Connect MATLAB to Databricks via JDBC

Connect MATLAB to Databricks via JDBC

Use when establishing a JDBC connection from MATLAB to Databricks using Database Toolbox and the MATLAB Interface for Databricks package. This skill covers connection class selection, authentication configuration, driver setup, and connection optimization. Once connected, use standard Database Toolbox functions (sqlread, fetch, sqlwrite, execute) on the j.Connection object for data operations.

Prerequisites

• MATLAB Interface for Databricks package installed and on the MATLAB path
• Database Toolbox installed

When to Use

• Connecting MATLAB to a Databricks cluster via JDBC
• Connecting MATLAB to a Databricks SQL Warehouse via JDBC
• Configuring Databricks authentication (PAT, OauthU2M, OauthM2M)
• Setting up the Databricks JDBC driver (Simba or OSS)
• Creating a standalone JDBC connection without the full Databricks package
• Running MATLAB on a Databricks cluster and connecting back via JDBC
• Optimizing write performance for large data transfers to Databricks
• User mentions keywords: Databricks, JDBCConnection, SQL Warehouse, databricks.JDBCConnection, StandaloneJDBCConnection, Databricks JDBC, Databricks connect, Databricks cluster, Databricks authentication

When NOT to Use

• Connecting via ODBC (use databricks.ODBCConnection directly)
• Using Databricks Connect (Python-based Spark API, not Database Toolbox)
• Using the Databricks REST APIs (Clusters, Jobs, DBFS, etc.)
• Using MLflow from MATLAB (separate module in the package)
• Executing SQL via the Statement Execution REST API (not JDBC)

Critical Rules

Connection

• ALWAYS prefer databricks.JDBCConnection or StandaloneJDBCConnection over manually constructing a JDBC URL with database(). Manual URL construction is not wrong, but the URL format is complex and error-prone, and may expose connection details in source code. The connection classes handle URL construction, driver classpath, and authentication automatically.
• ALWAYS use StandaloneJDBCConnection when the user does not have the MATLAB Interface for Databricks package installed. Never fall back to manual database() with JDBC URL construction.
• ALWAYS call close(j) or close(j.Connection) when the connection is no longer needed.
• ALWAYS verify a connection succeeded by checking that j.Connection.Message is empty. A non-empty message indicates a driver error.

Authentication

• ALWAYS let the connection class handle authentication via the unified provider chain. The default method is OauthU2M. Do not hardcode tokens in source code.
• NEVER use the JDBC driver's built-in OauthU2M when running MATLAB on Databricks in a browser. The driver attempts to open a browser window, which fails. Use useDriverAuth=false instead.

Drivers