diff --git a/packages/core/src/amazonq/webview/ui/tabs/constants.ts b/packages/core/src/amazonq/webview/ui/tabs/constants.ts
index 8696274c692..1eb2783a4e5 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/amazonq/webview/ui/tabs/constants.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/amazonq/webview/ui/tabs/constants.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
  * Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
  */
-import { isSQLTransformReady } from '../../../../dev/config'
 import { TabType } from '../storages/tabsStorage'
 
 export type TabTypeData = {
@@ -34,16 +33,6 @@ What would you like to work on?`,
     gumby: {
         title: 'Q - Code Transformation',
         placeholder: 'Open a new tab to chat with Q',
-        welcome: isSQLTransformReady
-            ? `Welcome to code transformation!
-
-I can help you with the following tasks:
-- Upgrade your Java 8 and Java 11 codebases to Java 17
-- Convert embedded SQL from Oracle databases to PostgreSQL
-
-What would you like to do? You can enter 'language upgrade' or 'SQL conversion'.`
-            : `Welcome to code transformation!
-
-I can help you upgrade your Java 8 and 11 codebases to Java 17.`,
+        welcome: 'Welcome to Code Transformation!',
     },
 }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/amazonqGumby/chat/controller/controller.ts b/packages/core/src/amazonqGumby/chat/controller/controller.ts
index cbde4728f98..20fa66295b5 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/amazonqGumby/chat/controller/controller.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/amazonqGumby/chat/controller/controller.ts
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ import {
     getValidSQLConversionCandidateProjects,
     validateSQLMetadataFile,
 } from '../../../codewhisperer/commands/startTransformByQ'
-import { JDKVersion, transformByQState } from '../../../codewhisperer/models/model'
+import { JDKVersion, TransformationCandidateProject, transformByQState } from '../../../codewhisperer/models/model'
 import {
     AbsolutePathDetectedError,
     AlternateDependencyVersionsNotFoundError,
@@ -62,8 +62,6 @@ import { getStringHash } from '../../../shared/utilities/textUtilities'
 import { getVersionData } from '../../../codewhisperer/service/transformByQ/transformMavenHandler'
 import AdmZip from 'adm-zip'
 import { AuthError } from '../../../auth/sso/server'
-import { isSQLTransformReady } from '../../../dev/config'
-import { spawnSync } from 'child_process'
 
 // These events can be interactions within the chat,
 // or elsewhere in the IDE
@@ -190,35 +188,16 @@ export class GumbyController {
         this.messenger.sendCommandMessage(data)
     }
 
-    // silently check if user has open Java projects using embedded SQL
-    private async anyProjectContainsEmbeddedOracleSQL() {
+    private async transformInitiated(message: any) {
+        // silently check for projects eligible for SQL conversion
+        let embeddedSQLProjects: TransformationCandidateProject[] = []
         try {
-            // gets just open Java projects
-            const projects = await getValidSQLConversionCandidateProjects()
-            for (const project of projects) {
-                // case-insensitive, recursive search, display only count of matching lines
-                const args = ['-i', '-r', '-c', 'oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver']
-                // TO-DO: handle Windows
-                const spawnResult = spawnSync('grep', args, {
-                    cwd: project.path,
-                    shell: true,
-                    encoding: 'utf-8',
-                })
-                if (spawnResult.status !== 0) {
-                    return false
-                }
-                // TO-DO: parse stdout for the count of matching lines
-            }
+            embeddedSQLProjects = await getValidSQLConversionCandidateProjects()
         } catch (err) {
-            return false
+            getLogger().error(`Error validating SQL conversion projects: ${err}`)
         }
-        return true
-    }
 
-    private async transformInitiated(message: any) {
-        // feature flag for SQL transformations
-        const containsOracleSQL = await this.anyProjectContainsEmbeddedOracleSQL()
-        if (!isSQLTransformReady && !containsOracleSQL) {
+        if (embeddedSQLProjects.length === 0) {
             await this.handleLanguageUpgrade(message)
             return
         }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/codewhisperer/commands/startTransformByQ.ts b/packages/core/src/codewhisperer/commands/startTransformByQ.ts
index 7acbf04f32e..6c228a094f3 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/codewhisperer/commands/startTransformByQ.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/codewhisperer/commands/startTransformByQ.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import {
     TransformByQStatus,
     DB,
     TransformationType,
+    TransformationCandidateProject,
 } from '../models/model'
 import { convertDateToTimestamp } from '../../shared/utilities/textUtilities'
 import {
@@ -80,6 +81,7 @@ import { HumanInTheLoopManager } from '../service/transformByQ/humanInTheLoopMan
 import { setContext } from '../../shared/vscode/setContext'
 import { makeTemporaryToolkitFolder } from '../../shared'
 import globals from '../../shared/extensionGlobals'
+import { spawnSync } from 'child_process'
 
