Zerobus Ingest

Build clients that ingest data directly into Databricks Delta tables via the Zerobus gRPC API.

Status: Public Preview (currently free; Databricks plans to introduce charges in the future)

Documentation:

What Is Zerobus Ingest?

Zerobus Ingest is a serverless connector that enables direct, record-by-record data ingestion into Delta tables via gRPC. It eliminates the need for message bus infrastructure (Kafka, Kinesis, Event Hub) for lakehouse-bound data. The service validates schemas, materializes data to target tables, and sends durability acknowledgments back to the client.

Core pattern: SDK init -> create stream -> ingest records -> handle ACKs -> flush -> close

Quick Decision: What Are You Building?

Scenario	Language	Serialization	Reference
Quick prototype / test harness	Python	JSON	2-python-client.md
Production Python producer	Python	Protobuf	2-python-client.md + 4-protobuf-schema.md
JVM microservice	Java	Protobuf	3-multilanguage-clients.md
Go service	Go	JSON or Protobuf	3-multilanguage-clients.md
Node.js / TypeScript app	TypeScript	JSON	3-multilanguage-clients.md
High-performance system service	Rust	JSON or Protobuf	3-multilanguage-clients.md
Schema generation from UC table	Any	Protobuf	4-protobuf-schema.md
Retry / reconnection logic	Any	Any	5-operations-and-limits.md

If not speficfied, default to python.

Common Libraries

These libraries are essential for ZeroBus data ingestion:

databricks-sdk>=0.85.0: Databricks workspace client for authentication and metadata
databricks-zerobus-ingest-sdk>=0.2.0: ZeroBus SDK for high-performance streaming ingestion
grpcio-tools These are typically NOT pre-installed on Databricks. Install them using execute_databricks_command tool:
code: "%pip install databricks-sdk>=VERSION databricks-zerobus-ingest-sdk>=VERSION"

Save the returned cluster_id and context_id for subsequent calls.

Smart Installation Approach

Check protobuf version first, then install compatible

grpcio-tools import google.protobuf runtime_version = google.protobuf.version print(f"Runtime protobuf version: {runtime_version}")

if runtime_version.startswith("5.26") or runtime_version.startswith("5.29"): %pip install grpcio-tools==1.62.0 else: %pip install grpcio-tools # Use latest for newer protobuf versions

Prerequisites

You must never execute the skill without confirming the below objects are valid:

A Unity Catalog managed Delta table to ingest into
A service principal id and secret with MODIFY and SELECT on the target table
The Zerobus server endpoint for your workspace region
The Zerobus Ingest SDK installed for your target language

See 1-setup-and-authentication.md for complete setup instructions.

Minimal Python Example (JSON)

from zerobus.sdk.sync import ZerobusSdk
from zerobus.sdk.shared import RecordType, StreamConfigurationOptions, TableProperties

sdk = ZerobusSdk(server_endpoint, workspace_url)
options = StreamConfigurationOptions(record_type=RecordType.JSON)
table_props = TableProperties(table_name)

stream = sdk.create_stream(client_id, client_secret, table_props, options)
try:
    record = {"device_name": "sensor-1", "temp": 22, "humidity": 55}
    offset = stream.ingest_record_offset(record)
    stream.wait_for_offset(offset)
finally:
    stream.close()

Detailed guides

Topic	File	When to Read
Setup & Auth	1-setup-and-authentication.md	Endpoint formats, service principals, SDK install
Python Client	2-python-client.md	Sync/async Python, JSON and Protobuf flows, reusable client class
Multi-Language	3-multilanguage-clients.md	Java, Go, TypeScript, Rust SDK examples
Protobuf Schema	4-protobuf-schema.md	Generate .proto from UC table, compile, type mappings
Operations & Limits	5-operations-and-limits.md	ACK handling, retries, reconnection, throughput limits, constraints

