MCPInstall

databricks-python-sdk

Databricks development guidance including Python SDK, Databricks Connect, CLI, and REST API. Use when working with databricks-sdk, databricks-connect, or Databricks APIs.

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Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/databricks/databricks-agent-skills --skill databricks-python-sdk
  1. 01

    Install

    Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.

  2. 02

    Describe the task

    Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads databricks-python-sdk automatically when relevant.

  3. 03

    Review the result

    The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

Databricks Development Guide

This skill provides guidance for Databricks SDK, Databricks Connect, CLI, and REST API.

SDK Documentation: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/ GitHub Repository: https://github.com/databricks/databricks-sdk-py


Environment Setup

  • Use existing virtual environment at .venv or use uv to create one
  • For Spark operations: uv pip install databricks-connect
  • For SDK operations: uv pip install databricks-sdk
  • Databricks CLI version should be 0.278.0 or higher

Configuration

  • Default profile name: DEFAULT
  • Config file: ~/.databrickscfg
  • Environment variables: DATABRICKS_HOST, DATABRICKS_TOKEN

Databricks Connect (Spark Operations)

Use databricks-connect for running Spark code locally against a Databricks cluster.

from databricks.connect import DatabricksSession

# Auto-detects 'DEFAULT' profile from ~/.databrickscfg
spark = DatabricksSession.builder.getOrCreate()

# With explicit profile
spark = DatabricksSession.builder.profile("MY_PROFILE").getOrCreate()

# Use spark as normal
df = spark.sql("SELECT * FROM catalog.schema.table")
df.show()

IMPORTANT: Do NOT set .master("local[*]") - this will cause issues with Databricks Connect.


Direct REST API Access

For operations not yet in SDK or overly complex via SDK, use direct REST API:

from databricks.sdk import WorkspaceClient

w = WorkspaceClient()

# Direct API call using authenticated client
response = w.api_client.do(
    method="GET",
    path="/api/2.0/clusters/list"
)

# POST with body
response = w.api_client.do(
    method="POST",
    path="/api/2.0/jobs/run-now",
    body={"job_id": 123}
)

When to use: Prefer SDK methods when available. Use api_client.do for:

  • New API endpoints not yet in SDK
  • Complex operations where SDK abstraction is problematic
  • Debugging/testing raw API responses

Databricks CLI

# Check version (should be >= 0.278.0)
databricks --version

# Use specific profile
databricks --profile MY_PROFILE clusters list

# Common commands
databricks clusters list
databricks jobs list
databricks workspace list /Users/me

SDK Reference

For a per-API table of method signatures and direct doc URLs (Clusters, Jobs, SQL warehouses, Unity Catalog, Serving, Vector Search, etc.), see references/doc-index.md. Worked examples for the main API surfaces live under examples/.

SDK Documentation Architecture

The SDK documentation follows a predictable URL pattern:

Base: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

Workspace APIs:  /workspace/{category}/{service}.html
Account APIs:    /account/{category}/{service}.html
Authentication:  /authentication.html
DBUtils:         /dbutils.html

Workspace API Categories

CategoryServices
computeclusters, cluster_policies, command_execution, instance_pools, libraries
catalogcatalogs, schemas, tables, volumes, functions, storage_credentials, external_locations
jobsjobs
sqlwarehouses, statement_execution, queries, alerts, dashboards
servingserving_endpoints
vectorsearchvector_search_indexes, vector_search_endpoints
pipelinespipelines
workspacerepos, secrets, workspace, git_credentials
filesfiles, dbfs
mlexperiments, model_registry

Authentication

Doc: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/authentication.html

Environment Variables

DATABRICKS_HOST=https://your-workspace.cloud.databricks.com
DATABRICKS_TOKEN=dapi...  # Personal Access Token

Code Patterns

# Auto-detect credentials from environment
from databricks.sdk import WorkspaceClient
w = WorkspaceClient()

# Explicit token auth
w = WorkspaceClient(
    host="https://your-workspace.cloud.databricks.com",
    token="dapi..."
)

# Azure Service Principal
w = WorkspaceClient(
    host="https://adb-xxx.azuredatabricks.net",
    azure_workspace_resource_id="/subscriptions/.../resourceGroups/.../providers/Microsoft.Databricks/workspaces/...",
    azure_tenant_id="tenant-id",
    azure_client_id="client-id",
    azure_client_secret="secret"
)

