Installation & Setup

Install the Extension

Search for CatalystOps in the VS Code Extensions panel, or install from the terminal:

ext install CatalystOps.catalystops

Local analysis starts immediately — no configuration needed. Open any .py file and anti-pattern checks run automatically.

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Connect to Databricks (Optional)

Databricks connectivity is required for dry-run plan analysis, job run analysis, the clusters panel, and the billing dashboard. Local analysis always works without it.

Run CatalystOps: Configure Databricks Connection from the Command Palette (⌘⇧P / Ctrl+Shift+P) and follow the prompts, or add settings manually.

Interactive Cluster

{
  "catalystops.databricks.host": "https://myworkspace.cloud.databricks.com",
  "catalystops.databricks.token": "dapi...",
  "catalystops.databricks.clusterId": "0123-456789-abcdef"
}

Serverless

Leave clusterId blank and set execution mode to serverless:

{
  "catalystops.databricks.host": "https://myworkspace.cloud.databricks.com",
  "catalystops.databricks.token": "dapi...",
  "catalystops.databricks.executionMode": "serverless"
}

SSH Tunnel

Route dry-run execution through an SSH tunnel to a cluster driver:

{
  "catalystops.connection.sshTunnel.enabled": true,
  "catalystops.connection.sshTunnel.connectionName": "my-cluster"
}

Requirements: Databricks CLI ≥ 0.269, VS Code Remote SSH extension, DBR 17+.

Using ~/.databrickscfg

CatalystOps reads your Databricks CLI config file automatically. Set the profile with:

{
  "catalystops.databricks.configPath": "~/.databrickscfg",
  "catalystops.databricks.profile": "DEFAULT"
}

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First Analysis

1. Open a .py file containing PySpark code — local checks run immediately
2. Press ⌘⇧K (Ctrl+Shift+K) to run a full dry-run plan analysis against your Databricks cluster
3. Review issues in the Issues panel and the interactive Explain Plan tree

To suppress a specific line, add a comment:

df.collect()  # noqa: catalystops