diff --git a/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/App.cs b/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/App.cs
index 9da696d555..5c7dddea6e 100644
--- a/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/App.cs
+++ b/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/App.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 using System.Diagnostics;
 
-using Azure.Identity;
 using Microsoft.Data.SqlClient;
 using Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.AlwaysEncrypted.AzureKeyVaultProvider;
 
@@ -82,15 +81,6 @@ internal int Run(RunOptions options)
                   Authentication:   {builder.Authentication}
 
                 """);
-
-            if (options.Verbose)
-            {
-                Out($"""
-                    Full connection string:
-                      {builder}
-
-                    """);
-            }
         }
         catch (Exception ex)
         {
@@ -109,10 +99,9 @@ internal int Run(RunOptions options)
         // Enable SqlClient event logging if requested.
         if (options.LogEvents)
         {
-            string prefix = "[EVENT]";
-            Out($"SqlClient event logging enabled; events will be prefixed with {prefix}");
+            Out($"SqlClient event logging enabled; events will be prefixed with {SqlClientEventListener.Prefix}");
 
-            _eventListener = new SqlClientEventListener(Out, prefix);
+            _eventListener = new SqlClientEventListener(Out, SqlClientEventListener.Prefix);
         }
 
         // Pause for trace attachment if requested.
@@ -127,9 +116,10 @@ internal int Run(RunOptions options)
             Console.ReadLine();
         }
 
-        // Instantiate the AKV Provider to ensure its assembly is present, loadable, contains the
-        // expected types, and at least the constructor functions.
-        _ = new SqlColumnEncryptionAzureKeyVaultProvider(new DefaultAzureCredential(true));
+        // Load the AKV Provider assembly to ensure it is present, loadable, and contains the
+        // expected types.  This is a lightweight check that detects transitive dependency conflicts
+        // without allocating a credential or invoking any external service.
+        _ = typeof(SqlColumnEncryptionAzureKeyVaultProvider).Assembly;
 
         try
         {
diff --git a/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/EntryPoint.cs b/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/EntryPoint.cs
index 847224e289..4ad1d0ed40 100644
--- a/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/EntryPoint.cs
+++ b/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/EntryPoint.cs
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ Supply specific package versions when building to test different versions of the
             verboseOption
         };
 
+        int exitCode = 0;
         rootCommand.SetAction(parseResult =>
         {
             App.RunOptions options = new()
@@ -77,9 +78,10 @@ Supply specific package versions when building to test different versions of the
             };
 
             using App app = new();
-            return app.Run(options);
+            exitCode = app.Run(options);
         });
 
-        return rootCommand.Parse(args).Invoke();
+        rootCommand.Parse(args).Invoke();
+        return exitCode;
     }
 }
diff --git a/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/README.md b/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/README.md
index c89456dd4e..2c7cb5fc98 100644
--- a/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/README.md
+++ b/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/README.md
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ Package versions are controlled through MSBuild properties. Pass them on the com
 
 | Property | Default | Description |
 | --- | --- | --- |
-| `SqlClientVersion` | `6.1.4` | Version of `Microsoft.Data.SqlClient` to reference. |
-| `AkvProviderVersion` | `6.1.2` | Version of `Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.AlwaysEncrypted.AzureKeyVaultProvider` to reference. |
+| `SqlClientVersion` | `7.0.0-preview4.26064.3` | Version of `Microsoft.Data.SqlClient` to reference. |
+| `AkvProviderVersion` | `7.0.0-preview1.26064.3` | Version of `Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.AlwaysEncrypted.AzureKeyVaultProvider` to reference. |
 | `AzureVersion` | None | Version of `Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.Extensions.Azure` to reference.  When omitted, the `Azure` package will not be referenced. |
 
 ## Local Package Source
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ Description:
 
   Supply specific package versions when building to test different versions of the SqlClient suite, for example:
 
-    -p:SqlClientVersion=7.0.0.preview4
+    -p:SqlClientVersion=7.0.0-preview4
     -p:AkvProviderVersion=7.0.1-preview2
     -p:AzureVersion=1.0.0-preview1
 
diff --git a/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/SqlClientEventListener.cs b/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/SqlClientEventListener.cs
index 5e861f4796..1fd91698b3 100644
--- a/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/SqlClientEventListener.cs
+++ b/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/SqlClientEventListener.cs
@@ -24,6 +24,16 @@ internal SqlClientEventListener(Action<string> output, string prefix)
 
     #endregion
 
+    // ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+    #region Constants
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// The default prefix prepended to each emitted event message.
+    /// </summary>
+    internal const string Prefix = "[EVENT]";
+
+    #endregion
+
     // ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     #region Derived Methods
 
diff --git a/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/packages/.gitkeep b/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/packages/.gitkeep
index 72ae807a91..eb0f557d02 100644
--- a/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/packages/.gitkeep
+++ b/doc/apps/AzureAuthentication/packages/.gitkeep
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-# This presence of this file ensures that git creates the packages/ directory, which must exist
+# The presence of this file ensures that git creates the packages/ directory, which must exist
 # because it is declared in our NuGet.config.
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.sln b/src/Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.sln
index 42bbcb4374..a82d9f616c 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.sln
+++ b/src/Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.sln
@@ -380,6 +380,7 @@ EndProject
 Project("{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "Microsoft.Data.SqlClient", "Microsoft.Data.SqlClient\src\Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.csproj", "{AA77C107-9A78-4A99-98BB-21FF7A1E0B01}"
 EndProject
 Project("{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "AzureAuthentication", "..\doc\apps\AzureAuthentication\AzureAuthentication.csproj", "{C3FE67C1-D288-45ED-A35C-08107396F8BB}"
+EndProject
 Project("{2150E333-8FDC-42A3-9474-1A3956D46DE8}") = "notsupported", "notsupported", "{351BE847-A0BF-450C-A5BC-8337AFA49EAA}"
 EndProject
 Project("{FAE04EC0-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "Microsoft.Data.SqlClient", "Microsoft.Data.SqlClient\notsupported\Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.csproj", "{1DB299CE-95EA-4566-84DD-171768758291}"