crewAIInc/crewAI · error · ValueError

Databricks authentication credentials are required. Set eith

Error message

Databricks authentication credentials are required. Set either DATABRICKS_CONFIG_PROFILE or both DATABRICKS_HOST and DATABRICKS_TOKEN environment variables.

What it means

DatabricksQueryTool._validate_credentials() runs during the tool's __init__ and requires either DATABRICKS_CONFIG_PROFILE in the environment, or both DATABRICKS_HOST and DATABRICKS_TOKEN together. If neither combination is present it raises this ValueError, because the underlying databricks.sdk WorkspaceClient (constructed with no arguments) would have no way to authenticate.

Source

Thrown at lib/crewai-tools/src/crewai_tools/tools/databricks_query_tool/databricks_query_tool.py:151

            default_schema (Optional[str]): Default schema to use for queries.
            default_warehouse_id (Optional[str]): Default SQL warehouse ID to use.
            **kwargs: Additional keyword arguments passed to BaseTool.
        """
        super().__init__(**kwargs)
        self.default_catalog = default_catalog
        self.default_schema = default_schema
        self.default_warehouse_id = default_warehouse_id
        self._validate_credentials()

    def _validate_credentials(self) -> None:
        """Validate that Databricks credentials are available."""
        has_profile = "DATABRICKS_CONFIG_PROFILE" in os.environ
        has_direct_auth = (
            "DATABRICKS_HOST" in os.environ and "DATABRICKS_TOKEN" in os.environ
        )

        if not (has_profile or has_direct_auth):
            raise ValueError(
                "Databricks authentication credentials are required. "
                "Set either DATABRICKS_CONFIG_PROFILE or both DATABRICKS_HOST and DATABRICKS_TOKEN environment variables."
            )

    @property
    def workspace_client(self) -> WorkspaceClient:
        """Get or create a Databricks WorkspaceClient instance."""
        if self._workspace_client is None:
            try:
                from databricks.sdk import WorkspaceClient

                self._workspace_client = WorkspaceClient()
            except ImportError as e:
                raise ImportError(
                    "`databricks-sdk` package not found, please run `uv add databricks-sdk`"
                ) from e
        return self._workspace_client

View on GitHub (pinned to 754d7323be)

Solutions

For token auth, export both variables: export DATABRICKS_HOST=https://<workspace-url> and export DATABRICKS_TOKEN=<personal access token>.
For profile auth, export DATABRICKS_CONFIG_PROFILE=<profile name matching ~/.databrickscfg>.
Add the variables to .env / CI secrets and verify with: python -c "import os; print(all(k in os.environ for k in ('DATABRICKS_HOST','DATABRICKS_TOKEN')))".
Remember DATABRICKS_HOST alone or DATABRICKS_TOKEN alone is insufficient — the pair must both be set.

Example fix

# before
# (no env vars set)
tool = DatabricksQueryTool()  # ValueError at construction

# after
# shell:
#   export DATABRICKS_HOST=https://dbc-123.cloud.databricks.com
#   export DATABRICKS_TOKEN=dapiXXXXXXXX
tool = DatabricksQueryTool()

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import os

def databricks_auth_configured() -> bool:
    return "DATABRICKS_CONFIG_PROFILE" in os.environ or (
        "DATABRICKS_HOST" in os.environ and "DATABRICKS_TOKEN" in os.environ
    )

if not databricks_auth_configured():
    raise SystemExit("Set DATABRICKS_CONFIG_PROFILE or DATABRICKS_HOST+DATABRICKS_TOKEN")

Try / catch

try:
    tool = DatabricksQueryTool()
except ValueError as e:
    if "Databricks authentication credentials" in str(e):
        # load env / prompt operator, then retry construction
        load_databricks_env()
        tool = DatabricksQueryTool()
    else:
        raise

Prevention

Run a preflight env check for Databricks variables at app startup.
Inject credentials via CI/Docker secrets, not hard-coded defaults.
Remember HOST+TOKEN must appear together — a single one fails validation.

When it happens

Trigger: Instantiating DatabricksQueryTool() with no Databricks auth env vars set; setting only DATABRICKS_HOST without DATABRICKS_TOKEN (or vice versa — both are required for direct auth); running in a fresh shell/container where 'databricks configure' profile env was never exported.

Common situations: Env vars defined in .env but not loaded; vars set in a local terminal but missing in Docker/CI/agent runtime; partial config where only host is exported; relying on ~/.databrickscfg profiles without naming one via DATABRICKS_CONFIG_PROFILE.

Understand the failure class

Authentication and authorization failures — expired tokens, bad credentials, and missing scopes.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of crewAIInc/crewAI@754d7323be (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7ab52836fb671616. Report an issue: GitHub.