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Genie App Builder

Beta

This feature is in Beta. To use it, a workspace admin must turn on Governed agentic app-building from the Previews page. See Manage Databricks previews.

Genie App Builder is a Databricks-native way to build Databricks apps using natural language, directly in the Databricks UI. Describe the app you want, and Genie App Builder generates it and shows a working preview that you refine and then deploy, with no code required. Because it runs natively in Databricks, your data stays on the platform during development. Genie App Builder builds apps with Databricks AppKit, the Databricks framework for data and AI apps.

Genie App Builder is part of a set of new Databricks Apps capabilities. For the bigger picture, see Governed agentic app building.

App Spaces and Genie App Builder​

Genie App Builder builds apps only inside an App Space (see App Spaces). The App Space is the governance boundary: it determines how apps authenticate, which resources and scopes they can use, and who is allowed to build. Because every app is created inside a space, the apps you build stay within the guardrails the admin defined. See Configure an App Space.

How to use Genie App Builder​

Prerequisite: You have at least CAN CREATE APP permission on an App Space. See Configure an App Space.

  1. On the Apps home page, click the Build tab in the left navigation.
  2. Make sure the correct App Space is selected.
  3. Optionally, name the app.

Then iterate in short cycles. Databricks recommends this approach, especially when you're getting started:

  1. Enter a simple, natural-language prompt.
  2. Let Genie App Builder generate a preview app.
  3. Sign in to see the preview app.
  4. If the builder runs into issues, iterate with follow-up prompts. Otherwise, deploy the app.
  5. After it deploys successfully, the app runs as a Serverless Micro App (see Serverless Micro Apps) that scales to zero and back up to one.
  6. Keep iterating by clicking Genie App Builder in the app details page.

Tips for better results​

To get better results from Genie App Builder, follow these tips:

  • Start simple, then iterate: use follow-up prompts rather than one large prompt.
  • Be specific about the UI and behavior: the pages, inputs, charts, and actions you want, and what should happen (filters, defaults, where data is written).

Limitations​

The following are current limitations of Genie App Builder:

  • Genie App Builder builds apps only inside an App Space, so you can't use it to build a standalone app.
  • Apps you build run only as Serverless Micro Apps, which scale to zero and back up to one but don't scale horizontally.

For the requirements to use these capabilities, see Requirements.

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