03 Appkit Deploy

Deploy Databricks AppKit Applications

Deploy an AppKit project to Databricks Apps, verify it runs, and fix common errors.

When to Use

• Deploying an AppKit app to Databricks Apps (first deploy or redeployment)
• Verifying a deployed app loads correctly
• Diagnosing and fixing deploy failures
• Freeing workspace app slots when the limit is reached

Not for scaffolding. Use 01-appkit-scaffold to create a new project. Not for building features. Use 02-appkit-build to implement UI and backend code.

Prerequisites

Before deploying, ensure:

• The app builds locally (npm run build succeeds)
• $APP_NAME and $PROFILE are set by the calling prompt. If a .vibecoding-state.md exists from a prior phase, use the APP_NAME, PROFILE, and workspace URL values from it directly — do not re-derive them with databricks current-user me or databricks auth profiles.
• The app directory contains app.yaml and databricks.yml
• If deploying to a different workspace than where the app was scaffolded: update the host in databricks.yml, update sql_warehouse_id for the new workspace, and remove stale bundle state with rm -rf $APP_NAME/.databricks
• If no CLI profile exists for the target workspace, create one per PRE-REQUISITES §11 before deploying (the IDE/CLI auth path; it uses auth login, not the interactive configure flow that fails in automated/agent contexts). IDE/CLI only — on Genie Code the runtime is already authenticated to its host workspace; skip profile creation and drop --profile from every command (see the routing note below).
• All commands in this skill assume the working directory is apps_lakebase/. Paths like $APP_NAME/app.yaml are relative to apps_lakebase/, not the repo root. On Genie Code, this is <artifact_root>/apps_lakebase/ inside your git-cloned workshop project (NOT the read-only .assistant/skills/ copy) — cd there first; never operate from /tmp.
• Do NOT run rm -f package-lock.json && npm install locally before deploying. The platform's npm install depends on lockfile stability; regenerating the lockfile locally causes ENOTEMPTY / Exit handler never called failures during platform install. See references/lockfile-and-recreation.md for the full rule, scenario table, and recovery ladder — plus the Lakebase ownership consequences of app recreation.

Working in Genie Code (deploy routing)

This skill is written for the IDE/CLI path — the commands below are correct as-is when you have a local terminal, Node.js, and a CLI profile. If you are running in Genie Code (no local toolchain, pre-authenticated to one workspace), apply these four substitutions to every step and you do not need to re-read this note per command:

Everything else (config validation, log streaming, the fix loop, error table) is identical across clients. Inline > **Client note — Genie Code:** callouts below flag the few steps where the behavior — not just the syntax — differs. See skills/genie-code-environment for the full behavioral manifest.

Before You Begin

The upstream Databricks agent-skills repo and AppKit docs are the source of truth for deploy commands, platform rules, and options.

• Agent Skills (deploy patterns, platform rules): https://github.com/databricks/databricks-agent-skills/blob/main/skills/databricks-apps/SKILL.md
• Platform guide (SP permissions, runtime constraints, errors): https://github.com/databricks/databricks-agent-skills/blob/main/skills/databricks-apps/references/platform-guide.md
• App management: https://databricks.github.io/appkit/docs/app-management
• Configuration: https://databricks.github.io/appkit/docs/configuration
• AppKit docs (in-terminal): npx @databricks/appkit docs "app-management"
• CLI help: databricks apps deploy --help

The bundled reference at references/app-management.md covers commonly used commands as a fallback when live docs cannot be reached.

Do NOT improvise workarounds. If a deployment fails, check the app logs and match the error against the Common Errors table below. Do NOT add npm lifecycle hooks (preinstall, postinstall), platform-detection conditionals, or workarounds that skip the platform's build pipeline. These consistently cause cascading failures that are harder to diagnose than the original error. When in doubt, consult the authoritative sources above.

