◆ Microsoft SQL Server

Troubleshoot slow SQL queries

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.

3prompts

The same task, four prompts

today's deadline · the next reviewer · the stuck moment · the pattern
AImprove — make it easier to acceptBefore I dive into optimizing this slow query, tell me what tables it touches, what indexes are…+
Before I dive into optimizing this slow query, tell me what tables it touches, what indexes are missing on those tables, and if there are any statistics that are out of date. I need to get a full picture before I start changing things.
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
BDecide — diagnose the stuck momentThe finance report query just timed out again, and the VP of Finance is calling. We optimized…+
The finance report query just timed out again, and the VP of Finance is calling.
The finance report query just timed out again, and the VP of Finance is calling. We optimized it last month, and it was fast for a week, but now it's worse. I'm afraid of blaming the network again. What's the most likely cause for this kind of regression, and what's the fastest way to get it running for them, even if it's a temporary fix?
when the reply comes backPush once: ask it to sharpen the weakest part, and to say what it assumed. Helpful?
CBecome — change the patternI keep getting pulled into urgent "slow report" issues that were fine last week. It feels like…+
I keep getting pulled into urgent "slow report" issues that were fine last week.
I keep getting pulled into urgent "slow report" issues that were fine last week. It feels like we're always reacting to performance problems after they impact users. What habit should I change to proactively identify and address these performance bottlenecks before they become critical, instead of just putting out fires?
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.