What you will be able to do
- Say where you can browse Marketplace and what you need before you can request a product
- Tell instantly available listings apart from by-request listings, and follow the steps for each
- Compare consuming a product in a Unity Catalog-enabled workspace with consuming it on an external platform
- Track requests, find installed products, and know what installing an app or MCP server sets up
1.Browsing listings and what you need to get them
There are two ways to browse. The Open Marketplace at marketplace.databricks.com doesn't need a workspace. Inside a workspace, you click Marketplace in the sidebar. You can also find listings through the workspace's global search bar, and free sample data appears on the Add data page. Filters narrow listings by product type, provider name, category, cost (free or paid) and more. When you're logged in, you can also limit the view to private listings from exchanges you belong to.
Browsing is open to anyone, but requesting always happens in a workspace. To consume products in a Unity Catalog-enabled workspace, you need a Premium-or-above account, a workspace enabled for Unity Catalog, and the USE MARKETPLACE ASSETS privilege on the attached metastore. That privilege is on for everyone by default. If an admin has turned it off, CREATE CATALOG plus USE PROVIDER, or the metastore admin role, also gives access. Users with none of these can still see listings but can't get products through Unity Catalog. If you don't have a workspace, you can start a free trial with the Try for free button on the Open Marketplace.
Checkpoint 1 of 7· Check yourself
An analyst can see Marketplace listings in the workspace, but the workspace admin has disabled USE MARKETPLACE ASSETS for them. What else would let them access data products through Unity Catalog?
The documented alternatives are CREATE CATALOG plus USE PROVIDER, or metastore admin. Without any of them, users can still view listings but can't access products.
“If you do not have any of these privileges, you can still view Marketplace listings but cannot access data products using Unity Catalog.”Source: docs.databricks.com
2.Instant access versus provider approval
Each listing follows one of two paths. Instantly available products appear under the *Free and instantly available* heading, carry a *Free* tag on the listing tile, and say *Instantly available* on the detail page. All you do is request them and accept the terms. By request products show a *Request access* button. They need provider approval, usually because money changes hands or the provider wants to tailor the product for you.
| Aspect | Instantly available | By request |
|---|---|---|
| How it is labelled | Free tile; Instantly available on the detail page | By request on the detail page |
| Button | Get instant access | Request access |
| What you provide | Acceptance of the Databricks terms and conditions | Name, company, intended use, plus acceptance of terms |
| When you get the data | Immediately, as a read-only catalog | After provider review and any transaction |
| Where to check status | Not applicable | Email notification, or the My Requests page |
Checkpoint 2 of 7· Put it in order
Put the steps for getting an instantly available product into a Unity Catalog-enabled workspace in order
- 1.Optionally change the suggested catalog name under More options
- 2.Click Get instant access to confirm
- 3.Open the listing detail page from the Marketplace landing page
- 4.Click Get instant access and accept the Databricks terms and conditions
- 5.Click Open to view the product in Catalog Explorer
You accept the terms first, can rename the catalog before confirming, and open the product once it's installed.
“(Optional) Under More options, modify the suggested catalog name.”Source: docs.databricks.com
On both paths, the product arrives as a read-only catalog in Catalog Explorer. You query it with the usual three-part name catalog.schema.table. That's why you can rename the catalog before confirming. On the request path, payment and contracts never pass through Databricks. Any transaction after approval happens through the provider's own communication and payment systems.
Checkpoint 3 of 7· Check yourself
A by-request listing involves a paid licence. Where is the payment completed?
Marketplace connects consumers and providers but doesn't process the commercial transaction itself.
“No commercial transactions are handled directly on Databricks Marketplace.”Source: docs.databricks.com
Checkpoint 4 of 7· Exam question
A data analyst wants to try a pretrained sentiment-analysis model without training one from scratch, and prefers to browse for it directly inside the Databricks Marketplace catalog. Which category of Marketplace listing should they browse?
Correct answer: B — AI Models
- A. Datasets listings publish tabular and volume-based data, not a ready-to-use trained model.
- B. AI Models listings publish machine learning models ready for evaluation or deployment, matching the analyst's need for a pretrained sentiment-analysis model.
