databricks-core

SKILL.md

Databricks

Core skill for Databricks CLI, authentication, and data exploration.

Product Skills

For specific products, use dedicated skills:

databricks-jobs - Lakeflow Jobs development and deployment

databricks-pipelines - Lakeflow Spark Declarative Pipelines (batch and streaming data pipelines)

databricks-apps - Full-stack TypeScript app development and deployment

databricks-lakebase - Lakebase Postgres Autoscaling project management

databricks-model-serving - Model Serving endpoint management and inference

Prerequisites

CLI installed: Run databricks --version to check.

If the CLI is missing or outdated (< v0.292.0): STOP. Do not proceed or work around a missing CLI.

Read the CLI Installation reference file and follow the instructions to guide the user through installation.

Note: In sandboxed environments (Cursor IDE, containers), install commands write outside the workspace and may be blocked. Present the install command to the user and ask them to run it in their own terminal.

Exception: If CLI installation is blocked (sandboxed containers, restricted environments), ask the user whether to fall back to direct REST API calls using DATABRICKS_HOST and DATABRICKS_TOKEN environment variables if present in the shell. See the Databricks REST API docs.

Authenticated: databricks auth profiles

If not: see CLI Authentication

Profile Selection - CRITICAL

NEVER auto-select a profile.

List profiles: databricks auth profiles

Present ALL profiles to user with workspace URLs

Let user choose (even if only one exists)

Offer to create new profile if needed

Claude Code - IMPORTANT

Each Bash command runs in a separate shell session.

# WORKS: --profile flag
databricks apps list --profile my-workspace

# WORKS: chained with &&
export DATABRICKS_CONFIG_PROFILE=my-workspace && databricks apps list

# DOES NOT WORK: separate commands
export DATABRICKS_CONFIG_PROFILE=my-workspace
databricks apps list  # profile not set!

Data Exploration — Use AI Tools

Use these instead of manually navigating catalogs/schemas/tables:

# discover table structure (columns, types, sample data, stats)
databricks experimental aitools tools discover-schema catalog.schema.table --profile <PROFILE>

# run ad-hoc SQL queries
databricks experimental aitools tools query "SELECT * FROM table LIMIT 10" --profile <PROFILE>

# find the default warehouse
databricks experimental aitools tools get-default-warehouse --profile <PROFILE>

See Data Exploration for details.

Quick Reference

⚠️ CRITICAL: Some commands use positional arguments, not flags

# current user
databricks current-user me --profile <PROFILE>

# list resources
databricks apps list --profile <PROFILE>
databricks jobs list --profile <PROFILE>
databricks clusters list --profile <PROFILE>
databricks warehouses list --profile <PROFILE>
databricks pipelines list --profile <PROFILE>
databricks serving-endpoints list --profile <PROFILE>

# ⚠️ Unity Catalog — POSITIONAL arguments (NOT flags!)
databricks catalogs list --profile <PROFILE>

# ✅ CORRECT: positional args
databricks schemas list <CATALOG> --profile <PROFILE>
databricks tables list <CATALOG> <SCHEMA> --profile <PROFILE>
databricks tables get <CATALOG>.<SCHEMA>.<TABLE> --profile <PROFILE>

# ❌ WRONG: these flags/commands DON'T EXIST
# databricks schemas list --catalog-name <CATALOG>    ← WILL FAIL
# databricks tables list --catalog <CATALOG>           ← WILL FAIL
# databricks sql-warehouses list                       ← doesn't exist, use `warehouses list`
# databricks execute-statement                         ← doesn't exist, use `experimental aitools tools query`
# databricks sql execute                               ← doesn't exist, use `experimental aitools tools query`

# When in doubt, check help:
# databricks schemas list --help

# get details
databricks apps get <NAME> --profile <PROFILE>
databricks jobs get --job-id <ID> --profile <PROFILE>
databricks clusters get --cluster-id <ID> --profile <PROFILE>

# bundles
databricks bundle init --profile <PROFILE>
databricks bundle validate --profile <PROFILE>
databricks bundle deploy -t <TARGET> --profile <PROFILE>
databricks bundle run <RESOURCE> -t <TARGET> --profile <PROFILE>

Troubleshooting

Error
Solution

cannot configure default credentials
Use --profile flag or authenticate first

PERMISSION_DENIED
Check workspace/UC permissions

RESOURCE_DOES_NOT_EXIST
Verify resource name/id and profile

Required Reading by Task

Task
READ BEFORE proceeding

First time setup
CLI Installation

Auth issues / new workspace
CLI Authentication

Exploring tables/schemas
Data Exploration

Deploying jobs/pipelines
Use /databricks-dabs

Reference Guides

CLI Installation

CLI Authentication

Data Exploration