruption?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
DBecome — change the patternI'm always reacting to user complaints about slow performance on our 'ProductionDB' host, often…+
I constantly react to performance complaints instead of proactively identifying issues.
I'm always reacting to user complaints about slow performance on our 'ProductionDB' host, often after the problem has already impacted business operations. This reactive approach is burning me out and eroding trust. What habit should I change to shift from firefighting to proactively identifying and addressing performance bottlenecks before users even notice them?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?

Questions people actually ask

honest answers, no sign-up

Every task here was seen in the real world. Someone doing the job named it, a real job ad asked for it, or a lot of people asked about it online.

If nothing real showed a task, it is not on the page. That is the whole rule.

They are the same job approached four ways, because what you need depends on where you are.

Get it done today. Make it easy for the next person to say yes to. Work out the right move when you are stuck. Learn the pattern so the job stops coming back.

For most of these jobs it can carry the heavy thinking - draft it, sort it, check it, rehearse it with you.

It cannot sit in your chair, take the blame when a number is wrong, or notice what nobody wrote down. Let it do the first 80%. Keep the last 20% that is truly yours.

No. Copy any prompt and paste it into the AI you already use. No account, no score, no wall in the way.

Any of them. The prompts describe the work rather than naming a product, so they are not tied to one assistant.

That is also why they keep working when you switch.

Change it freely. Every prompt is a starting line, not a rule.

Put in your real numbers, your real names and your real deadline. The more you make it yours, the better the answer comes back.

The tasks come from real job ads, published job data and the questions people ask in public forums.

The steps come from Microsoft SQL Server's own documentation, with practitioner sources for the traps the manual does not mention.

Push once. Ask it to sharpen the weakest part and to say what it assumed.

Most wrong answers come from a missing detail rather than a bad prompt - tell it the thing it could not know.