September 2026
Databricks released these features and improvements in September 2026.
Releases are staged. Your Databricks account might not be updated until a week or more after the initial release date.
The Genie One MCP server is now generally available
September 25, 2026
The Genie One MCP server is now generally available as a Databricks-provided MCP Service, system.ai.genie_one_mcp, in Unity Gateway. It exposes Genie as a conversational tool over the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so any MCP client or agent, such as Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor, can ground its data questions in Genie's trusted insights, with Unity Catalog permissions enforced on every request. See Genie One MCP server.
The previous Beta endpoint, https://<workspace-hostname>/api/2.0/mcp/genie, is deprecated and will be sunset on October 31, 2026. Move all workloads to the system.ai.genie_one_mcp MCP Service before then.
The query history system table is now generally available
September 21, 2026
The system.query.history system table is now generally available. Use it to access account-wide records for queries run on SQL warehouses or serverless compute, including execution status, duration metrics, and query source. See Query history system table reference.
Databricks Apps telemetry is now generally available
September 18, 2026
Configuring telemetry for your Databricks apps is now generally available. Databricks Apps telemetry collects traces, logs, and metrics and persists them to Unity Catalog tables using the OpenTelemetry (OTel) protocol. After you enable app telemetry, Databricks automatically captures system logs and usage events, and you can add custom instrumentation using the OpenTelemetry SDK for your framework.
See Configure telemetry for Databricks Apps.
Databricks Apps is now on by default for workspaces with the compliance security profile enabled
September 18, 2026
Databricks Apps is now on by default for workspaces with the compliance security profile enabled.
See Databricks Apps.
Unity Gateway support for compliance security profile standards
September 17, 2026
Unity Gateway now supports all compliance security profile standards supported by Databricks and is available by default for workspaces with the compliance security profile enabled.
For a full list of supported compliance standards, see Compliance security profile.
Metastore-level ABAC policies are in Beta
September 17, 2026
Metastore-level ABAC policies are in Beta in Unity Catalog. You can now attach an ABAC policy (row filter, column mask, GRANT, or DENY) at the metastore level, so a single policy applies across every catalog in the metastore, including catalogs created later. This gives governance teams one place to enforce organization-wide data protection rules without replicating a policy for each catalog.
For details, see Metastore-level ABAC policies (Beta).
Moonshot AI Kimi K2.7 is scheduled for retirement
September 17, 2026
Moonshot AI Kimi K2.7 will be retired on October 30, 2026. Kimi K3 is the recommended replacement. See Deprecated and retired models for migration guidance.
Base environments are now supported on classic compute (Beta)
September 17, 2026
You can now use base environments to manage Python dependencies on classic compute. You can use Databricks-provided environments or custom workspace-level environments. See Manage dependencies using environments.
Unused OAuth client secrets are automatically deleted after 90 days
September 16, 2026
Databricks now automatically deletes a service principal's OAuth client secret after 90 days without use, consistent with unused access token cleanup. If a deleted secret is still needed, create a new OAuth secret.
Unity Gateway API and developer tools are generally available
September 16, 2026
The Unity Gateway API for managing model services, model provider services, and MCP services is now generally available, with create, read, update, list, and delete support across Databricks developer tools:
- Terraform provider: 1.132.0 and later
- Databricks CLI: v1.17.0 and later
- Python SDK:
databricks-sdk0.136.0 and later - Go SDK:
databricks-sdk-gov0.178.0 and later - Java SDK:
databricks-sdk-java0.153.0 and later - JavaScript SDK:
@databricks/sdk-aigateway0.19.0 and later
Declarative Automation Bundles support, through the Databricks CLI 1.17.0 and later, is in Beta.
For API documentation, see the Unity Gateway API reference.
For examples and tutorials, see the following:
- Create and manage model APIs (model services)
- Create and manage external model providers (model provider services)
- Register an external MCP server.
Account-only user access to Genie One (Beta)
September 16, 2026
Genie One now supports account-only users, so users in a registered identity provider can access account-level Genie One without being assigned to a workspace or granted consumer access. When enabled, eligible users are enrolled automatically. Unity Catalog continues to govern what each user can see. See Account-only user access to Genie One.
