Databricks MCP Workshop

Interactive workshop for learning how to build agents on Databricks with hands-on examples covering managed servers, external integrations, custom server development and local IDE setup.

🎓 Workshop Participant Setup

For workshop participants - Get your own isolated environment with one command:

git clone https://github.com/databricks-solutions/mcp-workshop
cd mcp-workshop
./setup.sh

This interactive setup creates your personal workshop environment:

• 🏗️ Your own Unity Catalog with sample data
• 🚀 Custom MCP server deployed as a Databricks App
• 💻 Local development environment
• 🔐 Secure authentication setup

Each participant gets isolated resources (e.g., mcp_workshop_john_doe) - no conflicts, no shared data issues!

👉 See detailed setup guide →

🏢 Enterprise/Admin-Managed Setup

For workshops where participants don’t have catalog creation permissions:

1. Admin: Run setup/admin_bulk_setup.py notebook → Admin Guide
2. Participants: Follow the quick start → Participant Guide

Each participant gets their own isolated schema within a shared catalog - no jobs, no catalog creation needed!

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Access the Workshop

After deployment, access the workshop locally:

1. Navigate to the frontend: cd frontend
2. Start the dev server: npm run dev
3. Visit http://localhost:3000 to start the workshop

Your MCP server will be deployed as a Databricks App (check the Apps page)

📚 Workshop Content

Section 1: Managed MCP Servers (45 min)

Learn to use Databricks-managed MCP servers with:

• Unity Catalog functions and permissions
• Vector Search for RAG applications
• Genie Spaces for natural language SQL
• Automated vs Interactive modes

Section 2: External MCP Servers (40 min)

Integrate third-party services:

• Unity Catalog connections
• GitHub, Atlassian, Slack integrations
• Custom API connections
• Proxy authentication and security

Section 3: Custom MCP Servers (60 min)

Build and deploy your own:

• Simple @mcp.tool() decorator pattern (based on databrickslabs/mcp)
• Databricks SDK integration (clusters, warehouses, SQL)
• Markdown-based prompts for reusable commands
• Databricks Apps deployment with automated scripts
• End-to-end testing and debugging tools

Section 4: Local IDE Integration (30 min)

Connect your development environment:

• Cursor IDE configuration
• Claude Desktop setup
• VS Code with MCP extensions
• OAuth and PAT authentication

🔐 Authentication Model

This workshop uses Databricks Apps built-in authentication exclusively:

• User Authorization: Your access token is automatically forwarded via x-forwarded-access-token header
• App Authorization: Service principal credentials via DATABRICKS_CLIENT_ID and DATABRICKS_CLIENT_SECRET environment variables
• Unified Permissions: All operations respect your existing Unity Catalog permissions
• Zero Setup: No manual token management or OAuth flows required

Learn more about Databricks Apps authentication →

🛠️ Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                 Databricks Workspace                        │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  ┌─────────────────┐    ┌──────────────────────────────────┐ │
│  │  Local Dev      │    │         Unity Catalog           │ │
│  │  Frontend       │◄──►│  - mcp_workshop catalog         │ │
│  │  (Next.js)      │    │  - Sample data & schemas        │ │
│  │                 │    │  - Vector Search indexes       │ │
│  │  http://        │    │  - Genie Spaces                │ │
│  │  localhost:3000 │    └──────────────────────────────────┘ │
│  └─────────────────┘                                        │
│                         ┌──────────────────────────────────┐ │
│  ┌─────────────────┐    │       MCP Integrations          │ │
│  │  Setup Jobs     │    │  - Managed MCP servers          │ │
│  │  - Catalog      │    │  - External connections         │ │
│  │  - Sample data  │    │  - Custom MCP App (deployed)    │ │
│  │  - Vector index │    └──────────────────────────────────┘ │
│  └─────────────────┘                                        │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

📁 Project Structure

mcp-workshop/
├── databricks.yml              # Bundle configuration
├── frontend/                   # Next.js workshop application (local dev)
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── app/               # App router pages
│   │   └── components/        # React components
│   └── package.json
├── custom-mcp-template/        # Custom MCP server (deployed to Databricks Apps)
│   ├── server/                # FastAPI MCP server
│   ├── client/                # React client UI
│   └── deploy.sh              # Deployment script
└── setup/                      # Workshop setup jobs
    ├── create_workshop_catalog.py
    ├── setup_sample_data.py
    └── deploy_mcp_template.py