You must always follow all the steps in the Workslfow

Workflow

Display the plan of your execution
Determinate the type of client
Get schema Always use 4-protobuf-schema.md. Execute using the run_python_file_on_databricks MCP tool
Write Python code to a local file follow the instructions in the relevant guide to ingest with zerobus in the project (e.g., scripts/zerobus_ingest.py).
Execute on Databricks using the run_python_file_on_databricks MCP tool
If execution fails: Edit the local file to fix the error, then re-execute
Reuse the context for follow-up executions by passing the returned cluster_id and context_id

Important

Never install local packages
Always validate MCP server requirement before execution

Context Reuse Pattern

The first execution auto-selects a running cluster and creates an execution context. Reuse this context for follow-up calls - it's much faster (~1s vs ~15s) and shares variables/imports:

First execution - use run_python_file_on_databricks tool:

file_path: "scripts/zerobus_ingest.py"

Returns: { success, output, error, cluster_id, context_id, ... }

Save cluster_id and context_id for follow-up calls.

If execution fails:

Read the error from the result
Edit the local Python file to fix the issue
Re-execute with same context using run_python_file_on_databricks tool:
- file_path: "scripts/zerobus_ingest.py"
- cluster_id: "<saved_cluster_id>"
- context_id: "<saved_context_id>"

Follow-up executions reuse the context (faster, shares state):

file_path: "scripts/validate_ingestion.py"
cluster_id: "<saved_cluster_id>"
context_id: "<saved_context_id>"

Handling Failures

When execution fails:

Read the error from the result
Edit the local Python file to fix the issue
Re-execute using the same cluster_id and context_id (faster, keeps installed libraries)
If the context is corrupted, omit context_id to create a fresh one

Installing Libraries

Databricks provides Spark, pandas, numpy, and common data libraries by default. Only install a library if you get an import error.

Use execute_databricks_command tool:

code: "%pip install databricks-zerobus-ingest-sdk>=0.2.0"
cluster_id: "<cluster_id>"
context_id: "<context_id>"

The library is immediately available in the same context.

Note: Keeping the same context_id means installed libraries persist across calls.

🚨 Critical Learning: Timestamp Format Fix

BREAKTHROUGH: ZeroBus requires timestamp fields as Unix integer timestamps, NOT string timestamps. The timestamp generation must use microseconds for Databricks.

Key Concepts

gRPC + Protobuf: Zerobus uses gRPC as its transport protocol. Any application that can communicate via gRPC and construct Protobuf messages can produce to Zerobus.
JSON or Protobuf serialization: JSON for quick starts; Protobuf for type safety, forward compatibility, and performance.
At-least-once delivery: The connector provides at-least-once guarantees. Design consumers to handle duplicates.
Durability ACKs: Each ingested record returns an offset. Use wait_for_offset(offset) to confirm durable write. ACKs indicate all records up to that offset have been durably written.
No table management: Zerobus does not create or alter tables. You must pre-create your target table and manage schema evolution yourself.
Single-AZ durability: The service runs in a single availability zone. Plan for potential zone outages.

Common Issues

Issue	Solution
Connection refused	Verify server endpoint format matches your cloud (AWS vs Azure). Check firewall allowlists.
Authentication failed	Confirm service principal client_id/secret. Verify GRANT statements on the target table.
Schema mismatch	Ensure record fields match the target table schema exactly. Regenerate .proto if table changed.
Stream closed unexpectedly	Implement retry with exponential backoff and stream reinitialization. See 5-operations-and-limits.md.
Throughput limits hit	Max 100 MB/s and 15,000 rows/s per stream. Open multiple streams or contact Databricks.
Region not supported	Check supported regions in 5-operations-and-limits.md.
Table not found	Ensure table is a managed Delta table in a supported region with correct three-part name.

Related Skills

databricks-python-sdk - General SDK patterns and WorkspaceClient for table/schema management
databricks-spark-declarative-pipelines - Downstream pipeline processing of ingested data
databricks-unity-catalog - Managing catalogs, schemas, and tables that Zerobus writes to
databricks-synthetic-data-gen - Generate test data to feed into Zerobus producers
databricks-config - Profile and authentication setup

databricks-zerobus-ingest