Authoritative References

The databricks-agent-skills repository contains the canonical AppKit deployment patterns. When in doubt, consult these references:

Platform Constraints (from platform-guide.md)

These runtime constraints affect deployment and troubleshooting:

• Startup timeout: App must start within 10 minutes (including dependency installation)
• HTTP proxy timeout: 120 seconds per request (not configurable; use WebSockets for long operations)
• Max apps per workspace: 100
• Max file size: 10 MB per file in bundle
• Filesystem: Ephemeral — no persistent local storage; use UC Volumes or Lakebase
• No shell in command: app.yaml command does not run in a shell; env vars outside app.yaml are inaccessible
• Graceful shutdown: SIGTERM → 15 seconds → SIGKILL
• Logging: Only stdout/stderr captured; file-based logs are lost on container recycle
• Destructive updates: bundle run / apps update does full replacement and can wipe OBO scopes

Platform Build Pipeline

When databricks apps deploy pushes code to the platform, the following sequence runs inside the container:

1. Download source — workspace files are extracted into /home/app/
2. npm install — installs dependencies from package.json / package-lock.json. Runs in production mode (NODE_ENV=production), so devDependencies are skipped.
3. npm run build (if the build script exists) — compiles the project. prebuild hooks fire automatically before this step.
4. Run command — executes the command from app.yaml (e.g., npm run start)

Hard timeout: The entire sequence (steps 1-4) must complete within 10 minutes. If npm install or build exceeds this, the deploy fails with App process did not start within 10 minutes.

Critical rules:

• NEVER add preinstall or postinstall scripts that modify node_modules. These create infinite loops or corrupt the install.
• NEVER add platform-detection conditionals (e.g., [ "$HOME" = '/home/app' ]) to skip build steps.
• NEVER modify the scaffold's package.json dependency versions, aliases, or overrides. If rolldown-vite, @playwright/test, or other packages were included by databricks apps init, leave them as-is — the scaffold is tested to deploy on the platform.
• DO let scaffolded prebuild hooks run (appkit sync, appkit generate-types). Warnings about @ast-grep/napi are harmless and guarded by 2>/dev/null; true.
• DO note that databricks bundle deploy (and databricks apps deploy which calls it internally) uses .gitignore patterns for file exclusion — NOT .databricksignore.

Authoritative source: Databricks Apps deploy — deployment logic and post-deployment behavior.

Client note — Genie Code (verified): because this build pipeline runs server-side in the container, a Genie Code user with no local npm can deploy by editing source directly in the workspace and triggering a deployment via the SDK — w.apps.deploy(<name>, AppDeployment(source_code_path=<workspace path>, mode=AppDeploymentMode.SNAPSHOT)). This was tested end-to-end: editing an un-built client/src/App.tsx and redeploying produced deploy status Building app… and the edited string appeared in the server-built JS bundle (/assets/index-*.js). No local npm install/npm run build and no pre-synced dist/ are required on Genie Code.

Package Lock Management

The platform's npm install depends on package-lock.json stability. Scenario table:

NEVER run rm -f package-lock.json && npm install locally before deploying. The regenerated lockfile picks up your local npm proxy URLs, breaking platform install. If you must refresh, use --package-lock-only, or delete the lockfile and let the platform resolve.

Client note — Genie Code: the "Absent → acceptable for first deploy" row does NOT apply on the SDK SNAPSHOT path. With no package-lock.json, the deploy hard-fails at the source-export phase in ~10s (RESOURCE_DOES_NOT_EXIST), before npm install runs — so the lockfile is a hard requirement, not optional. Never delete it as a "reset"; change deps by editing package.json and keeping the lockfile consistent.

Full recovery ladder + prevention rules: references/lockfile-and-recreation.md.

App Deletion Is Destructive (Lakebase Ownership)

Deleting and recreating a Databricks App assigns a new Service Principal UUID. Lakebase schemas owned by the old SP become inaccessible (permission denied for schema, must be owner of table) even though psql as admin still sees them.

