Connect Databricks to Contextflo

Connect your Databricks workspace to Contextflo with a read-only token and a SQL warehouse

Last updated: 8/19/2026

Connect your Databricks workspace to Contextflo to query your Unity Catalog tables in natural language. Contextflo connects with read-only permissions, reads your schema, and serves context to Claude or ChatGPT over MCP.

Prerequisites

  • Access to a Databricks workspace with Unity Catalog
  • A running SQL warehouse (or the permission to use one)
  • A personal access token, or a service principal token, with read-only permissions on the catalogs you want to expose

Step 1: Create a read-only token

Contextflo authenticates with a token. Use whichever fits your governance:

  • Personal access token: In Databricks, go to Settings → Developer → Access tokens and generate a token.
  • Service principal token (recommended for teams): Create a service principal, grant it read-only access to the catalogs and schemas you want exposed, and generate a token for it.

Grant the identity USE CATALOG / USE SCHEMA and SELECT on the tables you want Contextflo to read. Read-only grants mean Contextflo can never modify your lakehouse.

Step 2: Find your Server Hostname and HTTP Path

Both come from your SQL warehouse:

  1. In Databricks, open SQL Warehouses and select your warehouse
  2. Open the Connection details tab
  3. Copy the Server hostname (e.g. adb-12345.6.azuredatabricks.net)
  4. Copy the HTTP path (e.g. /sql/1.0/warehouses/abc123)

Connection Details for Contextflo

In Contextflo, add a Databricks connection under Data Sources and provide:

  • Connection Name: A friendly name (e.g., "Production Databricks")
  • Host: The Server hostname from Step 2 (e.g. adb-12345.6.azuredatabricks.net)
  • HTTP Path: The HTTP path from Step 2 (e.g. /sql/1.0/warehouses/abc123)
  • Token: Your Databricks personal access or service principal token

Click Test Connection, then save. Contextflo reads your Unity Catalog metadata so you can select which catalogs, schemas, and tables to sync.

Security Notes

  • Read-only access: Grant the identity SELECT-only permissions. Contextflo cannot modify or delete your data.
  • Encrypted storage: Your token is encrypted at rest.
  • Prefer a service principal: A dedicated service principal is easier to scope and rotate than a personal token tied to one user.

Troubleshooting

Connection failed

  • Confirm the SQL warehouse is running (or set to auto-start)
  • Double-check the Server hostname and HTTP path match the warehouse's Connection details exactly
  • Verify the token is valid and hasn't expired

Tables not showing

  • Confirm the identity has USE CATALOG, USE SCHEMA, and SELECT on the tables
  • Verify you selected the right catalog and schema during table sync

Next Steps