Notebooks Not Deploying in Development Mode Using Databricks Asset Bundles (Deploying from Workspace

Charansai
New Contributor III

‎02-04-2026 06:01 AM - edited ‎02-04-2026 06:04 AM

Hi everyone,

I’m using Databricks Asset Bundles and running into an issue when deploying to my dev environment in development mode. Even though my bundle includes sync paths and notebook directories, the deployment only creates the .databricks/artifacts and .databricks/state folders — but none of my notebooks appear in the workspace.

Important context

I am performing the deployment directly from the Databricks Workspace Editor (the built‑in editor inside the Databricks UI), not from a local machine. I expected development mode to sync my src, resources, and tests folders into the workspace automatically, but that isn’t happening.

What I’m seeing

  • Running databricks bundle deploy -t dev from the Workspace Editor

  • Deployment completes with no errors

  • Only .databricks/artifacts and .databricks/state appear in the workspace

  • No notebooks or code folders are synced

My bundle.yml

yaml
 
variables:
  source_catalog:
    default: "cat_de_conformance"
  source_schema:
    default: "default"
  source_table:
    default: "employees"
  sink_catalog:
    default: "cat_dstd"
  sink_schema:
    default: "default"
  sink_table:
    default: "employees_department_stats"
  sink_dlt:
    default: "employees_department_stats_dlt"
  schedule_cron_expression:
    default: "23 30 15 * * ?"
  timezone_id:
    default: "America/New_York"
  pause_status:
    default: "UNPAUSED"
  test_job_parameter:
    default: "DEFAULT_DEV_JOB_PARAMETER"
  existing_cluster_id:
    default: ""

bundle:
  name: dbw-datalakehouse
  uuid: 87d5a23e-7bc7-e-e374b67d

artifacts:
  python_artifact:
    type: whl
    build: uv build --wheel

include:
  - resources/*.yml
  - resources/*/*.yml

sync:
  paths:
    - src
    - resources
    - tests

targets:
  dev:
    mode: development
    default: true
    workspace:
      host: https://adb-3960838.18.azuredatabricks.net
      root_path: /Workspace/Users/${workspace.current_user.userName}/Data_Lakehouse
    permissions:
      - service_principal_name: 1cb41354-64f9fa-48c6973a4a7d
        level: CAN_MANAGE
    run_as:
      service_principal_name: 1cb41354-6-99fa-48c6973a4a7d

  qa:
    mode: production
    default: true
    workspace:
      host: https://adb-2386398.18.azuredatabricks.net
      root_path: /Workspace/Shared/Data_Lakehouse
    permissions:
      - service_principal_name: 6ce6f4f2-9-9444-f1f63f88fb5b
        level: CAN_MANAGE
    run_as:
      service_principal_name: 6ce6f4f2--9444-f1f63f88fb5b

My questions

  1. Does development mode skip notebook deployment when running from the Databricks Workspace Editor?

  2. Should I be using bundle sync instead of bundle deploy for notebooks to appear?

  3. Is my sync.paths configuration correct for syncing notebooks from src?

  4. Are there limitations when deploying from the Workspace Editor vs. local CLI?

  5. Is this expected behavior when using service principals in development mode?


    Any insights or examples from others who have solved this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

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