Fix, as workspace admin via databricks psql:

DROP SCHEMA IF EXISTS <schema_name> CASCADE;
-- Then redeploy — the new SP's DDL will recreate and own the schema.

Prevention: avoid app deletion. If deploys are broken, use the lockfile recovery ladder first. App deletion is a last resort.

Step 1: Validate Configuration

Verify app.yaml has a startup command:

grep -E "build/index\.mjs|npm.*start" $APP_NAME/app.yaml

Accepted patterns:

• command: ['npm', 'run', 'start'] — AppKit default (scaffold output)
• command: [node, build/index.mjs] — legacy / alternative

If using npm run start, verify the start script in package.json points to the correct built output (e.g., node dist/server.js).

If no startup command is present, add the default:

command:
  - npm
  - run
  - start

Check that required environment bindings are present. At minimum, apps using the analytics plugin need:

grep "DATABRICKS_WAREHOUSE_ID" $APP_NAME/app.yaml

You should see valueFrom: sql-warehouse. If missing, add it:

env:
  - name: DATABRICKS_WAREHOUSE_ID
    valueFrom: sql-warehouse

The calling prompt may require additional plugin-specific env vars (e.g., LAKEBASE_ENDPOINT for Lakebase). Validate those before proceeding.

Verify databricks.yml references the correct $APP_NAME:

grep "name:" $APP_NAME/databricks.yml | head -2

Note: The AppKit scaffold does not include a name: field in app.yaml — the app name is defined only in databricks.yml under bundle.name and resources.apps.

Run the AppKit validator to check app.yaml schema, resource bindings, and manifest validity:

cd $APP_NAME && databricks apps validate --profile $PROFILE

Fix any reported errors before proceeding.

Client note — Genie Code: databricks apps validate is hard-blocked via runDatabricksCli (not allow-listed). Skip this gate on Genie Code. The platform runs the same validation server-side during the build pipeline, but those build logs are not readable from compute — databricks apps logs <name> returns an OAuth-token error. Read the authoritative schema/compile signal at <app-url>/logz in a browser (where you are already authenticated) instead.

Cross-validate valueFrom references against databricks.yml resources. Every valueFrom: in app.yaml must have a matching resource declaration in databricks.yml. If not, databricks apps deploy (which runs bundle deploy internally) will fail to resolve the resource and the env var will be empty at runtime.

for ref in $(grep 'valueFrom:' $APP_NAME/app.yaml | awk '{print $2}'); do
  if ! grep -q "$ref" $APP_NAME/databricks.yml 2>/dev/null; then
    echo "ERROR: app.yaml references valueFrom: $ref but no matching resource in databricks.yml"
    echo "  bundle deploy will strip manually-attached resources. Add the resource to databricks.yml."
  fi
done

This catches the common failure where Lakebase postgres resources were attached via REST API or databricks apps update but not declared in databricks.yml — bundle deploy resets the resource list on every deploy, stripping anything not in the bundle config.

Check for Lakebase project conflicts with bundle declarations. If databricks.yml declares postgres_projects and the project already exists, the correct action depends on who created it:

• Bundle created it (Phase 1 deploy already ran, .databricks/ state exists): Keep postgres_projects. Terraform state tracks it. Phase 2 redeploy is idempotent. See 04-appkit-plugin-add/references/plugin-lakebase.md for Phase 2 binding instructions.
• Created outside the bundle (CLI, UI, or different bundle; no .databricks/ state): Remove postgres_projects and skip to Phase 2 binding. Terraform has no state for it.

CRITICAL: Never remove postgres_projects from databricks.yml after a bundle deploy has created the project. Removing a Terraform-tracked resource declaration tells bundle deploy to destroy the resource. This causes a cascading failure: project destroyed → re-adding hits soft-delete retention ("already exists" for ~5-10 min) → manual recreation required outside the bundle.