- C. Notebooks listings publish reference code demonstrating a use case, not a deployable trained model.
- D. MCP Servers listings expose tools and APIs that agents call to interact with external systems, not a trained sentiment-analysis model.
Sources2
3.Consuming in a Unity Catalog workspace or on an external platform
You don't have to use the data in Databricks. Consumers without a Unity Catalog-enabled workspace can read Marketplace data through OpenSharing Databricks-to-Open connectors. These work with Power BI, Excel, pandas, Apache Spark and older Databricks workspaces without Unity Catalog. The catch is scope: these platforms receive tabular datasets only. The documentation recommends that anyone with a Unity Catalog-enabled workspace use it, because they get Unity Catalog governance, auditing and convenient interfaces.
| Aspect | Unity Catalog-enabled workspace | External platforms and non-Unity Catalog workspaces |
|---|---|---|
| Examples | Databricks workspace attached to a Unity Catalog metastore | Power BI, Excel, pandas, Apache Spark |
| Asset types | Tables, volumes, AI models, notebooks, apps | Data set (tabular) only |
| How access arrives | Read-only catalog in Catalog Explorer | Credential file used with OpenSharing connectors |
| Where you request it | A Databricks workspace | A Databricks workspace, choosing On external platforms |
To use an external platform, you choose On external platforms under More options when you request the listing. After that, you download a credential file in place of opening a catalog. Treat the file as a secret. It can be downloaded only once. Clicking the button again rotates to a new credential, and the old one expires after a day or at its original expiry, whichever comes first. At most two credentials can be active at the same time.
Checkpoint 5 of 7· Check yourself
A finance team wants to read a Marketplace listing in Power BI. The listing has tables, a volume of PDFs and a sample notebook. What will they be able to use?
External platforms receive tabular datasets only. Volumes, notebooks and models need a Unity Catalog-enabled workspace.
“Only tabular data sets are available on external platforms (not Databricks notebooks, volumes, or models, for example).”Source: docs.databricks.com
Checkpoint 6 of 7· Exam question
A software vendor wants to become a Databricks Marketplace provider so it can publish a dataset listing to enterprise customers through the standard Data Partner Program path. Which prerequisite must the vendor's own workspace meet first?
Correct answer: A — The workspace must be a premium-tier Databricks workspace with Unity Catalog enabled, which provider registration requires.
- A. Becoming a Marketplace provider requires a premium, Unity Catalog-enabled workspace, since listings are published and governed through Unity Catalog.
- B. A Community Edition account lacks the premium tier and Unity Catalog governance that provider registration depends on, so it does not qualify.
- C. Marketplace provider status is not tied to a specific SQL warehouse compute type, and serverless warehouses are not excluded.
- D. Publishing a listing does not require an active Lakeflow Spark Declarative Pipeline; that is a separate ingestion and transformation feature, unrelated to provider eligibility.
4.Tracking requests and installing apps and MCP servers
After you request something, click My requests on the Marketplace page. The Requests tab shows each request as Pending, Fulfilled or Denied, along with the dates it was requested and reviewed. Deals still in progress with a provider aren't recorded there, because they happen outside Marketplace. The Installed data products page lists everything you've received, and View data opens a product in Catalog Explorer. Managing shared products requires CREATE CATALOG and USE PROVIDER on the metastore, or the metastore admin role.
Apps and MCP servers aren't installed like datasets. When you click Install on an app, you accept its terms and are then redirected to Databricks Apps. There you configure the resources it needs, such as jobs, SQL warehouses, Unity Catalog data assets and compute size. Installing an MCP server creates an MCP service in a Unity Catalog schema you choose, plus an underlying HTTP connection that your agents use. You can install the same server more than once. MCP installation needs USE CATALOG and USE SCHEMA on the target catalog and schema, and CREATE SERVICE on the schema.
Checkpoint 7 of 7· Match them up
Match each consumer task to where it happens or what it needs
Tap a term, then the definition that fits it.
Request status and installed products are under My requests, apps finish setup in Databricks Apps, and MCP servers need schema-level privileges.
