Host the AI Dev Kit MCP server as a Databricks App
Databricks MCP Server App
Host the AI Dev Kit MCP server as a Databricks App — letting you experience 80+ Databricks tools from the AI Playground, no local setup required.
What This Is
A 3-file wrapper that takes the open-source databricks-mcp-server from the Databricks Solutions team (stdio transport) and deploys it as a Databricks App with Streamable HTTP transport. The Playground auto-discovers all tools.
app.py # 4 lines — import server, expose as HTTP
app.yaml # Databricks App config
requirements.txt # Pull ai-dev-kit from GitHub
databricks.yml # Databricks Asset Bundle config
Setup
Prerequisites
- Databricks CLI v0.229.0+ (
databricks --version) - A Databricks workspace with Apps enabled
- Authenticated CLI profile (
databricks auth login --host <url>)
Deploy
This project uses Databricks Asset Bundles for deployment.
# Authenticate
databricks auth login --host https://your-workspace.cloud.databricks.com
# Validate the bundle
databricks bundle validate
# Deploy the app resource and sync source code
databricks bundle deploy
# Start the app (installs packages and launches the server)
databricks bundle run mcp_ai_dev_kit
# If using a named CLI profile, add --profile to each command:
databricks bundle deploy --profile
databricks bundle run mcp_ai_dev_kit --profile
Important: The app name must start with
mcp-for the Playground to discover it as a custom MCP server. The default namemcp-ai-dev-kitalready handles this.
Connect to AI Playground
- Open your workspace → AI Playground
- Select a model with the Tools enabled label
- Click Tools → Add tool → MCP Servers
- Add your app's MCP endpoint:
https://<app-url>/mcp - The Playground auto-discovers all 80+ tools
Demo Script: Usage Dashboard in 3 Prompts
Once connected in the Playground:
"Query system.billing.usage and show me total DBUs by sku_name for the last 30 days" → Uses SQL tools
"Create a view called main.default.monthly_usage_summary that aggregates DBUs from system.billing.usage by month and sku_name" → Uses SQL tools
"Build a clean AI/BI dashboard that shows weekly and monthly usage trends from that view — a line chart for weekly DBUs over time and a bar chart for monthly DBUs by SKU" → Uses Dashboard tools
Switch to the workspace UI — a published Lakeview dashboard, built from conversation.
Architecture
AI Playground ──Streamable HTTP──▶ Databricks App (this repo)
│
▼
ai-dev-kit MCP Server
(80+ tools via FastMCP)
│
▼
Databricks APIs (SDK)
├── SQL Warehouses
├── Unity Catalog
├── Jobs / Pipelines
├── Vector Search
├── Model Serving
├── Agent Bricks
├── AI/BI Dashboards
├── Genie
└── ...
Tools (3)
sql_queryExecute SQL queries against Databricks SQL warehouses.unity_catalog_listList resources within the Unity Catalog.dashboard_createCreate or manage AI/BI dashboards.Configuration
{ "mcpServers": { "databricks-ai-dev-kit": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@databricks/ai-dev-kit"] } } }