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Metric Views

Recent items mentioning Metric Views across the Databricks ecosystem — releases, news, videos, and community Q&A. Updated hourly.

53 recent items6 releases6 news18 videos23 community threads

What is Metric Views?

A metric view is a Unity Catalog object that holds business metric definitions: measures such as revenue or active users, plus the dimensions used to group and filter them. You define measures and dimensions in YAML, created through SQL DDL or the Catalog Explorer UI. Unlike a standard view, it doesn't bake one aggregation in at creation time; measures are computed at query time against whatever grouping a query asks for.

It exists to end duplicate metric logic. When every dashboard and notebook rewrites its own aggregation, numbers drift apart and nobody trusts them. A metric view keeps one governed definition in the catalog, covered by normal Unity Catalog permissions and lineage, and every consumer reads from it: SQL editors, notebooks, dashboards, Genie Agents, alerts, and external BI tools including Power BI, Tableau, and Sigma.

Metric views have been generally available since April 2, 2026, announced as part of Unity Catalog Business Semantics, and Databricks is open sourcing the core implementation in Apache Spark. You need a workspace enabled for Unity Catalog, and creating a metric view is supported on Databricks Runtime 16.4 and above, with some features requiring later versions.

Are metric views generally available?

Yes. Metric views reached GA on April 2, 2026 as part of Unity Catalog Business Semantics. Databricks is also open sourcing the core implementation in Apache Spark.

What do I need to use metric views?

A workspace enabled for Unity Catalog. Creating a metric view is supported on Databricks Runtime 16.4 and above, though some features require later versions; the official tutorial uses a SQL warehouse or compute running Runtime 17.3 or above.

How is a metric view different from a regular view?

A regular view locks its aggregations in when you create it. A metric view stores measures and dimensions separately and computes measures at query time, so one definition answers daily, regional, and per-customer questions without rewriting SQL.

Can external BI tools use metric views?

Yes. Metric views can be consumed from Power BI, Tableau, Sigma, and other external BI tools, alongside Databricks surfaces like SQL editors, notebooks, dashboards, Genie Agents, and alerts.

Sources: Unity Catalog metric views (Databricks docs) · Create a metric view (Databricks docs) · GA announcement: Unity Catalog Business Semantics (Databricks blog)

What's happening in Metric ViewsAI synthesis · updated 5d ago

dbt-databricks v1.12.5 changed how metric views materialize, switching to a backup-and-create strategy instead of direct create-or-replace syntax 3, while UnityCatalog 0.6.0 formalized metric views (alongside SQL views) as governed catalog objects for semantic layers 8. Genie can now auto-convert PowerBI dashboards into Databricks metric views 9, even as practitioners report materialization failures 2 and ask how to route metric views back out to PowerBI 1.

Generated daily from the 9 most recent items mentioning Metric Views. Click any [N] to jump to the source.

Reddit

Databricks metric views to PowerBI?

submitted by /u/FiftyShadesOfBlack [link] [comments]

00FiftyShadesOfBlack5d ago
Databricks CommunityData Engineering

Metric views materialization failure

006d ago
Reddit

Excel Add-In Roadmap

Has there been any public roadmap for the excel add-in? I was going to install and try it out this weekend, but I can already foresee some of its shortcomings. I'm accustomed to using Excel pivot tables for Microsoft OLAP (which are pretty hard to beat!) Questions: - Based on docs it didn't appear that this add-in would reap the benefits of lakebase (sub-ten-ms queries). Isn't that the point of using Excel, to interact with data instantly? Can we get an experience that is specifically tailored to lakebase? The CEO of databricks keeps acknowledging that "agents like fast data". But here is a newsflash; humans like fast data too! We've had fast data in Excel/SSAS pivot tables for decades. - I'm assuming this tech sends SQL queries back to the SaaS service for processing. Is that fundamentally better than the ODBC support already available to excel users? I'm guessing the catalog/usability/security is the main attraction (ie. making things "easier" and more secure). - If lakebase is as fast as the CEO claims, will it ever be possible to transpile MDX? Will those sorts of queries be able to run on lakebase? Some other open source tools do MDX, as we can see in Mondrian or Apache Kylin. These tools offer a robust, high-performance pivot table experience in Excel. Any information would be appreciated. I'm guessing it will be a very long time before Databricks wants to pursue MDX, or compete with the normal pivot tables available from Microsoft. They are more likely to follow down the current path with "metric views" for several years, rather than using pre-existing technology. From a customer perspective, I think it would be amazing if Databricks could offer an Excel experience that approaches the ones offered by Microsoft/Fabric. (One thing that is particularly compelling about the Databricks add-in is the write-back. This was something that Microsoft attempted long ago, but wasn't able to be successful with it. I'm interested to see if Databricks can do better. If nothing else, I think the culture of modern databricks user may be more receptive than the culture of the users doing write-back to OLAP cubes.) submitted by /u/SmallAd3697 [link] [comments]

