plugins/fabric-skills/skills/spark-consumption-cli/SKILL.md
Interactive ad-hoc Spark analysis through Fabric Lakehouse Livy API sessions ONLY. This skill NEVER authors or runs a notebook: any notebook cell (%%sql/%%configure) or a notebook-run-by-name (and reporting its run status) is `spark-authoring-cli`, not this skill. Scope: create a Livy session, execute PySpark, inspect output, and compute quick calculations over lakehouse data (DataFrames, cross-lakehouse joins, Delta time-travel, unstructured/JSON). For Spark failure triage use `spark-operations-cli`; for plain T-SQL Lakehouse/Warehouse queries use `sqldw-consumption-cli`. Triggers: "create Livy session", "run Livy calculation", "Livy session calculation", "interactive Livy session", "PySpark", "analyze with PySpark", "Spark DataFrame", "lakehouse with Python", "PySpark data quality", "Delta time-travel with Spark", "join tables across Lakehouses".
npx skillsauth add microsoft/skills-for-fabric spark-consumption-cliInstall this skill globally with one command. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.
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Update Check — ONCE PER SESSION (mandatory) The first time this skill is used in a session, run the check-updates skill before proceeding.
- GitHub Copilot CLI / VS Code: invoke the
check-updatesskill.- Claude Code / Cowork / Cursor / Windsurf / Codex: compare local vs remote package.json version.
- Skip if the check was already performed earlier in this session.
CRITICAL NOTES
- To find the workspace details (including its ID) from workspace name: list all workspaces and, then, use JMESPath filtering
- To find the item details (including its ID) from workspace ID, item type, and item name: list all items of that type in that workspace and, then, use JMESPath filtering
| Task | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric Topology & Key Concepts | COMMON-CORE.md § Fabric Topology & Key Concepts ||
| Environment URLs | COMMON-CORE.md § Environment URLs ||
| Authentication & Token Acquisition | COMMON-CORE.md § Authentication & Token Acquisition | Wrong audience = 401; read before any auth issue |
| Core Control-Plane REST APIs | COMMON-CORE.md § Core Control-Plane REST APIs ||
| Pagination | COMMON-CORE.md § Pagination ||
| Long-Running Operations (LRO) | COMMON-CORE.md § Long-Running Operations (LRO) ||
| Rate Limiting & Throttling | COMMON-CORE.md § Rate Limiting & Throttling ||
| OneLake Data Access | COMMON-CORE.md § OneLake Data Access | Requires storage.azure.com token, not Fabric token |
| Job Execution | COMMON-CORE.md § Job Execution ||
| Capacity Management | COMMON-CORE.md § Capacity Management ||
| Gotchas & Troubleshooting | COMMON-CORE.md § Gotchas & Troubleshooting ||
| Best Practices | COMMON-CORE.md § Best Practices ||
| Tool Selection Rationale | COMMON-CLI.md § Tool Selection Rationale ||
| Finding Workspaces and Items in Fabric | COMMON-CLI.md § Finding Workspaces and Items in Fabric | Mandatory — READ link first [needed for finding workspace id by its name or item id by its name, item type, and workspace id] |
| Authentication Recipes | COMMON-CLI.md § Authentication Recipes | az login flows and token acquisition |
| Fabric Control-Plane API via az rest | COMMON-CLI.md § Fabric Control-Plane API via az rest | Always pass --resource https://api.fabric.microsoft.com or az rest fails |
| Pagination Pattern | COMMON-CLI.md § Pagination Pattern ||
| Long-Running Operations (LRO) Pattern | COMMON-CLI.md § Long-Running Operations (LRO) Pattern ||
| OneLake Data Access via curl | COMMON-CLI.md § OneLake Data Access via curl | Use curl not az rest (different token audience) |
| SQL / TDS Data-Plane Access | COMMON-CLI.md § SQL / TDS Data-Plane Access | sqlcmd (Go) connect, query, CSV export |
