Databricks API Explorer

An interactive REST API explorer for Databricks — covering both Workspace and Account-level APIs. Built as a Databricks App with dual-mode authentication: runs locally via Databricks CLI SSO and in production as a Databricks App using On-Behalf-Of (OBO) authentication.

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Screenshot

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Features

API Coverage

• 32 API categories with 76 endpoints across both Workspace and Account REST API surfaces
• Scope switcher in the sidebar toggles between Workspace and Account API views

Workspace APIs (16 categories, 45 endpoints)

Category	Endpoints
Clusters	List, Get, Node Types, Spark Versions, Events
Jobs	List Jobs, Get Job, List Runs, Get Run
Workspace	List Objects, Get Status, Search
DBFS	List Files, Get File Status
SQL Warehouses	List, Get, List Saved Queries
Unity Catalog	List Catalogs, Schemas, Tables, Volumes, Get Table, Get Metastore
MLflow	Search Experiments, Get Experiment, Search Runs, Registered Models
Model Serving	List Endpoints, Get Endpoint
Pipelines (DLT)	List, Get, List Events
Secrets	List Scopes, List Secrets
Identity (SCIM)	Current User, List Users, List Groups, List Service Principals
Tokens	List Tokens
Instance Pools	List Instance Pools
Cluster Policies	List Cluster Policies
Repos	List Repos
Permissions	Get Cluster, Job, and Warehouse Permissions

Account APIs (16 categories, 31 endpoints)

Category	Endpoints
Account Users	List Users, Get User
Account Groups	List Groups, Get Group
Service Principals	List Service Principals, Get Service Principal
Workspaces	List Workspaces, Get Workspace
Credentials	List Credential Configs, Get Credential Config
Storage	List Storage Configs, Get Storage Config
Networks	List Network Configs, Get Network Config
Private Access	List Private Access Settings, Get Private Access Settings
VPC Endpoints	List VPC Endpoints, Get VPC Endpoint
Encryption Keys	List Encryption Key Configs, Get Encryption Key Config
Log Delivery	List Log Delivery Configs, Get Log Delivery Config
Budgets	List Budgets, Get Budget
Usage Download	Download Usage (CSV)
Account Metastores	List Metastores, Get Metastore, List Metastore Assignments
Account Access Control	Get Rule Set
Account Settings	Get Personal Compute Setting, List IP Access Lists

Authentication

• Local mode — authenticates via the Databricks CLI (~/.databrickscfg). Supports all CLI auth flows: OAuth/SSO (browser-based), PAT, Azure Service Principal, Azure Managed Identity, OAuth M2M.
• Databricks App mode — auto-detected at runtime. Uses On-Behalf-Of (OBO) authentication: the user's access token is forwarded via the x-forwarded-access-token HTTP header, so every API call runs as the logged-in user. No token configuration required.
• Custom URL / PAT — optionally specify any workspace URL and Personal Access Token directly in the UI, bypassing the CLI entirely.
• Account API auth — account-scope endpoints automatically derive the accounts console URL from the workspace host and obtain an account-level token.

Connection Management

• User identity panel — click the username chip in the top bar to open a slide-down panel showing:
  • Display name, username, active status
  • Auth type (OBO, OAuth/SSO, PAT, Azure SP, etc.)
  • Workspace host and account ID
  • User ID and primary email
  • Group memberships (up to 20, with overflow count)
• CLI profile switcher — all profiles from ~/.databrickscfg are listed and refreshed on every panel open. Switch profiles without restarting the app.
• Re-authenticate — triggers databricks auth login for SSO re-auth directly from the UI.
• Live connection validation — the Connect button tests the connection before saving it to state.

Request Builder

• Parameter forms — each endpoint renders a type-aware form with required/optional badges and inline descriptions
• Path parameter interpolation — path parameters (e.g. {cluster_id}) are extracted from the URL and shown as dedicated fields
• JSON body editor — POST endpoints show a pre-populated JSON textarea with the correct request schema
• Real-time search — filter endpoints across all categories by name, path, method, or category
• Configurable timeout — per-request timeout control with a spinner input next to the Execute button (defaults vary by endpoint, e.g. 120 s for Usage Download)
• Auto-fill account ID — account-scope endpoints automatically populate the account_id field from the current CLI profile