# Use a named profile from ~/.databrickscfg
w = WorkspaceClient(profile="MY_PROFILE")

Core API Reference

Clusters API

Doc: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/compute/clusters.html

# List all clusters
for cluster in w.clusters.list():
    print(f"{cluster.cluster_name}: {cluster.state}")

# Get cluster details
cluster = w.clusters.get(cluster_id="0123-456789-abcdef")

# Create a cluster (returns Wait object)
wait = w.clusters.create(
    cluster_name="my-cluster",
    spark_version=w.clusters.select_spark_version(latest=True),
    node_type_id=w.clusters.select_node_type(local_disk=True),
    num_workers=2
)
cluster = wait.result()  # Wait for cluster to be running

# Or use create_and_wait for blocking call
cluster = w.clusters.create_and_wait(
    cluster_name="my-cluster",
    spark_version="14.3.x-scala2.12",
    node_type_id="i3.xlarge",
    num_workers=2,
    timeout=timedelta(minutes=30)
)

# Start/stop/delete
w.clusters.start(cluster_id="...").result()
w.clusters.stop(cluster_id="...")
w.clusters.delete(cluster_id="...")

Jobs API

Doc: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/jobs/jobs.html

from databricks.sdk.service.jobs import Task, NotebookTask

# List jobs
for job in w.jobs.list():
    print(f"{job.job_id}: {job.settings.name}")

# Create a job
created = w.jobs.create(
    name="my-job",
    tasks=[
        Task(
            task_key="main",
            notebook_task=NotebookTask(notebook_path="/Users/me/notebook"),
            existing_cluster_id="0123-456789-abcdef"
        )
    ]
)

# Run a job now
run = w.jobs.run_now_and_wait(job_id=created.job_id)
print(f"Run completed: {run.state.result_state}")

# Get run output
output = w.jobs.get_run_output(run_id=run.run_id)

SQL Statement Execution

Doc: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/sql/statement_execution.html

# Execute SQL query
response = w.statement_execution.execute_statement(
    warehouse_id="abc123",
    statement="SELECT * FROM catalog.schema.table LIMIT 10",
    wait_timeout="30s"
)

# Check status and get results
if response.status.state == StatementState.SUCCEEDED:
    for row in response.result.data_array:
        print(row)

# For large results, fetch chunks
chunk = w.statement_execution.get_statement_result_chunk_n(
    statement_id=response.statement_id,
    chunk_index=0
)

SQL Warehouses

Doc: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/sql/warehouses.html

# List warehouses
for wh in w.warehouses.list():
    print(f"{wh.name}: {wh.state}")

# Get warehouse
warehouse = w.warehouses.get(id="abc123")

# Create warehouse
created = w.warehouses.create_and_wait(
    name="my-warehouse",
    cluster_size="Small",
    max_num_clusters=1,
    auto_stop_mins=15
)

# Start/stop
w.warehouses.start(id="abc123").result()
w.warehouses.stop(id="abc123").result()

Unity Catalog - Tables

Doc: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/catalog/tables.html

# List tables in a schema
for table in w.tables.list(catalog_name="main", schema_name="default"):
    print(f"{table.full_name}: {table.table_type}")

# Get table info
table = w.tables.get(full_name="main.default.my_table")
print(f"Columns: {[c.name for c in table.columns]}")

# Check if table exists
exists = w.tables.exists(full_name="main.default.my_table")

Unity Catalog - Catalogs & Schemas

Doc (Catalogs): https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/catalog/catalogs.html Doc (Schemas): https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/catalog/schemas.html

# List catalogs
for catalog in w.catalogs.list():
    print(catalog.name)

# Create catalog
w.catalogs.create(name="my_catalog", comment="Description")

# List schemas
for schema in w.schemas.list(catalog_name="main"):
    print(schema.name)

# Create schema
w.schemas.create(name="my_schema", catalog_name="main")

Volumes

Doc: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/catalog/volumes.html

from databricks.sdk.service.catalog import VolumeType

# List volumes
for vol in w.volumes.list(catalog_name="main", schema_name="default"):
    print(f"{vol.full_name}: {vol.volume_type}")