VARIANT cast extends to ARRAY and MAP columns in ABAC column masks
September 16, 2026
You can now use a single VARIANT function to mask columns of type ARRAY and MAP, in addition to STRUCT and other types. This requires Databricks Runtime 19 or above. See Masking multiple column types with a single function.
Sharing foreign Delta tables with OpenSharing is now generally available
September 15, 2026
Sharing and reading foreign Delta tables with OpenSharing is now generally available. Providers can share Delta-format tables federated from OneLake, a Hive metastore, or AWS Glue, without copying data into Databricks. See Add foreign Delta tables to a share.
Lakebase snapshots API (Beta)
September 15, 2026
You can now manage Lakebase snapshots programmatically. The snapshots API lets you create, get, list, and delete point-in-time snapshots of a project branch, and restore a snapshot by creating a new branch from it. This API is in Beta. See Create a snapshot.
Data Classification now scans Unity Catalog views (Beta)
September 15, 2026
Data Classification can now scan Unity Catalog views in addition to tables, classifying columns for sensitive data using the same detection engine. This is a Beta feature. See Classify views.
Window measures on a numeric index column in metric views
September 14, 2026
Window measures support unitless offset and trailing/leading ranges on a consecutive integer order column. Use a numeric index for non-calendar periods such as fiscal weeks or 4-4-5 periods. See Window measures on a numeric index column.
Genie visualizations in Slack replies (Public Preview)
September 14, 2026
When a Genie response includes a chart, the visualization now appears as an image in the Slack reply. If you installed the Databricks Genie app for Slack previously, reinstall it to enable this. See Visualizations.
The counter_diff SQL window function is now available
September 14, 2026
The counter_diff window function calculates differences between consecutive cumulative counter values and handles counter resets, for time-series analysis of counter data. It is available in Databricks SQL and Databricks Runtime 19 and above. See counter_diff analytic window function.
Standard performance mode is now available for one-time runs in the Jobs API
September 11, 2026
You can now set performance_target to STANDARD in the Jobs API. Apache Airflow's DatabricksSubmitRunOperator also supports this. See Create and trigger a one-time run and Select a performance mode.
Sharing foreign Iceberg tables with OpenSharing is now generally available
September 11, 2026
Sharing and reading foreign Iceberg tables with OpenSharing is now generally available. Providers can share Iceberg tables federated from foreign Iceberg catalogs using Lakehouse Federation, including to recipients using external Iceberg clients. See Add foreign Iceberg tables to a share for providers and Read data in a shared foreign Iceberg table for recipients.
Sharing foreign schemas and tables with OpenSharing is now generally available
September 11, 2026
Sharing and reading foreign schemas and foreign tables with OpenSharing is now generally available. Providers can share foreign schemas and tables federated from external data sources using Lakehouse Federation, without copying data into Databricks. See Add foreign schemas or tables to a share for providers and Read data in a shared foreign table or foreign schema for recipients.
Sharing foreign schemas and tables materializes data on the provider's side, which incurs compute and storage costs. See How do I incur and check OpenSharing costs?.
Session restore for serverless jobs is in Public Preview
September 11, 2026
Restore the Python variables and Spark session from a serverless compute job run into a new interactive notebook, so you can debug a failure or explore results without rerunning the entire job. Databricks captures the snapshot automatically for eligible runs. See Session restore for serverless jobs.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is now available on Unity Gateway
September 11, 2026
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is now available on Unity Gateway with text and image inputs. See supported regions. You can access this model using Foundation Model APIs.
Customers are responsible for ensuring their compliance with applicable terms.
Managed tables in Lakeflow pipelines (Beta)
September 10, 2026
You can now create managed tables in Lakeflow pipelines and write to them with one or more append flows. This feature is in Beta. You can also use import_checkpoint on an append flow to migrate an existing Structured Streaming workload into a pipeline without reprocessing the source.