Response Viewer

• Collapsible JSON tree — interactive tree viewer rendered in an iframe with expand/collapse toggles, inline syntax highlighting, and compact previews for collapsed nodes
• Inline ID links — list API responses render clickable ID chips on matching fields; clicking one fires the corresponding Get API and pre-fills the parameter form
• Side panel with chip list — list responses show a scrollable side panel of result chips with labels, allowing quick drill-down into individual items
• Action buttons on chips — some list endpoints expose secondary actions (e.g. "List workspace assignments" on metastores) directly on each chip
• Response metadata bar — HTTP status code (color-coded), latency in ms, item count for list responses, full request URL
• CSV viewer — endpoints that return CSV data (e.g. Usage Download) are rendered as a scrollable HTML table
• curl command — every executed request generates a ready-to-copy curl command displayed below the Execute button, with a one-click copy button

Pagination

• Automatic pagination — when a response contains a next_page_token, the app automatically fetches subsequent pages and merges them into a single result
• "Load All" button — for APIs with has_more-style pagination, a "Load All" button in the side panel fetches all remaining pages in a background thread with live progress updates
• Abort controls — both automatic pagination and Load All can be cancelled mid-flight; Load All auto-cancels when switching to a different endpoint

Resizable Side Panel

• Drag-to-resize — the side panel has a left-edge resize handle; drag to adjust width between 20% and 80% of the viewport
• Persistent width — panel width is saved to localStorage and restored across page reloads

UI & UX

• Glassmorphism dark theme — custom CSS with CSS variables, neon accent colors, backdrop-filter blur effects
• CYBORG Bootstrap theme via dash-bootstrap-components
• Scope switcher — toggle between Workspace and Account API catalogs in the sidebar
• Mode badge in the top bar shows whether running as Local Mode or Databricks App
• Workspace host display in the top bar with a clickable link to the workspace
• Auto-incrementing build version — version.py bumps a counter on every app start, displayed as v<N> in the topbar
• Accordion sidebar with category icons, per-category endpoint counts, and method color badges (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE/PATCH)
• Active endpoint highlighting — selected endpoint button is highlighted in the sidebar
• Debug bar patches — MutationObserver removes the Plotly Cloud button and injects workspace URL links into the Dash debug bar

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Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      Browser / User                     │
└────────────────────────────┬────────────────────────────┘
                             │ HTTP
┌────────────────────────────▼────────────────────────────┐
│                    Dash / Flask (app.py)                 │
│                                                         │
│  ┌─────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌───────────────┐  │
│  │   TOPBAR    │  │   SIDEBAR    │  │  MAIN CONTENT │  │
│  │  user chip  │  │  scope switch│  │               │  │
│  │  host label │  │  accordion   │  │  ┌──────────┐ │  │
│  │  mode badge │  │  search      │  │  │  form    │ │  │
│  └──────┬──────┘  │  endpoints   │  │  │  panel   │ │  │
│         │         └──────┬───────┘  │  └──────────┘ │  │
│  ┌──────▼──────┐         │          │  ┌──────────┐ │  │
│  │ USER        │         │          │  │ response │ │  │
│  │ DROPDOWN    │         │          │  │ tree +   │ │  │
│  │ (fixed pos) │         │          │  │ side     │ │  │
│  └─────────────┘         │          │  │ panel    │ │  │
│                           │          │  └──────────┘ │  │
│  ┌────────────────────────▼──────────┴───────────┐   │
│  │              dcc.Store (conn-config)            │   │
│  │   {"mode": "profile"|"custom",                 │   │
│  │    "profile": "<name>" | "host": "...",         │   │
│  │    "token": "..."}                              │   │
│  └────────────────────────┬──────────────────────┘   │
└───────────────────────────│───────────────────────────┘
                            │
         ┌──────────────────▼──────────────────┐
         │             auth.py                 │
         │                                     │
         │  _resolve_conn()                    │
         │    ├─ IS_DATABRICKS_APP?             │
         │    │   └─ host from DATABRICKS_HOST  │
         │    │      token from x-forwarded-   │
         │    │      access-token header        │
         │    └─ local mode                    │
         │        ├─ profile → SDK Config()    │
         │        └─ custom → host + PAT        │
         │                                     │
         │  make_api_call()                    │
         │    └─ requests.request()            │
         └──────┬───────────────────┬──────────┘
                │                   │
 ┌──────────────▼───────┐ ┌────────▼──────────────────┐
 │  Databricks REST API │ │  Databricks Accounts API  │
 │  (workspace host)    │ │  (accounts console host)  │
 └──────────────────────┘ └───────────────────────────┘

