Connect an application
Lakebase Autoscaling is available in the following regions: us-east-1, us-east-2, us-west-2, eu-central-1, eu-west-1, ap-south-1, ap-southeast-1, ap-southeast-2.
Lakebase Autoscaling is the latest version of Lakebase with autoscaling compute, scale-to-zero, branching, and instant restore. For feature comparison with Lakebase Provisioned, see choosing between versions.
Choose how to connect your application to Lakebase: Databricks Apps (recommended) or external applications using Postgres drivers (SDK or REST) or the Data API. Use Databricks Apps unless you must run in existing infrastructure or a specific framework/runtime outside Databricks.
Options
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- Databricks Apps
- Recommended. Automatic app identity, auth, connections, and scaling. Best for new apps, dashboards, and internal tools.
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- External applications
- Postgres drivers (SDK or REST) or Data API when you use existing infrastructure, a specific framework, or need to integrate with external systems.
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 |
For automatic auth and connection management, see Connect a Databricks App to Lakebase Autoscaling.
External applications
If you use external hosting, choose how to connect:
Option | Languages/Use case | Key benefit |
|---|---|---|
Python, Java, Go | SDK handles workspace token rotation | |
Node.js, Ruby, PHP, etc. | Manage both token exchanges yourself | |
HTTP | Serverless, mobile, or no Postgres driver |