00SmallAd36972w ago
Reddit

What is the general guidance for data structure when using a text to SQL agent such as Databricks Genie?

I’ve heard use of metric views is highly recommended, but never sure if OBT approach or normalized approach works better. If I’m defining the joins in my Genie, shouldn’t it be able to pull things either way? submitted by /u/ceeej777 [link] [comments]

00ceeej7773w ago
Databricks CommunityMVP Articles

Databricks Metric Views- Stop Building Metrics Twice

003w ago
Reddit

Getting ready for Genie Ontology

Are you getting ready for Genie Ontology? You can leverage PAGES that sit in the Discover page and are organized by domain and subdomain. Each domain and subdomain has its own set of Pages and users with access to a domain can create and govern them. 🛑 But first, what do you mean by Pages? Pages are part of UC semantics; it's the business context that you define and govern explicitly, forming the human-modeled layer of the Genie Ontology. 🛑 Why is it useful? When Genie One answers a question about a concept you've defined in a Page, it prioritizes the Page's definition over context it infers automatically, and cites the Page so users can confirm the source. 🛑 Any tips to build pages? You can create Pages from those documents instead of writing each one by hand. Genie Code reads the documents you attach, extracts the terms it finds, and returns a set of proposed Pages. You review and edit the proposed Pages before any of them are created. 🛑 Is it a collaborative environment? You can Comment : Ask a follow-up question or flag context for the owner. You can Suggest edits : Suggest changes to a published Page's body. Each time you click Suggestion , edit the body, and click Save , your edits are grouped into a single batch. The owner or curator accepts or rejects the entire batch at once. Accepting a batch clears all other pending batches on the Page, including those from other users, and this can't be undone. You can React : Upvote or downvote a Page to signal whether it answered your question. The owner or curator can also edit a published Page's content directly, bypassing the suggestion workflow. 🛑What's next? Create domains, Subdomains, leverage UC metric views, and connect your external tools to Databricks submitted by /u/Youssef_Mrini [link] [comments]

00Youssef_Mrini1mo ago
Databricks CommunityAdministration & Architectureanswered

Unity Catalog Metric Views to be accessible to Custom Apps outside of DBX environment

001mo ago
Databricks CommunityTechnical Blog

[PARTNER BLOG] Evolving Metric Views: YAML, UI, Genie Code & Materialization

001mo ago
Databricks CommunityCommunity Articlesanswered

Databricks Metric Views: Why Gold Tables Are No Longer the End of the Pipeline

001mo ago
Databricks CommunityData Engineering

can i deploy a metric view using DABs

001mo ago
Databricks CommunityGenerative AI

Genie space: Delta Tables or Metric View

002mo ago
Databricks CommunityCommunity Articles

Metric Views with Power BI and Tabular Editor (Part 3 of 3)

002mo ago
Databricks CommunityGenerative AI

Querying Metric Views via Classic/Pro SQL Warehouses

003mo ago
Databricks CommunityCommunity Articles

Metric Views in AI/BI Dashboards & Genie (Part 2 of 3)

003mo ago
Databricks CommunityCommunity Articles

From Tableau to Databricks: Migrating KPI Dashboards with Metric Views

003mo ago
Databricks CommunityCommunity Articles

Introduction to Metric Views (part 1 of 3)

003mo ago
RedditTutorial

Power BI/Tableau to Databricks the new way!

