[scottkcoffey-a11y]

Standalone resubmission of #5310, revised per review.

• No upstream or product links. The file stands on its own.
• Dry run fails closed: anything other than an explicit 0, including NULL, is a dry run.
• The procedure template archives in TOP (N) batches with one short transaction per batch, a fresh OUTPUT...INTO key set, and refuses to run inside a caller-owned transaction.
• Removed the tooling, security, and review checklist sections that restated defaults. What remains is SQL Server-specific: XACT_ABORT with THROW, @@TRANCOUNT handling, statements that cannot run in a user transaction, batched archive-then-delete, and read-only DMV diagnostics.

The procedure template was executed on SQL Server 16.0.4305.5 Developer Edition (64-bit) against a 12,000-row test table: default dry run and @DryRun = NULL changed nothing, a caller transaction was refused, invalid parameters raised errors, a live run with @batchsize = 500 moved exactly the 4,000 qualifying rows, and a rerun moved 0.

[github-actions]

🔒 PR Risk Scan Results

Scanned 1 changed file(s).

Severity	Count
🔴 High	0
🟠 Medium	0
ℹ️ Info	0

✅ No matching risk patterns were detected in changed files.

This is an automated soft-gate report. Findings indicate review targets and do not block merge by themselves.

[github-actions]

🚦 Submission status: 👀 Ready for review

Risk tier: merge-risk:medium — New or substantially changed resource without privileged execution
Required to merge: passing submission-gate checks plus 1 approval from reviewers with write access.

Why this tier

• Adds 1 file(s), e.g. instructions/sql-server-safe-tsql.instructions.md
• Changes 135 lines (low-risk limit is 40)

Automated checks

Check	Status	Details
Line endings	✅ Passed	Passed · logs
Spelling	✅ Passed	Passed · logs
Generated README consistency	✅ Passed	Passed · logs
Risk scan	✅ Passed	Passed · logs
Contributor reputation	✅ Passed	Passed · logs
Duplicate resource scan	✅ Passed	Passed · logs
PR quality signal	⏭️ Skipped	Skipped by its workflow · logs

Review

• Approvals: 0/1
• Assigned reviewer: not assigned yet — comment /request-review to ask for one
• Review target date: not set
• Still needed: 1 more approval(s)
• No staffed reviewer pool owns these files yet; any reviewer with write access counts as the domain reviewer.

Commands

Command	Who	What it does
/rerun-checks	PR author, maintainers	Re-runs failed or incomplete checks and re-evaluates this gate
/request-review	PR author, maintainers	Asks the review rotation to assign a reviewer (adds needs-reviewer)

_{Updated for 9c19d39 · gate run · This comment is maintained automatically — see submission gate docs.}

[Copilot]

🟡 Changes recommended

The archive template’s transaction and failure-reporting guarantees need correction before it is safe to reuse.

2 open issues

• Reject implicit transactions to preserve independent batch commits · New
• Document output count as unreliable after rethrown errors · New

What changed in this PR

Adds SQL Server-specific safety instructions for T-SQL and PowerShell scripts, complementing the repository’s general SQL guidance.

Changes:

• Defines fail-closed dry runs, transaction handling, and confirmation gates for destructive operations.
• Provides a batched archive/delete template and read-only diagnostic guidance.
• Adds the resource to the instructions catalog with installation links.

File	Description
instructions/​sql-server-safe-tsql.instructions.md	Adds SQL Server write-safety rules, a procedure template, and diagnostic guidance.
docs/​README.instructions.md	Lists the new instructions and installation links.

_{Review effort: Max}

[scottkcoffey-a11y]

/request-review

[github-actions]

🙋 Added needs-reviewer. Reviewer routing is assigning a reviewer now.

[Copilot]

🟡 Changes recommended

The single-transaction guidance can leave writes uncommitted and locks held when implicit transactions are enabled.

1 open issue

• Reject implicit transactions before starting an owned transaction · New

1 previously missed issue

In code that hasn't changed since last review

Remove HOLDLOCK unless preventing new qualifying rows is required

instructions/​sql-server-safe-tsql.instructions.md:92

HOLDLOCK gives this scan serializable semantics, so it can retain range locks beyond the copied rows and block inserts, including when the final batch is empty. UPDLOCK already protects copied rows until the key-based delete commits; remove HOLDLOCK unless preventing new qualifying rows is an explicit requirement.

2 resolved since last review

• Document output count as unreliable after rethrown errors
• Reject implicit transactions to preserve independent batch commits

_{Review effort: Max}

[Copilot]

🔵 Needs a closer look

The template’s default batch size can reach SQL Server’s lock-escalation threshold and cause table-wide blocking.

No open issues 🎉

1 previously missed issue

In code that hasn't changed since last review

Reduce default batch size to limit lock escalation

instructions/​sql-server-safe-tsql.instructions.md:40

Under row/key locking, a full 5,000-row batch can reach SQL Server's lock-escalation threshold, causing table-wide blocking until the batch commits. Use a smaller default such as 1,000 to reduce this risk; larger overrides should be tuned for the workload.

1 resolved since last review

• Reject implicit transactions before starting an owned transaction

_{Review effort: Max}

[Copilot]

Copilot was unable to review this pull request because the user who requested the review has insufficient remaining quota.

[aaronpowell]

Thanks @scottkcoffey-a11y — this addresses everything from #5310: no upstream link, @DryRun IS NULL OR @DryRun <> 0 fails closed, real TOP (@BatchSize) batches, and the generic sections are gone. The IMPLICIT_TRANSACTIONS check and the @RowsAffected-after-rethrow note are exactly the SQL Server traps this file should carry. Optional nit: a narrower .ps1 glob would help. Approving.