Databricks Dabs skill

Declarative Automation Bundles (DABs)

Use this skill for any bundle-related request including creating, configuring, validating, deploying, running, and managing Databricks resources through DABs.

Reference Documentation

The following reference files provide detailed guidance for specific bundle tasks:

• Bundle Structure - Bundle structure, databricks.yml configuration, resource definitions, path resolution, variables, and multi-environment targets
• SDP Pipelines - Spark Declarative Pipeline configurations for DABs
• SQL Alerts - SQL Alert schemas and configuration (critical - API differs from other resources)
• Deploy and Run - Validation, deployment, running resources, monitoring logs, and troubleshooting common issues
• Resource Permissions - Permission levels and access control for bundle resources, per-resource-type levels, grants vs permissions

When to Use This Skill

Load this skill for any request involving:

• Creating new bundle projects or resources
• Configuring databricks.yml or resource YAML files
• Setting up multi-environment deployments (dev/prod targets)
• Deploying or running bundle resources
• Managing permissions for bundle resources
• Troubleshooting bundle validation or deployment errors
• Working with specific resource types (dashboards, jobs, pipelines, alerts, volumes, apps)

General Guidelines

1. Always validate after configuration changes - Use bundle validate --strict --target <target> after any change
2. Use reference documentation - Consult the appropriate reference file for detailed patterns and examples
3. Follow naming conventions - Resource files should use <name>.<resource_type>.yml format
4. Path resolution is critical - Paths differ based on file location (see Bundle Structure reference)
5. Preserve existing structure - Keep user comments and structure when editing YAML files
6. Use variables - Parameterize catalog, schema, and warehouse for multi-environment support
7. Namespace App names - App names are workspace-global and limited to 30 characters. With Databricks CLI 0.270.0 or later, shared-development defaults should include the app and ${workspace.current_user.domain_friendly_name}; override production with a stable name, and persist an explicit local value when the default is invalid, collides, or must distinguish multiple non-production targets in one workspace. On older CLI versions, require an explicit app_name value instead

Required App Completion Contract

Before validating any bundle that creates or changes an App, re-read the final bundle YAML and confirm all of the following structural requirements:

• Each App resource uses a dedicated name variable, such as name: ${var.app_name}, while preserving an existing equivalent variable when present.
• For Databricks CLI 0.270.0 or later, each App name variable defaults to a recognizable App prefix plus ${workspace.current_user.domain_friendly_name} for development, and the production target overrides it with a stable name. On older CLI versions, App name variables have no default and each developer must provide values.
• No development App name uses ${workspace.current_user.short_name}, a bare ${bundle.target}, or a hardcoded value.

Only after this check, run databricks bundle validate --strict --target <target> --output json and inspect each resolved resources.apps.<key>.name. Each name must contain only lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens and be at most 30 characters. If a resolved name is invalid, collides after normalization, or multiple non-production targets share a workspace, persist a shorter, distinct value in the uncommitted .databricks/bundle/<target>/variable-overrides.json file and validate again. Successful validation alone does not satisfy this contract because validation does not catch every invalid or non-namespaced App name.

Documentation

• Declarative Automation Bundles
• Bundle Examples Repository - official end-to-end example bundles (jobs, pipelines, dashboards, apps, and more); use as working references for patterns not covered by the reference files above