See create_table, CREATE TABLE ... FLOW (pipelines), and append_flow.
Maintenance windows for continuous pipelines
September 10, 2026
You can now set a maintenance window on a continuous Lakeflow pipeline to control when Databricks applies platform updates that require a restart, such as new runtime versions and serverless infrastructure maintenance. Select a day of the week, a start hour, and a time zone, and Databricks starts maintenance only within that one-hour window. Configure the window in the Jobs UI, the Pipelines UI, or the Jobs REST API.
See Manage updates for continuous pipelines.
The Databricks Excel Add-in is now generally available
September 10, 2026
The Databricks Excel Add-in is now generally available. Connect Microsoft Excel to your Databricks workspace to browse and import governed Unity Catalog tables and views, run SQL queries, build pivot tables, use custom functions, and write data back to Unity Catalog. You can now also enable Live query when building pivot tables to see results as you update the fields.
See Connect to Databricks from Microsoft Excel.
Configurable retention for system tables is in Beta
September 9, 2026
Account admins can now set an account-wide retention period from 30 to 3,650 days for supported system tables. See Configure system table data retention.
Genie Code adds conversation controls
September 9, 2026
Genie Code now includes conversation controls that let you branch and revise a chat. You can fork a conversation into a new, independent thread from a point you choose, ask a quick side question with /btw without adding it to the thread, and edit an earlier message to regenerate the conversation from that point. See Branch and edit chats.
External secrets in Unity Catalog (Beta)
September 9, 2026
External secrets connect a Unity Catalog schema to AWS Secrets Manager. The secrets appear in Unity Catalog as read-only securable objects that you govern with Unity Catalog privileges. Databricks reads their values from AWS Secrets Manager on demand. See External secrets in Unity Catalog.
Celigo connector (Beta)
September 9, 2026
The Celigo connector is now available in Lakeflow Connect in Beta. Workspace admins can control access to this feature from the Previews page.
The connector ingests audit log events, such as create, update, and delete operations on resources, from Celigo (integrator.io) into Databricks. Authentication uses a Celigo integrator.io API token.
See Celigo connector.
Anysphere Organization connector (Beta)
September 9, 2026
The Anysphere Organization connector is now available in Lakeflow Connect in Beta. Workspace admins can control access to this feature from the Previews page.
The connector uses the Anysphere (Cursor) Organization Admin API to ingest organization members, groups, and group members into Databricks as daily snapshots. Authentication uses a Cursor Organization Admin API key.
See Anysphere Organization connector.
Anaplan connector (Beta)
September 9, 2026
The Anaplan connector is now available in Lakeflow Connect in Beta. Workspace admins can control access to this feature from the Previews page.
The connector ingests audit trail events and user account records from your Anaplan tenant into Databricks. Authentication uses an Anaplan CA certificate and its paired private key.
See Anaplan connector.
time_bucket SQL function aligns timestamps to fixed-width time buckets
September 8, 2026
time_bucket returns the start of the fixed-width interval a timestamp falls into, aligned to an origin you choose (for example, 15-minute or 3-month buckets). Use it instead of date_trunc when the bucket width or start is not a calendar unit.
See time_bucket function.
Partner-powered AI features can no longer be disabled in the settings UI
September 8, 2026
You can no longer disable the partner-powered AI features setting in the account or workspace settings UI, but can still enable it. Until November 1, 2026, you can still use the Settings API to enable or disable the setting.
On November 1, 2026, the setting will be removed, and any change will then require contacting your Databricks account team.
ABAC DENY policies are in Beta
September 8, 2026
ABAC DENY policies are in Beta in Unity Catalog. DENY policies can be used to explicitly deny the MANAGE ACCESS CONTROL privilege to prevent specified principals, including object owners, from performing access-management operations. They always take precedence over any grant.
For details, see ABAC DENY policies (Beta).
Zerobus Ingest into default storage is now in Public Preview
September 7, 2026
Ingesting into tables backed by default storage with Zerobus Ingest in Lakeflow Connect is now in Public Preview. See Create or identify the target table.