Have you noticed the new feature that allows for direct migration from Power BI/Tableau to Power BI using Genie Code? Currently it is a Beta feature. I took it for a spin and I am quite impressed to be honest. It took my semantic model and converted it to Metric Views 1:1. Except for a few DAX specific functions (which were flagged to me) everything was working the same way as in Power BI, including relations, measures etc. One thing I noticed is that Genie Code thought it should be able to convert the visual side as well, however it kept saying that there were no visuals in my exported .pbit file. \- I worked around it by including a screenshot, which it then rendered into the visuals correctly. [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7464937157162541057/](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7464937157162541057/) Anyone from Databricks that can give a heads up on that part - why does it not recognize the visuals from the file?

155Remarkable_Rock54743mo ago
RedditGeneral

Reports migration made easy through genie Code!

Genie Code now supports migrating from Tableau and PowerBI. With the new /𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝑩𝑰 command, you can: → Upload a .twb, .twbx, .tds, .tdsx, or .pbit file directly → Auto-generate an AI/BI dashboard that mirrors your existing visualizations → Convert measures & dimensions into reusable metric views → Promote them to Unity Catalog for governance, lineage, and access control The migration path that used to take weeks now starts with a single command.

2010sai-nageshwaran3mo ago
RedditDiscussion

Databricks now supports importing Tableau and Power BI files into Genie Code to automatically build AI/BI Dashboards with Metric Views

With **Genie Code**, you can now add a Tableau or Power BI file and have it build an **AI/BI dashboard** that replicates your existing visualizations - while connecting them to **metric views** that mirror the underlying business logic. [Import BI files using Genie Code - Azure Databricks | Microsoft Learn](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/databricks/dashboards/manage/import-bi#requirements) Many organizations have years of BI logic embedded inside workbooks, reports, templates, and semantic layers. Rebuilding that logic manually in a new platform can be slow, error-prone, and difficult to govern. This new workflow helps accelerate that migration path: 1. Upload a Tableau or Power BI file directly into Genie Code Supported formats include `.twb`, `.twbx`, `.tds`, `.tdsx`, and `.pbit`. 2. Use the `/importBI` command in Agent mode Genie Code imports the BI asset and generates an AI/BI dashboard. 3. Review the generated dashboard and metric views Measures and dimensions from the original file are transformed into metric views. 4. Promote metric views to Unity Catalog This makes them reusable across dashboards, Genie Spaces, and notebooks, while adding governance, lineage, access controls, and discoverability. Currently, there is also a 100 MB limit for direct file uploads. For larger files, the recommended path is to store the file in a Unity Catalog volume and reference it directly, for example: `/importBI @/Volumes/my_catalog/my_schema/my_volume/sales_workbook.twb`

9627szymon_dybczak3mo ago
RedditNews

What's new in AIBI Dashboards - April 2026

* **Publish with service principal credentials**: Authors can publish dashboards using the data credentials of a service principal. 📖 [Documentation](https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/dashboards/share/share#publish-dashboard) * **Service principal ownership**: Workspace admins can transfer dashboard ownership to a service principal in the UI. 📖 [Documentation](https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/ai-bi/admin/#transfer-ownership) * **Choropleth map admin levels**: Choropleth maps support US admin levels 3 (regions, multi-state groupings) and 4 (states). 📖 [Documentation](https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/dashboards/manage/visualizations/maps) * **SQL editor line numbers**: The SQL query editor displays line numbers to help with legibility and debugging. * **PDF subscription page selection**: Dashboard authors can select which pages to include in PDF email subscriptions. 📖 [Documentation](https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/dashboards/share/schedule-subscribe) * **Parameter values in widget titles and descriptions**: Dashboard authors can reference parameter values in widget titles and descriptions, so the text updates dynamically as viewers change parameter selections. 📖 [Documentation](https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/dashboards/manage/filters/parameters) * **Table cross-filtering and drill-through**: Tables support cross-filtering and drill-through. * **Counter prefix and suffix**: Numbers in counters support custom prefixes and suffixes. 📖 [Documentation](https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/dashboards/manage/visualizations/types#counter) * **Schema browser default dataset type:** Adding a table to a dashboard from the schema browser creates a [local metric view](https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/dashboards/manage/data-modeling/local-metric-views) by default instead of a SQL dataset. * **Warehouse overload message**: Dashboards show a message explaining when rendering is delayed due to the warehouse being overloaded. * **Tabular attachments in email subscriptions**: Dashboard email subscriptions include tabular attachments. * **Fullscreen scroll position**: Exiting fullscreen mode on a published dashboard returns you to your previous scroll position instead of jumping to the top of the page. * **Local metric views**: A new dataset type lets you create metric views directly in a dashboard using a low-code visual interface, without publishing to Unity Catalog first. 📖 [Documentation](https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/dashboards/manage/data-modeling/local-metric-views) * **Edit hex color values inline**: Authors can click directly on a hex color value to edit it in place. * **View SQL for visualization widgets**: Authors can view the SQL behind specific visualization widgets while in draft mode. * **Waterfall chart totals**: Waterfall charts with categorical X-axis support a total bar. * **Scatter plot shape field**: Scatter plots support a shape field to differentiate data points by category. * **Clear applied filters individually**: Dashboard viewers can individually clear applied filters from the active selection bar. * **Text box vertical alignment**: Text box widgets support vertical alignment (top, center, and bottom). * **Choropleth map boundaries**: Choropleth maps support additional boundary types, including ZIP code and NUTS regions. * **“Explain this change” chart types**: The “Explain this change” feature is available for pivot table cells, horizontal bar charts, pie charts, and heatmaps, in addition to time series charts. 📖 [Documentation](https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/dashboards/genie-spaces#explain-chart-changes)

