Running Into Erroneous "Databricks Connected" Messages with Claude Desktop

[kcailabs]

When I try to connect Databricks via the connector that is now available within Claude Desktop to a genie space I have available (which is just the default test one), Databricks appears to say that it connects successfully, but it never actually works. Has anyone else run into this problem? I am on the trial version of Databricks and I am wondering if that is the problem.

[Louis_Frolio · Accepted solution]

Greetings @kcailabs ,

Thanks for sharing the screenshots—this helps. From what I can see, Claude shows a “Successfully connected to Databricks” toast while the Databricks connector still displays “Disconnected,” and the Server URL entered is just a path “/2.0/mcp/genie/,” which won’t work as a standalone URL.

What’s likely going wrong

• The Server URL must be a full HTTPS endpoint to the Databricks managed MCP Genie server, not just the path. The required format is: https://<your-workspace-hostname>/api/2.0/mcp/genie/{genie_space_id}.

• For Claude Connectors using OAuth, you need a Databricks OAuth App Connection configured for Claude, including the redirect URL and scopes. Use redirect URL  https://claude.ai/api/mcp/auth_callback and scope all-apis; Claude supports public clients (no client secret).

• Ensure you’re minting workspace-scoped OAuth tokens (against your workspace host) rather than account-scoped tokens; account-scoped tokens will be rejected by the managed MCP endpoints and can cause opaque 401/connection failures.

• The managed MCP feature set (including Genie MCP) is Beta and must be enabled in the workspace. If this preview isn’t enabled in your environment, connections will not succeed even if the OAuth flow completes.

Step-by-step checklist to get it working

• Find your full Genie MCP URL:

  • In your Databricks workspace, go to Agents → MCP Servers to copy the Genie entry for your space (it will include the {genie_space_id}).

• Correct the Server URL in Claude:

  • Paste the full URL, e.g.,  https://adb-1234567890123456.11.azuredatabricks.net/api/2.0/mcp/genie/01f0... (your actual host and space ID).

• Configure the OAuth App Connection for Claude (Databricks Account Console):

  • Add an App Connection with redirect URL  https://claude.ai/api/mcp/auth_callback, scopes all-apis, and make it a public client (no secret) unless you specifically need confidential-client behavior.

• In Claude’s Databricks connector dialog:

  • Enter the full Server URL (above) and your OAuth Client ID. If you created a public client, leave the secret blank; a confidential client requires a secret.

• Verify token scope:

  • If you previously used account-level endpoints, reconfigure to mint workspace-level tokens (hosted at your workspace) before retrying.

• Confirm preview access:

  • Check that your workspace has the “Managed MCP Servers” preview enabled; otherwise the managed Genie MCP endpoints won’t be accessible.

If you’re on a trial and OAuth/App Connections aren’t available

If the App Connection/OAuth flow isn’t available to you, you can still use Claude Desktop with a PAT via mcp-remote. Add a server entry that uses your full Genie MCP URL and a PAT, then restart Claude Desktop.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "databricks-genie-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-remote",
        "https://<your-workspace-hostname>/api/2.0/mcp/genie/<genie_space_id>",
        "--header",
        "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_PAT>"
      ]
    }
  }
}

json

Quick sanity tests

• Try MCP Inspector with your Genie MCP URL to confirm OAuth config is correct; it walks through the flow and helps isolate auth vs. client issues.

• If you still see “Connected” but no tools usable in Claude, it’s usually a URL/auth mismatch (path-only URLs, account-scoped tokens, or missing preview) rather than a general outage.

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Hope this helps, Louis.