PROJECT_ID=$(grep -A2 'postgres_projects:' $APP_NAME/databricks.yml | grep 'project_id:' | awk '{print $2}' | tr -d "'" | tr -d '"')
if [ -n "$PROJECT_ID" ]; then
  EXISTS=$(databricks postgres list-projects --profile $PROFILE --output json 2>/dev/null \
    | jq -e --arg pid "$PROJECT_ID" '[.[] | select(.name | contains($pid))] | length > 0' 2>/dev/null)
  BUNDLE_STATE=$(test -d "$APP_NAME/.databricks" && echo "true" || echo "false")
  if [ "$EXISTS" = "true" ] && [ "$BUNDLE_STATE" = "true" ]; then
    echo "OK: Lakebase project '$PROJECT_ID' exists and is tracked by this bundle. Keep postgres_projects."
  elif [ "$EXISTS" = "true" ] && [ "$BUNDLE_STATE" = "false" ]; then
    echo "WARNING: Lakebase project '$PROJECT_ID' exists but is NOT tracked by this bundle."
    echo "  Remove postgres_projects from databricks.yml to avoid 'already exists' Terraform errors."
    echo "  Keep only app.resources.postgres binding."
  fi
fi

Step 2: Build

Run npm run build locally to catch TypeScript and compilation errors early. The deploy pipeline rebuilds on the platform, but catching errors locally avoids a slow deploy-fail-fix cycle.

cd $APP_NAME
npm run build

This must complete without errors. A successful build produces the output referenced by app.yaml's command (typically build/index.mjs or dist/server.js).

Client note — Genie Code: this local pre-build is an IDE/CLI convenience, not a hard gate — there is no local Node toolchain on Genie Code. Skip Step 2 entirely and deploy directly (Step 3); the platform runs the same npm install + npm run build server-side during the deploy pipeline. TypeScript/compile errors do NOT come back through databricks apps logs <name> (it returns an OAuth error from compute); they appear only at <app-url>/logz in a browser — read the exact error TS… line there and feed it into the Step 5 fix loop. Because there is no local tsc/npm to catch them first, run the import-specifier grep gate (see the 99-deploy_databricks_app.genie-code.md fork, Step 2b) before deploying. (Build-runs-server-side was verified end-to-end — see the Platform Build Pipeline note above.)

Verify the build output exists before deploying:

ls build/index.mjs 2>/dev/null || ls dist/server.js 2>/dev/null || echo "WARNING: No build output found — check app.yaml command"

If there are TypeScript or build errors, fix them before proceeding.

Fixing TS6133 (Unused Import/Variable) Errors

These are the most common build errors at deploy time. Before removing any symbol:

1. Grep the full file for each symbol name — do not rely on reading only the import section.
2. If the import has other used names, remove only the unused name from the import list.
3. If ALL names from a module are unused, delete the entire import line. Never produce import {} from "..." — this is a side-effect import that loads the module for nothing.
4. If the error is on a variable declaration (e.g., const navigate = useNavigate()), remove both the declaration and its import.

After fixes, run the linter on edited files before rebuilding.

Step 3: Deploy

Before running the deploy, verify the lockfile has not been regenerated locally — a regenerated lockfile will often fail on the platform with ENOTEMPTY after ~3 minutes:

cd $APP_NAME
test -f package-lock.json && git diff --quiet -- package-lock.json \
  || echo "WARN: package-lock.json modified locally; review references/lockfile-and-recreation.md before deploy"

If the warning fires, read references/lockfile-and-recreation.md and apply the recovery ladder (revert → delete → --package-lock-only refresh) before proceeding.

Deploy using the AppKit CLI pipeline — a single command that builds the frontend, syncs code to the workspace via bundle deploy, and starts the app:

cd $APP_NAME
databricks apps deploy --profile $PROFILE

This is equivalent to running npm run build + databricks bundle deploy + databricks apps start in sequence.

