Use the Livy API to submit and execute Livy batch jobs

Applies to: ✅ Data Engineering and Data Science in Microsoft Fabric

Learn how to submit Spark batch jobs using the Livy API for Fabric Data Engineering. The Livy API currently doesn't support Azure Service Principal (SPN).

Prerequisites

Fabric Premium or Trial capacity with a Lakehouse.
A remote client such as Visual Studio Code with Jupyter Notebooks, PySpark, and the Microsoft Authentication Library (MSAL) for Python.
A Microsoft Entra app token is required to access the Fabric Rest API. Register an application with the Microsoft identity platform.
Some data in your lakehouse, this example uses NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission green_tripdata_2022_08 a parquet file loaded to the lakehouse.

The Livy API defines a unified endpoint for operations. Replace the placeholders {Entra_TenantID}, {Entra_ClientID}, {Fabric_WorkspaceID}, and {Fabric_LakehouseID} with your appropriate values when you follow the examples in this article.

Configure Visual Studio Code for your Livy API Batch

Select Lakehouse Settings in your Fabric Lakehouse.
Navigate to the Livy endpoint section.
Copy the Batch job connection string (second red box in the image) to your code.
Navigate to Microsoft Entra admin center and copy both the Application (client) ID and Directory (tenant) ID to your code.

Create a Spark Batch code and upload to your Lakehouse

Create an .ipynb notebook in Visual Studio Code and insert the following code

import sys
import os

from pyspark.sql import SparkSession
from pyspark.conf import SparkConf
from pyspark.sql.functions import col

if __name__ == "__main__":

    #Spark session builder
    spark_session = (SparkSession
        .builder
        .appName("batch_demo") 
        .getOrCreate())

    spark_context = spark_session.sparkContext
    spark_context.setLogLevel("DEBUG")  

    tableName = spark_context.getConf().get("spark.targetTable")

    if tableName is not None:
        print("tableName: " + str(tableName))
    else:
        print("tableName is None")

    df_valid_totalPrice = spark_session.sql("SELECT * FROM green_tripdata_2022 where total_amount > 0")
    df_valid_totalPrice_plus_year = df_valid_totalPrice.withColumn("transaction_year", col("lpep_pickup_datetime").substr(1, 4))


    deltaTablePath = f"Tables/{tableName}CleanedTransactions"
    df_valid_totalPrice_plus_year.write.mode('overwrite').format('delta').save(deltaTablePath)

Save the Python file locally. This Python code payload contains two Spark statements that work on data in a Lakehouse and needs to be uploaded to your Lakehouse. You need the ABFS path of the payload to reference in your Livy API batch job in Visual Studio Code and your Lakehouse table name in the Select SQL statement.
Upload the Python payload to the files section of your Lakehouse. In the Lakehouse explorer, select Files. Then select > Get data > Upload files. Select files via the file picker.
After the file is in the Files section of your Lakehouse, click on the three dots to the right of your payload filename and select Properties.
Copy this ABFS path to your Notebook cell in step 1.

Authenticate a Livy API Spark batch session using either a Microsoft Entra user token or a Microsoft Entra SPN token

Authenticate a Livy API Spark batch session using a Microsoft Entra SPN token

Create an .ipynb notebook in Visual Studio Code and insert the following code.

import sys
from msal import ConfidentialClientApplication

# Configuration - Replace with your actual values
tenant_id = "Entra_TenantID"  # Microsoft Entra tenant ID
client_id = "Entra_ClientID"  # Service Principal Application ID

# Certificate paths - Update these paths to your certificate files
certificate_path = "PATH_TO_YOUR_CERTIFICATE.pem"      # Public certificate file
private_key_path = "PATH_TO_YOUR_PRIVATE_KEY.pem"      # Private key file
certificate_thumbprint = "YOUR_CERTIFICATE_THUMBPRINT" # Certificate thumbprint

# OAuth settings
audience = "https://analysis.windows.net/powerbi/api/.default"
authority = f"https://login.windows.net/{tenant_id}"

def get_access_token(client_id, audience, authority, certificate_path, private_key_path, certificate_thumbprint=None):
    """
    Get an app-only access token for a Service Principal using OAuth 2.0 client credentials flow.

    This function uses certificate-based authentication which is more secure than client secrets.

    Args:
        client_id (str): The Service Principal's client ID  
        audience (str): The audience for the token (resource scope)
        authority (str): The OAuth authority URL
        certificate_path (str): Path to the certificate file (.pem format)
        private_key_path (str): Path to the private key file (.pem format)
        certificate_thumbprint (str): Certificate thumbprint (optional but recommended)

    Returns:
        str: The access token for API authentication

    Raises:
        Exception: If token acquisition fails
    """
    try:
        # Read the certificate from PEM file
        with open(certificate_path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
            certificate_pem = f.read()

        # Read the private key from PEM file
        with open(private_key_path, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
            private_key_pem = f.read()

        # Create the confidential client application
        app = ConfidentialClientApplication(
            client_id=client_id,
            authority=authority,
            client_credential={
                "private_key": private_key_pem,
                "thumbprint": certificate_thumbprint,
                "certificate": certificate_pem
            }
        )

        # Acquire token using client credentials flow
        token_response = app.acquire_token_for_client(scopes=[audience])

        if "access_token" in token_response:
            print("Successfully acquired access token")
            return token_response["access_token"]
        else:
            raise Exception(f"Failed to retrieve token: {token_response.get('error_description', 'Unknown error')}")

    except FileNotFoundError as e:
        print(f"Certificate file not found: {e}")
        sys.exit(1)
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error retrieving token: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
        sys.exit(1)

# Get the access token
token = get_access_token(client_id, audience, authority, certificate_path, private_key_path, certificate_thumbprint)

Run the notebook cell, you should see the Microsoft Entra token returned.

