Databricks releases, every cloud
- Databricks Runtime 19: September 21, 2026
It supports truncate and trim_array functions in SQL and DataFrame APIs. Session environment variables are set using spark.pythonWorkerEnv.
- Standard performance mode is now available for one-time runs in the Jobs API
Sets performance_target to STANDARD. Supports Apache Airflow's DatabricksSubmitRunOperator.
- Environment version 6 is now available
Supports serverless and standard classic compute.
- Automatic change data feed is now generally available
Requires Databricks Runtime 19 or above with row tracking enabled. Makes MERGE and UPDATE operations about 15% faster.
- Databricks Runtime 19: September 1, 2026
Auto CDF requires Databricks Runtime 19 or above with row tracking enabled. It makes MERGE and UPDATE operations about 15% faster.
- Databricks Runtime maintenance updates (09/01)
Includes bug fixes, security patches, and performance improvements for versions 13.3 to 18.2.
- Run the change, do not just read it. Hands-on labs in your own Databricks workspace, graded when you submit. Browse labs
- Genie Code for AI Runtime (Public Preview)
Generates distributed training code and resolves environment issues. Requires AI Runtime.
- Databricks Runtime 19: August 24, 2026
Updates Java to Zulu21.52+15-CA and upgrades Jackson libraries to version 2.22.
- Custom trace views in the MLflow trace explorer are in Beta
Genie generates views based on plain language descriptions, surfacing relevant trace fields and metrics.
- Databricks Runtime 19: August 10, 2026
It supports collect_union and evaluates HAVING before window functions.
- JAR tasks on serverless compute are now generally available
Requires matching Scala, Java Development Kit, and Databricks Connect versions.
- Databricks Runtime maintenance updates (08/04)
Includes bug fixes, security patches, and performance improvements for versions 13.3 to 18.2.
- Serverless compute access control is now generally available
Governs access to notebooks, jobs, and pipelines through Default Interactive and Automated Compute objects. Existing workloads run unchanged.
- Web terminal on serverless GPU compute (AI Runtime) is in Public Preview
Runs shell commands, monitors GPU usage, and manages files on serverless GPU compute. Requires environment version 5 or above.
- Databricks Runtime maintenance updates (07/24)
Includes bug fixes, security patches, and performance improvements for versions 13.3 to 18.2.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks Runtime 18 and Databricks Runtime 18 for Machine Learning have transitioned to LTS
Receives 3 years of stability and security fixes.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks Runtime 19 and Databricks Runtime 19 for Machine Learning are now generally available
Powered by Apache Spark 4.2.0.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks Runtime 19: July 23, 2026
Enables Arrow-optimized Python UDFs by default, changing type-coercion behavior.
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
- MLflow trace storage in Unity Catalog is now generally available
Stores traces in OpenTelemetry format with unlimited storage and SQL query access.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Protobuf tensor input for custom model serving endpoints (Public Preview)
Replaces JSON with serialized KServe v2 ModelInferRequest. Requires endpoints deployed after July 9, 2026.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - July 6, 2026
Updates from Databricks Runtime 18, adds Spark Declarative Pipelines and IP address functions.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Custom Docker images for AI Runtime CLI workloads (Beta)
Allows custom system library versions and complex dependencies, requires setup via Use custom Docker images.
- Databricks Runtime maintenance updates (06/29)
Includes bug fixes, security patches, and performance improvements for versions 13.3 to 18.2.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks Runtime 19 (Beta): June 26, 2026
Restricts environment variables and Spark configurations in standard access mode. Removes previously allowed settings.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks Runtime 19 and Databricks Runtime 19 for Machine Learning are in Beta
Powered by Apache Spark 4.2.0.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks Runtime 19 (Beta): June 15, 2026
Replaces JDK 17 with JDK 21, removes 90 Python packages.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - AI Runtime CLI (Beta)
Submits and manages distributed training workloads on serverless GPU compute from a local machine.
- Databricks Runtime 18: June 10, 2026
Adds Spark Declarative Pipelines and IP address functions, requires no changes to existing setups.
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) - Databricks Runtime 18: June 8, 2026
Adds NEAREST BY SQL join type and DESCRIBE TABLE PARTITION for v2 catalog tables.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks Runtime 18: June 4, 2026
NATURAL JOIN now matches columns case-insensitively by default. Set spark.sql.legacy.naturalJoinCaseSensitiveColumnMatching to true to restore previous behavior.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks Runtime 18: May 29, 2026
Treats NaN values as duplicates, preserves Unity Catalog foreign table permissions during metadata refresh.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Workspace admin setting for serverless notebook execution timeout
Replaces manual override process, defaults to 2.5 hours.
- Databricks Runtime maintenance updates (05/26)
Includes bug fixes, security patches, and performance improvements for versions 13.3 to 18.2.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks Runtime 18 and Databricks Runtime 18 for Machine Learning are in Beta
Powered by Apache Spark 4.1.0, replacing separate release notes for feature versions.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Serve custom LLMs with Custom Model Serving (Beta)
Supports multimodal models and PEFT recipes, unlike Foundation Model APIs.
- Customer-managed keys now support MLflow managed evaluation features
Supports MLflow 3 scorers and requires non-CMK encrypted catalog.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks Runtime 18: May 18, 2026
Preserves table comments by default, auto-casts compatible column types in DataFrame writes.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Databricks Runtime maintenance updates (05/13)
Includes bug fixes, security patches, and performance improvements for versions 13.3 to 18.2.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud) - Version 18.2
Adds CREATE OR REPLACE TEMP TABLE syntax and upgrades Snowflake JDBC driver to 3.28.0.
AWS, read it on their docsAzure, read it on their docsGCP, read it on their docsSAP(not on this cloud)
Headlines, dates and product areas are Databricks' own, and every item links to the note it came from. The one-line summaries are ours.