Microsoft SQL Server
Use this guide to connect Microsoft SQL Server to Wren AI and continue through connection, table selection, and relationship setup.
Included in all plans
Wren AI needs to access your Microsoft SQL Server database via the outbound IP address of Wren AI Cloud. Please add the IP address of the Wren AI service to the firewall of your Microsoft SQL Server database.
Scroll to the bottom of the data source connection page to find the IP address.
Required Permissions
Wren AI connects to SQL Server as a regular database user and only issues read-only queries — SELECT against your tables/views and system catalog views. It will never INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, or run DDL (CREATE, ALTER, DROP, TRUNCATE). Read-only grants are sufficient — and recommended — for a secure connection.
Avoid using sa or any broadly privileged account as the connecting account. It violates least-privilege principles and may expose more databases than you intended. Use a dedicated read-only user whenever possible.
Privileges checklist
The SQL Server login used by Wren AI needs the following on your target database:
| Category | Privilege | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Login | A valid SQL Server login and database user | Required to connect. |
| Business data | SELECT on the tables/views you want Wren AI to read | Grant per schema, for example GRANT SELECT ON SCHEMA::dbo TO wren_ai;, or add the user to the db_datareader role to read all tables in the database. |
| Metadata discovery | Read access to INFORMATION_SCHEMA and sys catalog views | SQL Server only shows metadata for objects the user has permission on, so SELECT grants above also drive what Wren AI can discover. |
Minimum account setup
Create a dedicated read-only user:
-- On the server
CREATE LOGIN wren_ai WITH PASSWORD = 'YourStrongPassword!';
-- In the target database
USE your_database;
CREATE USER wren_ai FOR LOGIN wren_ai;
-- Option A: read access to specific schemas
GRANT SELECT ON SCHEMA::dbo TO wren_ai;
-- Option B: read access to the whole database
ALTER ROLE db_datareader ADD MEMBER wren_ai;
Verify the account
Connect as the new user and confirm it can see the tables Wren AI will discover:
SELECT TABLE_SCHEMA, TABLE_NAME
FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES
WHERE TABLE_TYPE IN ('BASE TABLE', 'VIEW');
SELECT TOP 5 * FROM dbo.your_table;
To add a Microsoft SQL Server connection, click on the SQL Server option in the Connect a data source section.
Connect
Fill in the connection settings:
Display name
The display name for the database in the Wren AI interface.
Host
Your SQL Server database's IP address or domain name.
Port
Your SQL Server database port.
Username
The database username for the account that you want to use to connect to your SQL Server database.
Password
The password for the username that you use to connect to the database.
Database name
The name of the database you want to connect to.
Click Next to start the connection and go to the next step.
Select Tables
All tables of your connected SQL Server dataset will be listed in this step. Select which tables you want to use in Wren AI. Each selected table will be created as a data model. See the Modeling documentation to learn more about data models.
Define relationships
Define the relationships among selected tables in this step. If you have defined primary keys and foreign keys in your SQL Server dataset, we will list suggested relationships based on that information. If not, you can also add relationships by clicking the Add relationships button on the table blocks.
Define the following properties in a relationship:
- From: Select the left side table and column of this relationship.
- To: Select the right side table and column of this relationship.
- Relationship Type: Select the type of relationship.
Find more information about relationships in Modeling - Working with Relationships.
You can also skip this step and finish the connection.
Tested versions
Wren AI connects to SQL Server over the standard TDS protocol, and recent SQL Server versions are expected to work. If you hit a version-specific issue, please contact us.