🎯 Learning Objectives

By the end of this workshop, you’ll be able to:

• ✅ Use Databricks managed MCP servers in your applications
• ✅ Integrate external MCP servers via Unity Catalog connections
• ✅ Build and deploy custom MCP servers as Databricks Apps
• ✅ Implement proper authentication and authorization patterns
• ✅ Apply MCP best practices for production deployments
• ✅ Connect local IDEs to Databricks MCP resources

🔧 Development

To run the workshop locally for development:

cd app
npm install
npm run dev

The app will run at http://localhost:3000 with mock authentication for development.

📝 Customization

Adding New Workshop Sections

1. Update src/lib/workshop-config.ts with new section definitions
2. Create component files in src/components/workshop/sections/
3. Add any required setup jobs to databricks.yml
4. Deploy with databricks bundle deploy

Modifying Authentication Scopes

Update the user_authorization.scopes in databricks.yml:

user_authorization:
  enabled: true
  scopes:
    - "sql"                    # SQL warehouse access
    - "files.files"           # File operations  
    - "dashboards.genie"      # Genie Spaces (add if needed)
    - "your-custom-scope"     # Additional scopes

🧹 Workshop Management

Cleanup After Workshop (for workspace admins/instructors)

The workshop creates user-specific resources in the workspace that should be cleaned up afterwards:

# List all workshop participants
./cleanup_workshop.sh --list

# Clean up specific participant
./cleanup_workshop.sh --participant john_doe

# Clean up ALL workshop resources (⚠️ DESTRUCTIVE)
./cleanup_workshop.sh --all

Monitor Workshop Usage

# View participant resources
./cleanup_workshop.sh --list

# Check catalog sizes
databricks sql query "SELECT catalog_name, SIZE_GB FROM information_schema.catalog_storage WHERE catalog_name LIKE 'mcp_workshop_%'"

# List workshop apps
databricks apps list | grep "mcp-custom-server-"

🆘 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

App won’t start: Check that all required environment variables are set in the bundle configuration.

Authentication errors: Ensure user authorization is enabled and required scopes are configured.

Resource access denied: Verify Unity Catalog permissions for the workshop catalog and resources.

Health check failing: Check that the app is listening on port 3000 and /api/health endpoint responds.

Setup script fails: Ensure Databricks CLI is configured and you have catalog creation permissions.

Getting Help

• Check the app logs in Databricks workspace
• Verify bundle deployment with databricks bundle validate
• Review Databricks Apps documentation
• For participant setup issues, see WORKSHOP_SETUP.md
• Submit issues to the workshop repository

🔀 Choosing Your MCP Approach

This workshop uses a simplified approach based on databrickslabs/mcp - perfect for learning MCP fundamentals.

This Workshop: databrickslabs/mcp

✅ Simpler structure - fewer files, easier to understand
✅ Focus on tool creation - @mcp.tool() decorator pattern
✅ Officially supported - maintained by Databricks Labs
✅ Quick deployment - streamlined for Databricks Apps

Alternative: databricks-solutions Repository

For Claude Code/Cursor users wanting enhanced IDE integration:

databricks-solutions/custom-mcp-databricks-app

Features:

• Enhanced IDE integration (Claude Code, Cursor)
• .claude/commands directory support
• FastMCP framework with routers
• Built-in MCP inspector
• More production-ready patterns

💡 Recommendation: Start with this workshop to learn the fundamentals. If you’re a heavy Claude Code or Cursor user, explore the databricks-solutions repository as your next step!

📖 Additional Resources

• databrickslabs/mcp Repository - Official examples
• Databricks MCP Documentation
• Model Context Protocol Specification
• Databricks Apps Guide
• FastMCP Documentation

📄 License

© 2025 Databricks, Inc. All rights reserved. The source in this notebook is provided subject to the Databricks License [https://databricks.com/db-license-source]. All included or referenced third party libraries are subject to the licenses set forth below.

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Ready to learn? Deploy the workshop and start exploring! 🚀