Done, but never finished

By Hugo Kornelis on October 23, 2026

You can accuse me of many things. Lack of ambition is not on that list, though. Nor is speed of execution.

In 2017, I made the decision that SQL Server execution plans needed better documentation. I did not expect Microsoft to do this for me. And so I decided, heavily inspired by Paul Randall’s Wait Type Library, to write it myself. I purchased the domain sqlserverfast.com, migrated my blog there, and started to write the SQL Server Execution Plan Reference.

That part of the site went live on May 31, 2018, when I had finished the generic pages plus the pages on all join and aggregation operators. After that, I regularly added a page, sometimes even multiple at once, and I also frequently updated pages with new or corrected information.

Done

Last week, I published the page that describes the Vector Index Seek operator. That was the last missing page. The Operator List, which enumerates all operators that I know of, now links to a dedicated page, with a full and detailed description of what the operator does and how it does it, for each operator.

So in a sense, you might say that this project that I started in 2017 is now finally complete. My work is done, and I can relax!

But never finished

But that is not true. A project like this is never finished.

I might have missed operators. Perhaps you are, right now, scratching your head as you stare at an execution plan that uses an operator that is missing from my list here. That is definitely possible. I am only human. I have missed (and then later added) operators before. So if you find an operator that I missed, let me know. I will research and then add it.

Microsoft might also add new operators in the future. There were five new operators in SQL Server 2025 (and in Azure SQL Database at or around the same timeframe). There might be more new operators in the next version. Or perhaps even in a CU. If that happens, then I will of course research and add those operators as soon as I find out!

And the process of change will of course never stop either. Just today, I posted a small improvement to the Vector Index Seek page, and a rather large update to the Table Valued Function page. (You can find the details of these and all other changes on the Change Log).

There will always be new information. Things I missed up until now. Things that Microsoft changed or added. Things that my readers point out to me.

And I might also decide to add more pages, even when there are no new operators. Not every page has to be about an operator. Granted, the majority of the Execution Plan Reference follows the pattern of one page for each operator, but there are a few more generic pages as well. I might add more of those in the future.

The future

So that is what you can expect from me going forward. As long as I am able to, I will keep maintaining this resource, based on new developments, my own findings, and your feedback.

However, except for short bursts when Microsoft releases a new version that impacts execution plans, I expect that the frequency of change to this Execution Plan Reference will go down. I will update when I have new information to share. But I will not push meaningless updates just for the sake of it.

Of course, as always, do let me know if you run into anything that seems to be missing, wrong, or confusing. Thanks in advance!