Key Components

File	Responsibility
app.py	Dash app, layout, all callbacks (19+ callbacks)
auth.py	Auth resolution, profile discovery, account token exchange, make_api_call()
api_catalog.py	Endpoint catalog (32 categories, 76 endpoints), chip extraction, list-to-get linking
version.py	Auto-incrementing build version counter
assets/style.css	Full dark glassmorphism CSS theme
assets/devtools_patch.js	Debug bar patches + resizable side panel
app.yaml	Databricks Apps runtime config (command + env)
databricks.yml	Asset Bundle config for DABs deployment
resources/api_explorer.app.yml	DABs app resource definition

Auth Flow

                ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
                │         App Startup              │
                │  IS_DATABRICKS_APP =             │
                │  bool(DATABRICKS_CLIENT_SECRET)  │
                └──────────┬──────────────────────┘
                           │
           ┌───────────────┴───────────────┐
           │ False (local)                 │ True (Databricks App)
           ▼                               ▼
  conn-config store               x-forwarded-access-token
  (profile | custom)              header from Databricks
           │                      platform (OBO)
           ▼                               │
  SDK Config(profile=...)                  │
  or custom host + PAT                     │
           │                               │
           └───────────────┬───────────────┘
                           ▼
                  make_api_call(method, path,
                                token, host)
                           │
              ┌────────────┴────────────┐
              │ scope == "workspace"    │ scope == "account"
              ▼                         ▼
     workspace host            _accounts_host() derives
                               accounts console URL

Callback Graph

url / conn-config ──► init_on_load ──► user-display, host-display
user-btn ──────────► toggle_dropdown ──► user-dropdown (open/close)
                                      ► popup-* (identity)
                                      ► profile-select options (refreshed)
conn-mode-radio ───► toggle_conn_mode ──► profile-section / custom-section
profile-select ────► show_profile_hint ──► profile-auth-type hint
apply-conn-btn ────► apply_connection ──► conn-config store
reauth-btn ────────► reauth ──► reauth-status
scope-switch ──────► switch_scope ──► sidebar categories (workspace/account)
endpoint-btn[ALL] ─► select_endpoint ──► selected-endpoint store
selected-endpoint ─► sync_active_button ──► endpoint-btn[ALL] className
selected-endpoint ─► render_endpoint_detail ──► endpoint-detail, param form
execute-btn ───────► execute_api_call ──► response-container, curl command
                   ► start_pagination ──► auto-fetch next pages
search-input ──────► filter_endpoints ──► endpoint-btn[ALL] styles
id-link-btn ───────► handle_id_link_click ──► selected-endpoint, response
load-all-btn ──────► start_load_all ──► background thread + ticker
last-req ──────────► update_curl_display ──► curl-text, curl-display

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Technology Stack

Layer	Technology
Framework	Dash 4.x (Plotly)
UI Components	dash-bootstrap-components — CYBORG theme
Icons	Bootstrap Icons (via CDN)
HTTP Client	requests
Databricks SDK	databricks-sdk — profile-based auth
Web Server	Flask (embedded in Dash)
Styling	Custom CSS — glassmorphism dark theme with CSS variables
Deployment	Databricks Asset Bundles (DABs)
Auth (local)	Databricks CLI (~/.databrickscfg) — OAuth/SSO, PAT, Azure SP
Auth (app)	OBO via x-forwarded-access-token header
Runtime	Python 3.11+, Ubuntu 22.04 (on Databricks Apps)

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Local Development

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• Databricks CLI configured with at least one profile
• pip install -r requirements.txt

Run

python app.py

Open http://localhost:8050.

The app auto-detects local mode (no DATABRICKS_CLIENT_SECRET env var) and uses the first CLI profile from ~/.databrickscfg by default.

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Deployment to Databricks Apps

Deploy via Asset Bundle (recommended)

# Deploy to dev target (uses your configured profile)
databricks bundle deploy

# Start the app
databricks bundle run api_explorer

Deploy via CLI

databricks apps deploy databricks-api-explorer \
  --source-code-path . \
  --profile <your-profile>

View Logs

databricks apps logs databricks-api-explorer --profile <your-profile>

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Project Structure

DatabricksAPIexplorer/
├── app.py                        # Main Dash app + all callbacks
├── auth.py                       # Auth resolution + API call helper
├── api_catalog.py                # Endpoint catalog (32 categories, 76 endpoints)
├── version.py                    # Auto-incrementing build version
├── version.txt                   # Current build number (auto-updated)
├── requirements.txt              # Python dependencies
├── app.yaml                      # Databricks Apps runtime config
├── databricks.yml                # Asset Bundle main config
├── resources/
│   └── api_explorer.app.yml      # DABs app resource definition
└── assets/
    ├── style.css                 # Dark glassmorphism CSS theme
    ├── devtools_patch.js         # Debug bar patches + resizable side panel
    └── screenshot.png            # App screenshot