| Job Execution (CLI) | COMMON-CLI.md § Job Execution ||
| OneLake Shortcuts | COMMON-CLI.md § OneLake Shortcuts ||
| Capacity Management (CLI) | COMMON-CLI.md § Capacity Management ||
| Composite Recipes | COMMON-CLI.md § Composite Recipes ||
| Gotchas & Troubleshooting (CLI-Specific) | COMMON-CLI.md § Gotchas & Troubleshooting (CLI-Specific) | az rest audience, shell escaping, token expiry |
| Quick Reference: az rest Template | COMMON-CLI.md § Quick Reference: az rest Template ||
| Quick Reference: Token Audience / CLI Tool Matrix | COMMON-CLI.md § Quick Reference: Token Audience ↔ CLI Tool Matrix | Which --resource + tool for each service |
| Relationship to SPARK-AUTHORING-CORE.md | SPARK-CONSUMPTION-CORE.md § Relationship to SPARK-AUTHORING-CORE.md ||
| Data Engineering Consumption Capability Matrix | SPARK-CONSUMPTION-CORE.md § Data Engineering Consumption Capability Matrix ||
| OneLake Table APIs (Schema-enabled Lakehouses) | SPARK-CONSUMPTION-CORE.md § OneLake Table APIs (Schema-enabled Lakehouses) | Unity Catalog-compatible metadata; requires storage.azure.com token |
| Lakehouse Livy Session Management | SPARK-CONSUMPTION-CORE.md § Livy Session Management | Lakehouse Livy API: session creation, states, lifecycle, termination |
| Interactive Data Exploration | SPARK-CONSUMPTION-CORE.md § Interactive Data Exploration | Statement execution, output retrieval, data discovery |
| PySpark Analytics Patterns | SPARK-CONSUMPTION-CORE.md § PySpark Analytics Patterns | Cross-lakehouse 3-part naming, performance optimization |
| Must/Prefer/Avoid | SKILL.md § Must/Prefer/Avoid | MUST DO / AVOID / PREFER checklists |
| Quick Start | SKILL.md § Quick Start | CLI-specific Lakehouse Livy session setup and data exploration |
| Key Fabric Patterns | SKILL.md § Key Fabric Patterns | Spark pattern quick-reference table |
| Session Cleanup | SKILL.md § Session Cleanup | Clean up idle Lakehouse Livy sessions via CLI |
sqlcmd, not Spark. Only use this skill when the user explicitly requests PySpark, DataFrames, or Spark-specific features./lakehouses/{lhId}/livyapi/.../sessions). Notebook Spark sessions are created internally when running a notebook via the Jobs API (RunNotebook) and are NOT managed through the Livy API. To run a notebook as a job, see SPARK-AUTHORING-CORE.md § Notebook Execution & Job Management%%sql, %%configure, PySpark notebook cell code, notebook deployment, or notebook execution belong to spark-authoring-cli, even when the cell queries data.Apply environment detection from COMMON-CORE.md Environment Detection Pattern to set:
$FABRIC_API_BASE and $FABRIC_RESOURCE_SCOPE$FABRIC_API_URL and $LIVY_API_PATH for Livy operationsAuthentication: Use token acquisition from COMMON-CLI.md Environment Detection and API Configuration
Preferred: Use COMMON-CLI.md item discovery patterns (Finding things in Fabric) to find workspaces and items by name.
Fallback (when workspace is already known):
# List workspaces
az rest --method get --resource "$FABRIC_RESOURCE_SCOPE" --url "$FABRIC_API_URL/workspaces" --query "value[].{name:displayName, id:id}" --output table
read -p "Workspace ID: " workspaceId
# List lakehouses in workspace
az rest --method get --resource "$FABRIC_RESOURCE_SCOPE" --url "$FABRIC_API_URL/workspaces/$workspaceId/items?type=Lakehouse" --query "value[].{name:displayName, id:id}" --output table
read -p "Lakehouse ID: " lakehouseId
Two types of Spark sessions in Fabric — This skill manages Lakehouse Livy sessions, created via the public Livy API endpoint (
/lakehouses/{lhId}/livyapi/.../sessions). These are ad-hoc interactive sessions for remote clients. Notebook Spark sessions are a separate mechanism — they are created internally when a Fabric Notebook is executed (via portal or Jobs APIRunNotebook), and are managed through the notebook lifecycle, not the Livy API.