Client note — Genie Code: run databricks apps deploy (no --profile) through runDatabricksCli from the $APP_NAME directory. If the project page blocks apps deploy, use the SDK fallback via executeCode — w.apps.deploy(<name>, AppDeployment(source_code_path=<workspace path>, mode=AppDeploymentMode.SNAPSHOT)) — which triggers the same server-side build (no pre-synced dist/ needed). Then poll w.apps.get(<name>) for the Building app… → ACTIVE transition; on FAILED, read the build error at <app-url>/logz in a browser (databricks apps logs <name> returns an OAuth error from compute).

For faster iteration after the first deploy, skip the build step:

databricks apps deploy --skip-build --profile $PROFILE

Resource-sensitive deploys: databricks apps deploy runs bundle deploy internally, which resets the app's resource list to match databricks.yml. If resources were added outside the bundle (e.g., via REST API), a bundle deploy removes them. In that case, sync code first with databricks bundle deploy --profile $PROFILE, then trigger a run separately with databricks apps deploy --profile $PROFILE (which rebuilds from the already-synced workspace source without resetting resources). If no code changes are needed, skip redeployment entirely.

For Lakebase Autoscaling, use postgres_project/postgres_branch/postgres_endpoint resources (CLI v0.287.0+) if you want bundle-managed project lifecycle. For Lakebase Provisioned, use database_instance + app.resources[].database (CLI v0.265.0+). Do not mix the two models.

Provisioned is being retired. Databricks is migrating Lakebase Provisioned to Autoscaling through 2026 with no customer action required. New work should use the Autoscaling postgres_* model; the Provisioned database_instance path above is retained only for pre-existing instances.

Wait for completion — typically 1-3 minutes for redeployments, 3-5 minutes for first deploys. Do not treat longer waits as failures until 7+ minutes have elapsed.

Verify the app is running before proceeding:

databricks apps get $APP_NAME --output json --profile $PROFILE | jq '{status: .status.state, compute: .compute_status.state}'

Note: status.state may be null for up to 60 seconds after deployment even when the app is healthy. The definitive health signal is compute_status.state: "ACTIVE" plus clean logs showing the server is listening. If compute is ACTIVE but status is null, the app is running — proceed to Step 4.

If compute is not ACTIVE, wait 30 seconds and re-check. Use databricks apps logs $APP_NAME --follow --profile $PROFILE to stream logs in real-time instead of polling repeatedly.

Step 4: Verify UI Loads

Run the verification script — it handles polling, retries, and health checks in one call:

bash scripts/verify-deploy.sh $APP_NAME $PROFILE

Exit code 0 = healthy. Exit code 1 = still starting (wait 30s, re-run). Exit code 2 = error (proceed to Step 5).

Manual fallback (only if scripts/verify-deploy.sh does not exist):

APP_URL=$(databricks apps get $APP_NAME --output json --profile $PROFILE | jq -r '.url')
echo "App URL: $APP_URL"

Open $APP_URL in a browser. You should see the React application — not an error page or JSON.

If the page shows an error or doesn't load, proceed to Step 5.

Testing Deployed App APIs

Databricks Apps require authentication for all API requests. Generate a bearer token before testing:

TOKEN=$(databricks auth token --profile $PROFILE | jq -r '.access_token')
curl -s -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" "$APP_URL/api/health" | jq .

If curl returns HTML (a login page) or 401, the token has expired. Re-run the TOKEN=... line to refresh it. Tokens are short-lived (~1 hour).

