SQL Execution Plan and Index Usage Reading Review
Interpret a pasted query plan in plain English, find scans, bad estimates and missing indexes, and list safe things to test.
The Open buttons send the prompt text as currently shown below to that site only when you click. Fill in the placeholders first.
[VERIFY] is an editorial flag, not a blank to fill. Wherever the prompt shows [VERIFY], check that item against a reliable source before you use it.
Help me read an execution plan without being a database specialist. Database and version: [DATABASE_AND_VERSION]. The slow query is: [QUERY]. Table sizes and existing indexes: [TABLE_SIZES_AND_INDEXES]. The execution plan output, pasted as text: [PLAN_OUTPUT]. It currently takes [CURRENT_TIME] and needs to be under [TARGET_TIME]. Explain: 1) The plan from the bottom or innermost step upwards in numbered plain-English steps, one line each. 2) A table with the columns Step, Operation, Estimated rows versus actual rows (if shown), Cost or time share, and Concern (full scan, big estimate error, sort spilling to disk, nested loop over a large set, function on indexed column). 3) The top three suspected causes of slowness, ranked, each tied to a line of the plan. 4) A list of experiments in a safe order: rewrite the predicate, add or change an index, refresh statistics, limit columns selected. For each, state the trade-off (write cost, storage, locking). 5) How I will know it worked: which numbers to compare before and after. Rules: plan terminology differs between databases, so mark any interpretation [VERIFY] for [DATABASE_AND_VERSION]. Do not claim a specific speed gain. Do not tell me to create indexes in production without testing on a copy and getting agreement from whoever owns the database. If the plan lacks actual row counts, say what to re-run to get them.
Fill in before use
Optional: type your details and the prompt above updates. Nothing is saved or sent.
Replace each bracketed placeholder with your own details, then paste into Any AI or another assistant.