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Region availability

Lakebase Autoscaling is the latest version of Lakebase, with autoscaling compute, scale-to-zero, branching, and instant restore. For supported regions, see Region availability. If you are a Lakebase Provisioned user, see Lakebase Provisioned.

Lakebase Autoscaling gives your application a serverless Postgres database with native Databricks integration. Use Databricks Apps (recommended) for managed identity, automatic credentials, and built-in deployment. Use external applications when you must run in existing infrastructure or with a specific runtime outside Databricks.

Pick where your app runs​

    • Databricks Apps
    • Recommended. The platform manages credentials and deployment. Best for new apps, dashboards, and internal tools.
    • Manual OAuth tutorial
    • Use when you need explicit control over OAuth token rotation, or your app code already manages its own connection lifecycle.
    • External apps with SDK
    • Use when your app runs outside Databricks in Python, Java, or Go. SDK handles workspace token rotation.
    • External apps with API
    • Use when your app runs outside Databricks in Node.js, Ruby, PHP, or any other language. You manage token rotation yourself.

Databricks Apps vs external applications​

Aspect

Databricks Apps

External applications

Deployment

Runs on Databricks platform

Runs on external infrastructure

Identity

Platform provides app service principal automatically

Create and manage service principal manually

Setup

Create Postgres role; configure connection in app.yaml

Create service principal, Postgres role, and configure connection parameters

Authentication

WorkspaceClient uses app identity automatically (no credentials in code)

WorkspaceClient requires explicit service principal credentials

Best for

New apps, rapid prototyping, internal tools

Existing infrastructure, specific frameworks, systems outside Databricks

Lightweight data access​

If your application doesn't need a full server, the Data API exposes your Postgres tables as REST endpoints. This works for serverless functions, mobile apps, or environments without a Postgres driver.

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