Build data and AI apps with natural language using Genie App Builder

Genie App Builder is a native Databricks tool for building data and AI applications through natural language prompts directly in the Databricks UI. It operates inside an App Space that enforces governance controls and runs on an isolated serverless environment.

Use cases

Imagine you need to quickly deliver an interactive dashboard for a business team to query metrics without writing Python or SQL code. With this feature, you can:

• Describe the desired layout, inputs, and charts using text prompts.
• Preview and test a working mockup generated automatically.
• Refine the application iteratively with follow-up prompts until it meets your requirements.
• Deploy apps that automatically scale down to zero when idle.

How to use

Since this feature operates entirely through the Databricks UI, there is no code syntax to run manually. To build an app, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Apps home page in the Databricks UI and click the Build tab.
2. Select your target App Space and enter a natural-language prompt describing the desired app.
3. Review the generated preview, refine it with follow-up prompts, and deploy it once ready.

Limitations and requirements

• Stage: Beta.
• Requires a workspace admin to enable agentic app-building previews in the admin console.
• Available in selected AWS and Azure regions (GCP and GovCloud are not supported).
• Apps built in App Spaces have no general public internet egress; outbound access is limited to the workspace and managed package proxies.
• The runtime scales between zero and one instance, spinning down after 30 minutes of inactivity, which clears any local in-memory state.

Using it in a pipeline

You can use Genie App Builder on top of your refined Gold layer tables in Unity Catalog, turning consolidated analytical data into interactive interfaces for business consumers.