# Create managed volume
w.volumes.create(
    catalog_name="main",
    schema_name="default",
    name="my_volume",
    volume_type=VolumeType.MANAGED
)

# Read volume info
vol = w.volumes.read(name="main.default.my_volume")

Files API

Doc: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/files/files.html

# Upload file to volume
w.files.upload(
    file_path="/Volumes/main/default/my_volume/data.csv",
    contents=open("local_file.csv", "rb")
)

# Download file
with w.files.download(file_path="/Volumes/main/default/my_volume/data.csv") as f:
    content = f.read()

# List directory contents
for entry in w.files.list_directory_contents("/Volumes/main/default/my_volume/"):
    print(f"{entry.name}: {entry.is_directory}")

# Upload/download with progress (parallel)
w.files.upload_from(
    file_path="/Volumes/main/default/my_volume/large.parquet",
    source_path="/local/path/large.parquet",
    use_parallel=True
)

w.files.download_to(
    file_path="/Volumes/main/default/my_volume/large.parquet",
    destination="/local/output/",
    use_parallel=True
)

Serving Endpoints (Model Serving)

Doc: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/serving/serving_endpoints.html

# List endpoints
for ep in w.serving_endpoints.list():
    print(f"{ep.name}: {ep.state}")

# Get endpoint
endpoint = w.serving_endpoints.get(name="my-endpoint")

# Query endpoint
response = w.serving_endpoints.query(
    name="my-endpoint",
    inputs={"prompt": "Hello, world!"}
)

# For chat/completions endpoints
response = w.serving_endpoints.query(
    name="my-chat-endpoint",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]
)

# Get OpenAI-compatible client
openai_client = w.serving_endpoints.get_open_ai_client()

Vector Search

Doc (Indexes): https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/vectorsearch/vector_search_indexes.html Doc (Endpoints): https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/vectorsearch/vector_search_endpoints.html

# List vector search indexes
for idx in w.vector_search_indexes.list_indexes(endpoint_name="my-vs-endpoint"):
    print(idx.name)

# Query index
results = w.vector_search_indexes.query_index(
    index_name="main.default.my_index",
    columns=["id", "text", "embedding"],
    query_text="search query",
    num_results=10
)
for doc in results.result.data_array:
    print(doc)

Pipelines (Delta Live Tables)

Doc: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/pipelines/pipelines.html

# List pipelines
for pipeline in w.pipelines.list_pipelines():
    print(f"{pipeline.name}: {pipeline.state}")

# Get pipeline
pipeline = w.pipelines.get(pipeline_id="abc123")

# Start pipeline update
w.pipelines.start_update(pipeline_id="abc123")

# Stop pipeline
w.pipelines.stop_and_wait(pipeline_id="abc123")

Secrets

Doc: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/workspace/secrets.html

# List secret scopes
for scope in w.secrets.list_scopes():
    print(scope.name)

# Create scope
w.secrets.create_scope(scope="my-scope")

# Put secret
w.secrets.put_secret(scope="my-scope", key="api-key", string_value="secret123")

# Get secret (returns GetSecretResponse with value)
secret = w.secrets.get_secret(scope="my-scope", key="api-key")

# List secrets in scope (metadata only, not values)
for s in w.secrets.list_secrets(scope="my-scope"):
    print(s.key)

DBUtils

Doc: https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/dbutils.html

# Access dbutils through WorkspaceClient
dbutils = w.dbutils

# File system operations
files = dbutils.fs.ls("/")
dbutils.fs.cp("dbfs:/source", "dbfs:/dest")
dbutils.fs.rm("dbfs:/path", recurse=True)

# Secrets (same as w.secrets but dbutils interface)
value = dbutils.secrets.get(scope="my-scope", key="my-key")

Common Patterns

CRITICAL: Async Applications (FastAPI, etc.)