“you must have USE CATALOG and USE SCHEMA on the target catalog and schema, and CREATE SERVICE on the target schema.”Source: docs.databricks.com
Exam traps
Each one states something that sounds right. Open it to see what is actually true.
1.The Open Marketplace lets anyone request data products without a Databricks workspace.Why is that wrong?
You can browse without a workspace, but requesting access always needs you to be logged into one, even if you'll use the data on an external platform.
2.Databricks Marketplace processes payment for commercial listings.Why is that wrong?
Commercial transactions happen through the provider's own channels. Marketplace only handles the request and the sharing.
Covered in Instant access versus provider approval
3.Consumers on Power BI or pandas receive the same notebooks, volumes and models as Unity Catalog workspace users.Why is that wrong?
External platforms and non-Unity Catalog workspaces receive tabular datasets only.
Covered in Consuming in a Unity Catalog workspace or on an external platform
Sources
Every claim above is drawn from one of these pages, quoted as it was written on the date shown.
- 1.https://docs.databricks.com/aws/en/marketplaceOfficial docs
“The Open Marketplace, which does not require access to a Databricks workspace.”
↩︎ Browsing listings and what you need to get them“To request access to data products in the Marketplace, you must use the Marketplace on a Databricks workspace.”
↩︎ Prediction - 2.
“You can also view and request free sample data on the Add data page.”
↩︎ Browsing listings and what you need to get them“Click the filter icon to filter listings by product type (dataset or ML model), provider name, category, cost (free or paid), and more.”
↩︎ Browsing listings and what you need to get them“This privilege is enabled for all users on all Unity Catalog metastores by default.”
↩︎ Browsing listings and what you need to get them“These are listed under the Free and instantly available heading on the Marketplace landing page, are identified on the listing tile as Free”
↩︎ Instant access versus provider approval“Some data products require provider approval, typically because a commercial transaction is involved, or the provider might prefer to customize data products for you.”
↩︎ Instant access versus provider approval“Click the Open button to view the data product, which appears as a read-only catalog in Catalog Explorer.”
↩︎ Instant access versus provider approval“can also access volumes (non-tabular data), AI models, Databricks notebooks, and third-party apps.”
↩︎ Consuming in a Unity Catalog workspace or on an external platform“it creates an MCP service in the Unity Catalog schema that you select and an underlying HTTP connection.”
↩︎ Tracking requests and installing apps and MCP servers“You are redirected to Databricks Apps.”
↩︎ Tracking requests and installing apps and MCP servers“No commercial transactions are handled directly on Databricks Marketplace.”
↩︎ Exam trap 2“If you do not have any of these privileges, you can still view Marketplace listings but cannot access data products using Unity Catalog.”
↩︎ Checkpoint“(Optional) Under More options, modify the suggested catalog name.”
↩︎ Checkpoint“No commercial transactions are handled directly on Databricks Marketplace.”
↩︎ Checkpoint“you must have USE CATALOG and USE SCHEMA on the target catalog and schema, and CREATE SERVICE on the target schema.”
↩︎ Checkpoint - 3.
“Only tabular data sets are available on external platforms (not Databricks notebooks, volumes, or models, for example).”
↩︎ Consuming in a Unity Catalog workspace or on an external platform“The credential file can only be downloaded once.”
↩︎ Consuming in a Unity Catalog workspace or on an external platform“Only two credentials can be active at the same time.”
↩︎ Consuming in a Unity Catalog workspace or on an external platform“you must be logged into a Databricks workspace, even if you will use the shared data product on an external platform.”
↩︎ Exam trap 1“Only tabular data sets are available on external platforms (not Databricks notebooks, volumes, or models, for example).”
↩︎ Exam trap 3 - 4.
“On the Requests tab, view all requests and their current review status: Pending, Fulfilled, and Denied, along with the requested and reviewed dates.”
↩︎ Tracking requests and installing apps and MCP servers“you must have the CREATE CATALOG and USE PROVIDER permissions on the Unity Catalog metastore attached to your workspace, or the metastore admin role.”
↩︎ Tracking requests and installing apps and MCP servers