The Entity Framework Playground enables you to swiftly test migrations and queries directly within your browser. In the past, if you wished to experiment with multiple queries or test various models, you had to utilize different browser tabs. Additionally, after closing the tab, the code you've entered is lost. To enhance the experience for prolonged experimentation, you can now sign in with GitHub and save playgrounds for future use. Furthermore, these playgrounds can be easily shared through a URL, making them ideal for sharing with others.

The editor has also undergone numerous subtle enhancements to refine the editing experience. Given that Entity Framework boasts an extensive API that can be challenging to recall, the inclusion of autocomplete and type information proves invaluable in maintaining focus during coding tasks.

User accounts and submission sharing

Create your Entity Framework Playground account effortlessly by signing in with GitHub. In case you prefer to utilize a different Single Sign-On (SSO) method or email, feel free to reach out to us. The inclusion of additional SSO options is in our roadmap, so please inform us if you want us to prioritise this.

Once signed in, you will get a slightly different home page. Instead of transient migrations and query playgrounds, you can now craft and save playgrounds that are persisted in the database. These saved playgrounds are easily shareable – a simple copy of the URL is all it takes. It's essential to note that only the original author of the playground has the privilege to edit the content within that specific playground. All changes made by recipients is transient and only visible to them.

Forking playgrounds is under development and soon you'll be able to fork existing playgrounds. This will help with custom starting points or when experimenting with changes to the stable playground.

Improved editor experience

The overall experience in the C# code editor has received improvements: autocomplete, quick info and signature help.

Autocomplete

Given the extensive size of the Entity Framework Core API, autocomplete helps with knowing which variables, methods and types can be used.

Signature help

Quickly view various function overloads, documentation and parameters.

Quick info

Hover over any symbol and type to view available help.

Compiler errors

When running the code, any errors will be shown directly over the problematic code.

Daily builds for Entity Framework Core and providers

Entity Framework Playground is great for learning how to use Entity Framework Core effectively. In addition to the most recent stable builds of both Entity Framework itself and available providers, you can now use the daily builds of Entity Framework Core together with preview builds of providers (only for providers which publish daily/nightly builds). This allows playing with the latest features quickly before they hit preview stage. Or you can test for regressions - both fixed and introduced in the daily builds.

At the moment this article is written, daily builds use Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore version 9.0.0-alpha.1.24073.2 running on .NET 8. In the future the daily build might use .NET 9 daily build.

The following providers are available:

• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.SqlServer - 9.0.0-alpha.1.24073.2
• Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.Sqlite - 9.0.0-alpha.1.24073.2
• Npgsql.EntityFrameworkCore.PostgreSQL - 9.0.0-preview.1-ci.20240106T173826

Since these providers will be updated on a regular basis, find the always up to date list on our home page.

Newest packages

The backend has been updated with the latest Entity Framework Core packages and providers. This includes the following (note that SqlServer and Sqlite provider versions always match the version of Entity Framework Core):

• .NET 6 and Entity Framework 8 version 8.0.1
  • Npgsql provider version 8.0.0
• .NET 6 and Entity Framework 7 version 7.0.15
  • Npgsql provider version 7.0.11
• .NET 6 and Entity Framework 6 version 6.0.26
  • Npgsql provider version 6.0.22

Entity Framework Playground will stay up to date with the newest versions as they are released.

Have fun playing with Entity Framework! If you want to stay up to date, consider subscribing to our newsletter below or following along on @massivepx.