155Youssef_Mrini4mo ago
RedditGeneral

Discovery layer in Databricks that feels like an internal marketplace

**How do business users at your company find the right asset for a specific domain?** Databricks has a feature for this: Discover + Domains. It’s currently in Beta, and it gives you a curated, business-friendly way to organize and browse assets. https://preview.redd.it/pii6h72fnhzg1.png?width=3452&format=png&auto=webp&s=ee64e06ee878ceb10c4bc6bf7219d62c096531cd What’s useful about it: * Organize by business concept * Domains let you group assets around concepts like Finance, Marketing, or Customer Support instead of making users navigate catalog/schema/table names. * Curated discovery * Curators can create and highlight custom sections on both the main Discover page and on each domain page, so you can feature things like Key Metrics, Quarterly Reports, or Getting Started. * Governed tags keep the taxonomy clean * Domains are built on governed tags, so you can standardize domain labels and control who can assign them. That’s much better than ending up with random variants like `finance`, `Finance`, and `fin` floating around. * It sits above the catalog hierarchy * In practice, that means you can bring together catalog assets like tables and metric views, plus assets like dashboards, notebooks, and Genie Spaces under one business concept. https://preview.redd.it/yub3p9pbnhzg1.png?width=1142&format=png&auto=webp&s=a6a84e080e399ab1f9288b2c6a36b743e15a7e9b Who should care: * **Data producers:** publish important assets into business-facing domains. * **Business users:** a better entry point than memorizing technical paths or asking around. https://preview.redd.it/1s1iv769fhzg1.png?width=2184&format=png&auto=webp&s=718e4fb5563c5d63168e5d78837f54446772603d https://preview.redd.it/6xrc0odwfhzg1.png?width=2150&format=png&auto=webp&s=d24597e453206ca609b67a469f899073aec33962 A lot of data platform friction is coming from the fact that people can’t find the right thing fast enough. And that's why I like this feature, as it’s one of those platform capabilities that can dramatically improve user experience.

61zr-brickster4mo ago
Databricks CommunityData Engineeringanswered

ABAC Policies Not Working on Metric Views

004mo ago
RedditGeneral

Databricks One is now renamed as Genie

TLDR: * **Account-level Genie is now GA** – a single Genie experience shared across all workspaces in an account * **Unified Genie Chat** – ask once and get answers powered by full context across your data estate, including Genie Spaces, tables, metric views, dashboards, documents, and more * **Expanded connectors and sources** – native integration with platforms like SharePoint, Confluence, Google Drive, Glean, and others * **Genie Mobile** – native iOS and Android app, currently available in private preview * **Product unification** – Databricks One has been renamed to **Genie** as the unified product brand The next generation of Databricks Genie is here - check this blog out for more details: [https://www.databricks.com/blog/next-generation-databricks-genie](https://www.databricks.com/blog/next-generation-databricks-genie)

3017sai-nageshwaran4mo ago

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