Client note — Genie Code: databricks auth token is hard-blocked via runDatabricksCli, and a raw Authorization: Bearer header (even from SDK w.config.token) is rejected by AppKit's OAuth middleware (/api/health → 401; / → 302). Two working ways to test a deployed app from Genie Code:

1. Browser (simplest manual verify): open the app URL (SDK w.apps.get(<name>).url) — the Databricks Apps OAuth flow establishes the session automatically. Confirm the React UI actually renders (a green deploy with a client-side runtime crash still shows a blank/error page — the scaffold's ErrorBoundary surfaces the stack). For backend/build logs, open <app-url>/logz in the same browser; databricks apps logs <name> returns an OAuth error from Genie compute.
2. Programmatic (executeCode, for automated /api/* testing): replay the 3-hop Apps OAuth handshake in one requests.Session() so the CSRF cookie persists (PKCE match), then reuse the session for all calls:

   import requests
   from databricks.sdk import WorkspaceClient
   w = WorkspaceClient(); app_url = w.apps.get("<name>").url
   s = requests.Session()
   r1 = s.get(app_url, allow_redirects=False)                                  # __Host-databricksapps_csrf cookie
   r2 = s.get(r1.headers["location"],                                          # Databricks OIDC authorize
              headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {w.config.token}"}, allow_redirects=False)
   s.get(r2.headers["location"])                                               # /.auth/callback → session cookie
   print(s.get(f"{app_url}/api/health").status_code)                          # now authenticated
   

   The single Session must carry the CSRF cookie through all 3 hops or the callback returns 403.

Step 5: Check Logs and Fix Errors (up to 3 iterations)

Stream the app logs:

databricks apps logs $APP_NAME --tail-lines 100 --profile $PROFILE

If errors exist:

1. Identify the error from the log output
2. Apply the fix in the app directory
3. Redeploy: databricks apps deploy --profile $PROFILE
   • For config-only changes (e.g., app.yaml or databricks.yml): databricks apps deploy --skip-build --profile $PROFILE
4. Check logs again

If no errors: deployment is successful.

Repeat up to 3 times. If errors persist after 3 attempts, report them for manual investigation.

Client note — Genie Code (fix loop): Step 1 above (databricks apps logs) does not work — it returns an OAuth error from compute, and the SDK/REST deployment.status.message only says "check /logz". On FAILED, route to the /logz-human loop: print <app-url>/logz, have the operator open it (already authenticated) and paste back the exact error TS…/Vite line, fix that file:line, and redeploy. If no browser is available, use the 2–3-file batch ladder (revert to the last SUCCEEDED source, re-apply changes 2–3 files at a time, redeploy after each ~50s batch; the batch that flips green→FAILED holds the break). See the 99-deploy_databricks_app.genie-code.md fork Steps 2b/3 for the full procedure.

Before diagnosing errors: Run npx @databricks/appkit docs "app-management" and databricks apps deploy --help for the latest CLI options and deployment behavior. These are the source of truth for deploy commands.

Common Errors

The calling prompt may define additional plugin-specific errors (e.g., Lakebase connection or permission errors). Check those if the errors above don't match.

If the Workspace App Limit Is Reached

If deployment fails because the workspace has hit its app limit, do NOT rename your app. Instead, free up a slot by removing the oldest stopped app:

Find the oldest stopped app:

OLDEST=$(databricks apps list -o json --profile $PROFILE | jq -r '[.[] | select(.compute_status.state == "STOPPED")] | sort_by(.update_time) | .[0] | .name // empty')
if [ -z "$OLDEST" ]; then
  echo "No stopped apps to delete. Manual workspace cleanup needed."
else
  echo "Deleting oldest stopped app: $OLDEST"
  databricks apps delete "$OLDEST" --profile $PROFILE
  sleep 10
fi

Retry the deployment.

If the limit error persists, repeat with the next oldest stopped app — but stop after 3 total attempts (increase the wait to 20s, then 40s between retries). If it still fails after 3 tries, stop and report the issue for manual workspace cleanup. Never delete apps in RUNNING state.

Quick Reference

See Also

• Authoritative upstream: databricks-agent-skills / databricks-apps — canonical deploy guidance for Databricks Apps.
• AppKit references: appkit, App management, Configuration, Project setup, LLM guide.
• Databricks Apps docs: Deploy, App runtime.