# Check for existing idle Lakehouse Livy session (avoid resource waste)
sessionId=$(az rest --method get --resource "$FABRIC_RESOURCE_SCOPE" --url "$FABRIC_API_URL/workspaces/$workspaceId/lakehouses/$lakehouseId/$LIVY_API_PATH/sessions" --query "sessions[?state=='idle'][0].id" --output tsv)
# Create if none available - FORCE STARTER POOL USAGE
if [[ -z "$sessionId" ]]; then
cat > /tmp/body.json << 'EOF'
{
"name":"analysis",
"driverMemory":"56g",
"driverCores":8,
"executorMemory":"56g",
"executorCores":8,
"conf": {
"spark.dynamicAllocation.enabled": "true",
"spark.fabric.pool.name": "Starter Pool"
}
}
EOF
sessionId=$(az rest --method post --resource "$FABRIC_RESOURCE_SCOPE" --url "$FABRIC_API_URL/workspaces/$workspaceId/lakehouses/$lakehouseId/$LIVY_API_PATH/sessions" --body @/tmp/body.json --query "id" --output tsv)
echo "⏳ Waiting for starter pool session to be ready..."
# With starter pools, this should be 3-5 seconds
timeout=30 # Reduced from 90s since starter pools are fast
while [ $timeout -gt 0 ]; do
state=$(az rest --resource "$FABRIC_RESOURCE_SCOPE" --url "$FABRIC_API_URL/workspaces/$workspaceId/lakehouses/$lakehouseId/$LIVY_API_PATH/sessions/$sessionId" --query "state" --output tsv)
if [[ "$state" == "idle" ]]; then
echo "✅ Session ready in starter pool!"
break
fi
echo " Session state: $state (${timeout}s remaining)"
sleep 3
timeout=$((timeout - 3))
done
fi
# Execute statement (LLM knows Python/Spark syntax)
cat > /tmp/body.json << 'EOF'
{
"code": "spark.sql(\"SHOW TABLES\").show(); df = spark.table(\"your_table\"); df.describe().show()",
"kind": "pyspark"
}
EOF
az rest --method post --resource "$FABRIC_RESOURCE_SCOPE" --url "$FABRIC_API_URL/workspaces/$workspaceId/lakehouses/$lakehouseId/$LIVY_API_PATH/sessions/$sessionId/statements" --body @/tmp/body.json
| Pattern | Code | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Table Discovery | spark.sql("SHOW TABLES") | List available tables |
| Cross-Lakehouse | spark.sql("SELECT * FROM other_workspace.table") | Query across workspaces |
| Delta Features | df.history(), df.readVersion(1) | Time travel, versioning |
| Schema Evolution | df.printSchema() | Understand structure |
# Clean up idle Lakehouse Livy sessions (optional)
az rest --method get --resource "$FABRIC_RESOURCE_SCOPE" --url "$FABRIC_API_URL/workspaces/$workspaceId/lakehouses/$lakehouseId/$LIVY_API_PATH/sessions" --query "sessions[?state=='idle'].id" --output tsv | xargs -I {} az rest --method delete --resource "$FABRIC_RESOURCE_SCOPE" --url "$FABRIC_API_URL/workspaces/$workspaceId/lakehouses/$lakehouseId/$LIVY_API_PATH/sessions/{}"
Focus: This skill provides Fabric-specific REST API patterns. LLM already knows Python/Spark syntax — we focus on Fabric integration, session management, and API endpoints.
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