Beekeeper Studio 5.6 Beta - Microsoft Entra ID and SQLite Creation

February 26, 2026 작성자: Matthew Rathbone

We’ve been busy adding features to the 5.6 beta, and we’re excited to share the latest improvements. This release focuses on enterprise authentication, quality-of-life improvements, and continued work on our plugin system.

Microsoft Entra ID Authentication for PostgreSQL and MySQL

The headline feature of this release is Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) authentication support for PostgreSQL and MySQL databases hosted on Azure.

Previously, Entra ID auth was only available for SQL Server connections. Now you can use your Azure credentials to authenticate with Azure Database for PostgreSQL and Azure Database for MySQL too.

Supported Databases

Entra ID authentication is now available for:

SQL Server (Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance)
PostgreSQL (Azure Database for PostgreSQL)
MySQL (Azure Database for MySQL)

Supported Authentication Methods

All three databases support the following Entra ID authentication methods:

Azure AD SSO - Interactive browser-based single sign-on
Azure CLI - Uses your existing az login session for seamless, scriptable authentication
Service Principal - For automated environments using tenant ID, client ID, and client secret

This brings Beekeeper Studio’s Azure authentication capabilities in line with other enterprise database tools, making it easier to use in corporate environments with strict authentication requirements.

Create SQLite Database Files

A small but much-requested feature: you can now create new SQLite database files directly from the connection form.

Previously, you had to create the file externally before connecting. Now just specify the path where you want your new database, and Beekeeper Studio will create it for you. Simple, but useful.

Community Plugins

We’re continuing to build out our plugin system, and this release adds support for community-contributed plugins. This lays the groundwork for third-party developers to extend Beekeeper Studio’s functionality.

The plugin system is still evolving, but we’re excited about the possibilities this opens up. Stay tuned for more details on how to create and publish plugins.

Installation Stability

Turns out the Windows version of the app requires the Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable, and without having it installed, the app crashes on first launch (oops).

This was of course happening to some people and we couldn’t figure it out for ages. Well finally we did.

We’re not allowed to distribute it directly, but now the installer detects if you need it and offers to download and install it for you.

More Improvements in This Release

Adjustable Query Font Size - Customize the font size in the query editor to your preference
Table View History - Navigate back and forth through your table browsing history
Force Close Query Tabs - Force close tabs without the unsaved changes prompt when needed
Keyboard Shortcuts Modal - New UI for viewing and discovering keyboard shortcuts
Improved Fuzzy Search - The command palette now uses ufuzzy for better, faster search results
MySQL Server Statistics - New server statistics method for MySQL connections