See which chunks support each ai_search answer (Beta)
September 8, 2026
You can now turn on the generate_citations option in the ai_search function to see which retrieved chunks the model used to support each answer it generates. ai_search function
OpenAI GPT-6 Astra is now available on Unity Gateway
September 4, 2026
OpenAI GPT-6 Astra is now available on Unity Gateway for enterprise reasoning, structured document processing, coding, agentic search, multimodal inputs, and long-context workloads. You can access this model using Foundation Model APIs pay-per-token.
Customers are responsible for ensuring their compliance with applicable terms.
Share metric views with OpenSharing (Beta)
September 3, 2026
You can now share metric views with Databricks users in other metastores or accounts using OpenSharing. See Add metric views to a share and Read shared metric views.
Environment version 6 is now available
September 3, 2026
You can now select environment version 6 as your base environment for serverless and standard classic compute. See Environment version 6.
Git Folder Serverless is in Beta
September 2, 2026
You can now use Git Folder Serverless to share serverless compute and a pyproject.toml-managed environment across notebooks and files in a Git folder. See Git Folder Serverless.
Google Gemini 3.8 Flash now available as a Databricks-hosted model
September 2, 2026
Model Serving now supports Google Gemini 3.8 Flash as a Databricks-hosted model. You can access this model using Foundation Model APIs.
Customers are responsible for ensuring their compliance with applicable terms.
AI Search supports struct and map columns and filter-only queries
September 2, 2026
You can now index and filter struct and map columns in AI Search, and run filter-only queries that return rows matching a filter without vector or keyword retrieval. See Query an AI Search index.
Apache Arrow support for Zerobus Ingest is now generally available
September 1, 2026
Apache Arrow support for Zerobus Ingest in Lakeflow Connect is now generally available. See Use Arrow Flight with Zerobus Ingest.
Genie One web search is in Beta
September 1, 2026
Genie One can now search the public web to answer questions that need current information, such as recent release notes, third-party documentation, or news. Genie One cites the external sources it uses as links in its response. See Search the web.
Genie One and Genie Agents can now use models served through OpenAI on Databricks
September 1, 2026
Genie One and Genie Agents can now use models served through OpenAI on Databricks when partner-powered AI features are enabled. For the hosting provider used by each feature, see Hosting provider used when partner-powered AI features setting is enabled and disabled.
Genie Code scheduled tasks are now generally available
September 1, 2026
Genie Code scheduled tasks are now generally available. You can schedule Genie Code to run a prompt on a recurring schedule. Each run executes your prompt as a full Genie Code session and produces a continuable Genie chat with the results, so you can turn recurring analysis and other work into an unattended background task. Create a scheduled task by asking Genie Code in chat or from the Schedules menu. See Genie Code scheduled tasks.
Databricks Runtime maintenance updates (09/01)
September 1, 2026
New maintenance updates are available for supported Databricks Runtime versions. These updates include bug fixes, security patches, and performance improvements. For details, see:
- Databricks Runtime 18 LTS
- Databricks Runtime 18.2
- Databricks Runtime 18.1
- Databricks Runtime 17.3 LTS
- Databricks Runtime 16.4 LTS
- Databricks Runtime 15.4 LTS
- Databricks Runtime 14.3 LTS
- Databricks Runtime 13.3 LTS
Anthropic Claude Fable 5.1 now available as a Databricks-hosted model
September 1, 2026
Unity Gateway now supports Anthropic Claude Fable 5.1 as a Databricks-hosted model. You can access this model using Foundation Model APIs.
Customers are responsible for ensuring their compliance with applicable terms.
Automatic change data feed is now generally available
September 1, 2026
Automatic change data feed (Auto CDF) computes row-level changes at query time using row tracking, without requiring you to manually enable change data feed on each Delta Lake or Apache Iceberg v3 table. Auto CDF removes write-time overhead and makes MERGE and UPDATE operations about 15% faster on tables that you query for changes. It works with batch queries, Structured Streaming, and Delta Sharing, and requires Databricks Runtime 19 or above with row tracking enabled. See Automatic change data feed.