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Enable and try Databricks Assistant

Databricks Assistant is a context-aware AI assistant that helps you with Databricks notebooks, SQL editor, jobs, AI/BI dashboards, file editor, and more. Databricks Assistant assists you with data and code when you ask for help using a conversational interface.

Note

Databricks Assistant defaults to using Databricks-hosted AI models if you disable Azure AI-powered features. To learn more about this, see Features governed by the Partner-powered AI assistive features setting.

To learn how Assistant helps with code, see Get coding help from Databricks Assistant.

For an account: Disable or enable Azure AI-powered AI features

Tip

If you can't enable Databricks Assistant or other Azure AI-powered AI features using the following instructions, you might need to disable Enforce data processing within workspace Geography for AI features. See Enable cross-Geo processing.

Partner-powered AI features including Databricks Assistant are enabled by default. However, account admins can disable Azure AI-powered AI features for all workspaces within an account. Account admins can also enforce enabling Databricks Assistant for the entire account.

Tip

Enabling or disabling Azure AI-powered Databricks AI features for your account is captured as an account event in audit logs. See Account events.

  1. As an account admin, log in to the account console.

    Important

    If no users in your Microsoft Entra ID tenant have yet logged in to the account console, you or another user in your tenant must log in as the first account admin. To do this, you must be a Microsoft Entra ID Global Administrator, but only when you first log in to the Azure Databricks Account Console. Upon first login, you become an Azure Databricks account admin and no longer need the Microsoft Entra ID Global Administrator role to access the Azure Databricks account. As the first account admin, you can assign users in the Microsoft Entra ID tenant as additional account admins (who can assign more account admins). Additional account admins do not require specific roles in Microsoft Entra ID. See Manage users, service principals, and groups.

  2. Click Settings.

  3. Click the Feature enablement tab.

  4. For the Enable Azure AI-powered features option, select Off or On.

  5. Prevent workspace overrides with the Enforce setting: Enforce setting that overrides a workspace setting.

If you select Off for the Enable Azure AI-powered AI assistive features option, Databricks-hosted models continue to power AI features.

To learn about the services used for Azure AI-powered AI features including Assistant, see Features governed by the Partner-powered AI assistive features setting.

For a workspace: Disable or enable Azure AI-powered AI features

If your account admin enables Azure AI-powered AI features including Databricks Assistant, it is enabled by default in workspaces. Unless the account admin chose to enforce the setting, workspace admins can disable it for their workspaces.

To disable Azure AI-powered AI features in a workspace:

  1. Click your username in the top bar of the Databricks workspace > Settings.
  2. In the left pane under Workspace admin, click the Advanced tab.
  3. To disable Azure AI-powered AI features, click the toggle Off for Azure AI-powered AI assistive features.

Tour of the Assistant pane

This section describes the default experience of the Assistant pane.

To open the Assistant pane, click In-product help assistant icon - grey on the upper-right corner of the page.

Chat pane

The Assistant pane with an explain prompt.

Type questions or slash commands in the text box at the bottom of the Assistant pane and press Enter or click Send icon. at the right of the text box. Assistant displays its answer.

If you prompt Assistant to help with code, it leads you through running, accepting, or rejecting the code changes it proposes.

Chat pane controls and settings

The Chat pane header has controls and settings for the Chat UI.

Icons and thread title at the top of the Assistant pane.

  • Chat pane settings menu: Open the Chat pane settings menu to delete chat threads, change the position of the pane, and change settings.

    Assistant Chat pane menu with options.

  • Delete chat threads in History.

    Assistant thread history with delete.

  • Change Assistant settings. When you select Settings, the Chat pane runs the /settings assistant prompt.

    Assistant Chat pane with the Settings prompt.

  • Rerun your prompt or query: Hover your cursor over the answer and click Sync icon..

  • Close the pane: Click Close icon. in the upper-right corner of the cell.

Control the location of Databricks Assistant

The docking feature allows you to control where Databricks Assistant appears. Keep the pane on the right side of the page or dock it anywhere along the bottom. To minimize or expand Databricks Assistant, click the top of the Assistant pane.

Databricks Assistant with docking control.

Get follow-up suggestions and citations from documentation

Databricks Assistant gives you follow-up suggestions and citations from documentation to answer questions. Type your question or prompt in the prompt box.

  • Follow-up suggestions include variations on the query.
  • Citations are numbered footnote links following an Assistant answer.

Documentation citations and follow-up suggestions from Databricks Assistant.

Get help with code

Get help with code from Databricks Assistant directly in your notebooks. The Assistant offers:

See Get coding help from Databricks Assistant.

Additional information