A non-sdk .sqlproj fails to load in Rider – Support | JetBrains

Problem

Opening a solution that contains a 'legacy' non-sdk style .sqlproj, Rider fails to load it. Checking the error on the problems view, it complains MSBuild cannot find TargetFramework assemblies for .NETFramework, Version=v.4.5

Cause

Rider delivered .sqlproj support in two waves:

Legacy 'non-sdk style' .sqlproj support was delivered only to Windows earlier. Such projects are by-default windows-only because it depends on Microsoft.Data.Tools.Chema.SqlTasks.targets and Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.SqlTasks.targets that are typically distributed with Visual Studio. The non-sdk style projects are by default not supposed to work on non-Windows.

Cross-platform support for 'sdk style' .sqlproj support was delivered as a part of Rider 2025.2 release.

Resolution

To make the 'non-sdk style' .sqlproj work on MacOs or Linux, one needs to adjust the .sqlproj file, so that MSBuild can find the missing files. Such a conversion can be done using Azure Data Studio with 'SQL Database Projects' extension: Upon opening such an .sqlproj on MacOs or Linux, the user will be prompted to update the project:

That are the changes is does:

<Import Condition="'$(SQLDBExtensionsRefPath)' != ''" Project="$(SQLDBExtensionsRefPath)\Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.SqlTasks.targets" />
<Import Condition="'$(SQLDBExtensionsRefPath)' == ''" Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)\SSDT\Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.SqlTasks.targets" />
->
<Import Condition="'$(NetCoreBuild)' != 'true' AND '$(SQLDBExtensionsRefPath)' != ''" Project="$(SQLDBExtensionsRefPath)\Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.SqlTasks.targets" />
<Import Condition="'$(NetCoreBuild)' != 'true' AND '$(SQLDBExtensionsRefPath)' == ''" Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\Microsoft\VisualStudio\v$(VisualStudioVersion)\SSDT\Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.SqlTasks.targets" />
<ItemGroup>
   <PackageReference Include="Microsoft.NETFramework.ReferenceAssemblies" Condition="'$(NetCoreBuild)' == 'true'">
       <Version>1.0.0</Version>
       <PrivateAssets>All</PrivateAssets>
   </PackageReference>
</ItemGroup>
<Import Project="$(NETCoreTargetsPath)\Microsoft.Data.Tools.Schema.SqlTasks.targets" Condition="'$(NetCoreBuild)' == 'true'" />
<Target Name="BeforeBuild">
   <Delete Files="$(BaseIntermediateOutputPath)\project.assets.json" />
</Target>

It is planned to deliver a similar 'Update' action to Rider soon: Right-click on the SQL project in the solution explorer and select "{Not yet released action}" (to be updated).