The Databricks SDK is fully synchronous. All calls block the thread. In async applications (FastAPI, asyncio), you MUST wrap SDK calls with asyncio.to_thread() to avoid blocking the event loop.

import asyncio
from databricks.sdk import WorkspaceClient

w = WorkspaceClient()

# WRONG - blocks the event loop
async def get_clusters_bad():
    return list(w.clusters.list())  # BLOCKS!

# CORRECT - runs in thread pool
async def get_clusters_good():
    return await asyncio.to_thread(lambda: list(w.clusters.list()))

# CORRECT - for simple calls
async def get_cluster(cluster_id: str):
    return await asyncio.to_thread(w.clusters.get, cluster_id)

# CORRECT - FastAPI endpoint
from fastapi import FastAPI
app = FastAPI()

@app.get("/clusters")
async def list_clusters():
    clusters = await asyncio.to_thread(lambda: list(w.clusters.list()))
    return [{"id": c.cluster_id, "name": c.cluster_name} for c in clusters]

@app.post("/query")
async def run_query(sql: str, warehouse_id: str):
    # Wrap the blocking SDK call
    response = await asyncio.to_thread(
        w.statement_execution.execute_statement,
        statement=sql,
        warehouse_id=warehouse_id,
        wait_timeout="30s"
    )
    return response.result.data_array

Note: WorkspaceClient().config.host is NOT a network call - it just reads config. No need to wrap property access.


Wait for Long-Running Operations

from datetime import timedelta

# Pattern 1: Use *_and_wait methods
cluster = w.clusters.create_and_wait(
    cluster_name="test",
    spark_version="14.3.x-scala2.12",
    node_type_id="i3.xlarge",
    num_workers=2,
    timeout=timedelta(minutes=30)
)

# Pattern 2: Use Wait object
wait = w.clusters.create(...)
cluster = wait.result()  # Blocks until ready

# Pattern 3: Manual polling with callback
def progress(cluster):
    print(f"State: {cluster.state}")

cluster = w.clusters.wait_get_cluster_running(
    cluster_id="...",
    timeout=timedelta(minutes=30),
    callback=progress
)

Pagination

# All list methods return iterators that handle pagination automatically
for job in w.jobs.list():  # Fetches all pages
    print(job.settings.name)

# For manual control
from databricks.sdk.service.jobs import ListJobsRequest
response = w.jobs.list(limit=10)
for job in response:
    print(job)

Error Handling

from databricks.sdk.errors import NotFound, PermissionDenied, ResourceAlreadyExists

try:
    cluster = w.clusters.get(cluster_id="invalid-id")
except NotFound:
    print("Cluster not found")
except PermissionDenied:
    print("Access denied")

When Uncertain

If I'm unsure about a method, I should:

  1. Check the documentation URL pattern:

    • https://databricks-sdk-py.readthedocs.io/en/latest/workspace/{category}/{service}.html
  2. Common categories:

    • Clusters: /workspace/compute/clusters.html
    • Jobs: /workspace/jobs/jobs.html
    • Tables: /workspace/catalog/tables.html
    • Warehouses: /workspace/sql/warehouses.html
    • Serving: /workspace/serving/serving_endpoints.html
  3. Fetch and verify before providing guidance on parameters or return types.


Quick Reference Links

Related Skills

  • databricks-core - profile and authentication setup
  • databricks-dabs - deploying resources via DABs
  • databricks-jobs - job orchestration patterns
  • databricks-unity-catalog - catalog governance
  • databricks-model-serving - serving endpoint management
  • databricks-vector-search - vector index operations
  • databricks-lakebase - managed PostgreSQL with autoscaling + branching

FAQ

What does the databricks-python-sdk skill do?

Databricks development guidance including Python SDK, Databricks Connect, CLI, and REST API. Use when working with databricks-sdk, databricks-connect, or Databricks APIs.

How do I install databricks-python-sdk?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/databricks/databricks-agent-skills --skill databricks-python-sdk in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/databricks-python-sdk/ (personal) or .claude/skills/databricks-python-sdk/ (project).

Which AI agents can use databricks-python-sdk?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is databricks-python-sdk safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains databricks-python-sdk?

It is published by databricks in databricks/databricks-agent-skills. It has 303 recorded installs.

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