AppKit

Build Databricks Apps faster with a Node.js + React SDK. Built for humans and AI.

AppKit is a TypeScript SDK for building production-ready Databricks applications with a plugin-based architecture. It gives you opinionated defaults, built-in observability, and first-class integration with Databricks services — so you spend time on your app, not the plumbing.

• Plugin architecture — Compose your app from focused plugins; a base server plus analytics, Genie, files, and more.
• Type safety — End-to-end TypeScript with automatic query type generation.
• Production-ready — Built-in caching, telemetry, retries, and error handling.
• Great DX — Hot reload, file-based queries, and a workflow tuned for AI-assisted development.
• Databricks native — SQL Warehouses, Unity Catalog, Lakebase, and other workspace resources out of the box.

Quickstart

Requires the Databricks CLI and Node.js.

AI-assisted (recommended) — scaffold and evolve your app by prompting an AI assistant. Install the Agent Skills once:

databricks aitools install

Then ask your assistant to build the app, e.g. "Create a Databricks app that shows a dashboard of the NYC taxi trips dataset." See the AI-assisted development guide.

Manual — scaffold and deploy with the CLI directly:

databricks apps init      # scaffold the app + install dependencies (follow the prompts)
databricks apps deploy     # deploy to your workspace

What an app looks like

Every app is a set of plugins hosted by server():

import { createApp, server, analytics } from '@databricks/appkit';

createApp({
  plugins: [server(), analytics()],
});

With analytics(), drop a .sql file in config/queries/ and it's served at POST /api/analytics/query/<query_key> — parameterized, cached, and (with a .obo.sql name) executed on behalf of the signed-in user.

Plugins

AppKit's power comes from its plugin system. Each plugin adds a focused capability — analytics, genie, files, and more — with minimal configuration. See the plugins documentation for the full list and API.

Missing a plugin? Open an issue and tell us what you need — community input directly shapes the roadmap.

Documentation

• AppKit documentation — getting started, guides, and full API reference.
• AI-assisted development — build and evolve apps with an AI assistant.
• New to the Databricks Apps platform? Start with the Apps quickstart.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development setup and contribution guidelines.