 function getFeedbackCommentData() {
     const jobId = transformByQState.getJobId()
@@ -734,7 +736,28 @@ export async function getValidLanguageUpgradeCandidateProjects() {
 export async function getValidSQLConversionCandidateProjects() {
     const openProjects = await getOpenProjects()
     const javaProjects = await getJavaProjects(openProjects)
-    return javaProjects
+    const embeddedSQLProjects: TransformationCandidateProject[] = []
+    for (const project of javaProjects) {
+        // as long as at least one of these strings is found, project contains embedded SQL statements
+        const searchStrings = ['oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver', 'jdbc:oracle:thin:@//', 'jdbc:oracle:oci:@//']
+        for (const str of searchStrings) {
+            const command = process.platform === 'win32' ? 'findstr' : 'grep'
+            // case-insensitive, recursive search
+            const args = command === 'findstr' ? ['/i', '/s', str] : ['-i', '-r', str]
+            const spawnResult = spawnSync(command, args, {
+                cwd: project.path,
+                shell: true, // TO-DO: better for this to be false? Test on project with a space in the name
+                encoding: 'utf-8',
+            })
+            // in case our search unexpectedly fails, still allow user to transform that project
+            // also, anything in stdout here means search string was detected
+            if (spawnResult.status !== 0 || spawnResult.error || spawnResult.stdout.trim()) {
+                embeddedSQLProjects.push(project)
+                break
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return embeddedSQLProjects
 }
 
 export async function setTransformationToRunningState() {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/codewhisperer/service/transformByQ/transformApiHandler.ts b/packages/core/src/codewhisperer/service/transformByQ/transformApiHandler.ts
index e7736dc05e0..d397ee3dc3a 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/codewhisperer/service/transformByQ/transformApiHandler.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/codewhisperer/service/transformByQ/transformApiHandler.ts
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ function isExcludedSourceFile(path: string): boolean {
 }
 
 // zip all dependency files and all source files excluding "target" (contains large JARs) plus ".git" and ".idea" (may appear in diff.patch)
-function getFilesRecursively(dir: string, isDependenciesFolder: boolean): string[] {
+export function getFilesRecursively(dir: string, isDependenciesFolder: boolean): string[] {
     const entries = nodefs.readdirSync(dir, { withFileTypes: true })
     const files = entries.flatMap((entry) => {
         const res = path.resolve(dir, entry.name)
diff --git a/packages/core/src/dev/config.ts b/packages/core/src/dev/config.ts
index 6c630aaf287..d5fa49b2426 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/dev/config.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/dev/config.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,3 @@ export const betaUrl = {
     amazonq: '',
     toolkit: '',
 }
-
-// feature flag for SQL transformations
-export const isSQLTransformReady = true
diff --git a/packages/core/src/test/codewhisperer/commands/transformByQ.test.ts b/packages/core/src/test/codewhisperer/commands/transformByQ.test.ts
index 20a5da3275a..9cf23632260 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/test/codewhisperer/commands/transformByQ.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/test/codewhisperer/commands/transformByQ.test.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import {
     updateJobHistory,
     zipCode,
     getTableMapping,
+    getFilesRecursively,
 } from '../../../codewhisperer/service/transformByQ/transformApiHandler'
 import {
     validateOpenProjects,
@@ -288,6 +289,19 @@ describe('transformByQ', function () {
         })
     })
 
+    it(`WHEN getFilesRecursively on source code THEN ignores excluded directories`, async function () {
+        const sourceFolder = path.join(tempDir, 'src')
+        await fs.mkdir(sourceFolder)
+        await fs.writeFile(path.join(sourceFolder, 'HelloWorld.java'), 'sample content for the test file')
+
+        const gitFolder = path.join(tempDir, '.git')
+        await fs.mkdir(gitFolder)
+        await fs.writeFile(path.join(gitFolder, 'config'), 'sample content for the test file')
+
+        const zippedFiles = getFilesRecursively(tempDir, false)
+        assert.strictEqual(zippedFiles.length, 1)
+    })
+
     it(`WHEN getTableMapping on complete step 0 progressUpdates THEN map IDs to tables`, async function () {
         const stepZeroProgressUpdates = [
             {