Query Pilot Standalone Targets

Help ID: query-runner.standalone-targets

Standalone mode lets Query Pilot run against SQL Server targets that are not stored in the Minion repository. It is meant for ad hoc servers, lab boxes, customer systems, or team-specific lists where the Query Pilot should still have saved connection metadata.

Storage

Standalone targets default to %APPDATA%\MinionWare\MinionEnterprise\QueryRunnerTargets.json, shared by Debug, Release, and published builds for the same Windows user. An explicit QueryRunnerTargetsFile override is still honored; relative overrides resolve from the executable directory.

When the per-user file does not exist, Pilot checks legacy executable/working-directory locations and the development project's Debug/Release output folders. A single unambiguous nonempty server list is copied byte-for-byte, preserving encrypted credentials and leaving the source unchanged. Empty legacy files do not replace populated lists. Conflicting nonempty lists require an explicit choice instead of silently selecting one. Read or parse failures do not overwrite saved profiles with an empty list.

Server profiles include:

Server name and optional port.
Environment, SLA, app/role, and tags.
Authentication mode, SQL login user name, and encrypted SQL login password.
Timeout and trust-server-certificate behavior.
Active/inactive state.
Discovery metadata such as SQL version, edition, AG membership, active node, and last discovery time.

SQL login passwords are encrypted with the same Encryption.Secrets path used by repo-mode Query Pilot credential storage. Support bundles do not include decrypted passwords or encrypted password blobs.

Local Targets Manager

In Query Pilot > Servers, select Standalone in the source selector, then click Add / manage servers above the server list to add, edit, delete, activate, or deactivate standalone targets. After saving and closing the manager, the standalone server list reloads automatically.

Use New for a local profile, then fill in the server name, labels, tags, authentication mode, and connection options. Saving rewrites the local JSON file with the current target list. Inactive rows stay in the file and remain editable, but they are not loaded into the active Query Pilot target picker.

The Tags field is a comma-delimited local label list. Tags are searchable in the target picker, so a standalone target can be found by server name, environment, SLA, app/role, connection user, or tag.

Use Discover / test to validate the edited target connection and save basic server metadata. Discovery connects to master, reads product version, edition, AG membership, active node, and discovery time, then persists those values back to QueryRunnerTargets.json.

Repo Mode Differences

Standalone mode changes only where Query Pilot gets its server list. Query execution, per-tab target pinning, per-tab database selection, syntax tools, object hover, results, and refresh schedules continue to use the same Query Pilot paths.

Repo-only workflows still require repo mode because they depend on repository data. Examples include Database first, repo-based inventory filters, and future query-run audit logging.

Support Bundles

The support bundle collector records standalone target metadata from QueryRunnerTargets.json so support can troubleshoot local target loading without exposing secrets. The bundle includes non-secret labels, tags, active state, auth mode, discovery timestamps, and counts. It omits decrypted passwords, encrypted password values, SQL text, and connection strings.

Documentation revision: 8026DA2C8A82E63C