Databricks releases, every cloud
- Data Classification now scans Unity Catalog views (Beta)
Scans Unity Catalog views in addition to tables, using the same detection engine, and is currently in Beta.
- The counter_diff SQL window function is now available
Calculates differences between consecutive cumulative counter values, available in Databricks Runtime 19 and above.
- Window measures on a numeric index column in metric views
Supports unitless offset and ranges on consecutive integer columns, useful for non-calendar periods like fiscal weeks.
- See which chunks support each ai_search answer (Beta)
Added generate_citations option to show supporting chunks.
- time_bucket SQL function aligns timestamps to fixed-width time buckets
Replaces date_trunc for non-calendar units, requires origin and width parameters.
- Unity Catalog Skills (Beta)
Publishes and governs agent skills, controlling access with Unity Catalog permissions.
- Run the change, do not just read it. Hands-on labs in your own Databricks workspace, graded when you submit. Browse labs
- Context attributes in ABAC column mask and row filter policies (Beta)
Targets request context, such as OAuth client ID and on-behalf-of status, in Unity Catalog policies.
- Identity attributes in ABAC column mask policies (Beta)
Targets users by attributes like department or country, using has_identity_attribute_value and has_identity_attribute_tag_match functions.
- Tags page in Governance Hub (Beta)
Provides a centralized view of tag usage, summarizes governed tags, and offers recommendations for invalid values. Requires account admins to enable from Previews page.
- Define business concepts with Pages (Beta)
Gives business terms a single governed definition, part of Unity Catalog semantics.
- REPLACE USING flows for standalone streaming tables (Beta)
Replaces rows matching specified key columns, requires SEQUENCE BY column.
- READ METADATA privilege is GA
Provides read-only visibility into security-sensitive metadata, including privilege grants and ABAC policies.
- Change data feed on materialized views (Beta)
Requires Databricks Runtime 18 LTS or above. Enables replication to external destinations.
- Tag automations (Beta)
Assigns or removes governed tags on Unity Catalog tables or volumes based on defined conditions.
- Automatic cost attribution for materialized views and streaming tables in Databricks SQL
Inherits custom tags from enclosing SQL warehouse environment for billing.
- Refresh materialized views and streaming tables without exempting the pipeline owner from ABAC policies
Pipeline owners are now subject to ABAC policies when refreshing views and tables. Policies are evaluated using the pipeline owner's identity.
- Secrets in Unity Catalog is GA
Stores secrets as securable objects with Unity Catalog privileges. Uses catalog.schema.secret namespace.
- Upcoming general availability of Unity Gateway Coming soon
Extends Unity Catalog governance to runtime interactions, controls AI service usage, and monitors traffic. Available by default for workspaces with compliance security profile in mid-September.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Get this table by email. One Monday mail covering the week, filtered to the clouds and products you run. Weekly digest
- Automated setup for S3 external locations
Uses AWS IAM temporary delegation to configure external locations and provision required resources.
- Databricks-hosted sample datasets available in the samples catalog
Available in Unity Catalog-enabled workspaces through OpenSharing as samples.databricks.datasets.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Warehouse-level statement timeouts (Beta)
Set via statement_timeout field in Create or Update warehouse APIs.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Lakehouse Real-Time (Beta)
Delivers sub-second SQL read queries against Unity Catalog tables. Built for low-latency workloads.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks SQL version 2026.20 is now available in Preview
Adds IP address functions, NEAREST BY join type, and QUALIFY clause, with fixes for MERGE WITH SCHEMA EVOLUTION.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Govern LLMs in Unity Catalog with model services (Beta)
Represents a governed LLM endpoint, sharable across workspaces via Unity Catalog privileges.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Comments on foreign tables (Beta)
Syncs table and column comments from external data sources to Unity Catalog foreign tables.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - ABAC GRANT policies for models (Beta)
Grants EXECUTE privilege on models based on governed tags, supporting MLflow and foundation models.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Lakehouse Replay (Beta)
Automatically replays serverless workloads against upcoming runtime releases. Requires no setup.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Reorganized Spark Declarative Pipelines on Lakeflow documentation
Conceptual topics are now under Concepts.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Column popularity is now available in the Catalog Explorer
Shows column query count in the Overview tab, determined by read queries.
- Cross-engine attribute-based access controls (Beta)
Enforces row filters and column masks server-side for external engines reading Unity Catalog tables.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks SQL version 2026.15 is now available in Preview
XPath no longer fetches external DTDs, fixing failures from malformed URLs.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Fixed LOD expression syntax update for metric views
Uses SQL window functions, replacing two-step pre-computation approach.
- Native data profiling for results tables in the SQL editor
Select column headers and click Open selection details to view statistics.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - agg SQL function as a synonym for measure
Replaces measure, used as agg(measure_column) in metric views.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Tag Unity Catalog functions
Requires Databricks Runtime 18.1 or above. Uses SET TAG and UNSET TAG commands.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Recently Resolved Incidents section in Data Quality Monitoring (Beta)
Shows automatically recovered unhealthy tables, including resolution time.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks SQL version 2026.10 is rolling out in Current
Replaces version 2026.09, requires no configuration changes.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Create and write to Unity Catalog tables from external Delta clients (Beta)
Requires catalog-managed commits to be enabled, supports Apache Spark clients.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - SQL reference documentation for managing governed tags
Adds 5 SQL statements: CREATE, ALTER, DROP, DESCRIBE, SHOW.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks Documentation site table of contents tabs
Replaces static sidebar with tabbed navigation, includes 6 context tabs.
Headlines, dates and product areas are Databricks' own, and every item links to the note it came from. The one-line summaries are ours.