Authenticate a Livy API Spark session using a Microsoft Entra user token

Create an .ipynb notebook in Visual Studio Code and insert the following code.

from msal import PublicClientApplication
import requests
import time

# Configuration - Replace with your actual values
tenant_id = "Entra_TenantID"  # Microsoft Entra tenant ID
client_id = "Entra_ClientID"  # Application ID (can be the same as above or different)

# Required scopes for Microsoft Fabric API access
scopes = [
    "https://api.fabric.microsoft.com/Lakehouse.Execute.All",      # Execute operations in lakehouses
    "https://api.fabric.microsoft.com/Lakehouse.Read.All",        # Read lakehouse metadata
    "https://api.fabric.microsoft.com/Item.ReadWrite.All",        # Read/write fabric items
    "https://api.fabric.microsoft.com/Workspace.ReadWrite.All",   # Access workspace operations
    "https://api.fabric.microsoft.com/Code.AccessStorage.All",    # Access storage from code
    "https://api.fabric.microsoft.com/Code.AccessAzureKeyvault.All",     # Access Azure Key Vault
    "https://api.fabric.microsoft.com/Code.AccessAzureDataExplorer.All", # Access Azure Data Explorer
    "https://api.fabric.microsoft.com/Code.AccessAzureDataLake.All",     # Access Azure Data Lake
    "https://api.fabric.microsoft.com/Code.AccessFabric.All"             # General Fabric access
]

def get_access_token(tenant_id, client_id, scopes):
    """
    Get an access token using interactive authentication.

    This method will open a browser window for user authentication.

    Args:
        tenant_id (str): The Azure Active Directory tenant ID
        client_id (str): The application client ID
        scopes (list): List of required permission scopes

    Returns:
        str: The access token, or None if authentication fails
    """
    app = PublicClientApplication(
        client_id,
        authority=f"https://login.microsoftonline.com/{tenant_id}"
    )

    print("Opening browser for interactive authentication...")
    token_response = app.acquire_token_interactive(scopes=scopes)

    if "access_token" in token_response:
        print("Successfully authenticated")
        return token_response["access_token"]
    else:
        print(f"Authentication failed: {token_response.get('error_description', 'Unknown error')}")
        return None

# Uncomment the lines below to use interactive authentication
token = get_access_token(tenant_id, client_id, scopes)
print("Access token acquired via interactive login")

Run the notebook cell, a popup should appear in your browser allowing you to choose the identity to sign-in with.
After you choose the identity to sign-in with, you need to approve the Microsoft Entra app registration API permissions.
Close the browser window after completing authentication.
In Visual Studio Code you should see the Microsoft Entra token returned.

Submit a Livy Batch and monitor batch job.

Add another notebook cell and insert this code.

# submit payload to existing batch session

import requests
import time
import json

api_base_url = "https://api.fabric.microsoft.com/v1"  # Base URL for Fabric APIs

# Fabric Resource IDs - Replace with your workspace and lakehouse IDs  
workspace_id = "Fabric_WorkspaceID"
lakehouse_id = "Fabric_LakehouseID"

# Construct the Livy Batch API URL
# URL pattern: {base_url}/workspaces/{workspace_id}/lakehouses/{lakehouse_id}/livyApi/versions/{api_version}/batches
livy_base_url = f"{api_base_url}/workspaces/{workspace_id}/lakehouses/{lakehouse_id}/livyApi/versions/2023-12-01/batches"

# Set up authentication headers
headers = {"Authorization": f"Bearer {token}"}

print(f"Livy Batch API URL: {livy_base_url}")

new_table_name = "TABLE_NAME"  # Name for the new table

# Configure the batch job
print("Configuring batch job parameters...")

# Batch job configuration - Modify these values for your use case
payload_data = {
    # Job name - will appear in the Fabric UI
    "name": f"livy_batch_demo_{new_table_name}",

    # Path to your Python file in the lakehouse
    "file": "<ABFSS_PATH_TO_YOUR_PYTHON_FILE>",  # Replace with your Python file path

    # Optional: Spark configuration parameters
    "conf": {
        "spark.targetTable": new_table_name,  # Custom configuration for your application
    },
}

print("Batch Job Configuration:")
print(json.dumps(payload_data, indent=2))

try:
    # Submit the batch job
    print("\nSubmitting batch job...")
    post_batch = requests.post(livy_base_url, headers=headers, json=payload_data)

    if post_batch.status_code == 202:
        batch_info = post_batch.json()
        print("Livy batch job submitted successfully!")
        print(f"Batch Job Info: {json.dumps(batch_info, indent=2)}")

        # Extract batch ID for monitoring
        batch_id = batch_info['id']
        livy_batch_get_url = f"{livy_base_url}/{batch_id}"

        print(f"\nBatch Job ID: {batch_id}")
        print(f"Monitoring URL: {livy_batch_get_url}")

    else:
        print(f"Failed to submit batch job. Status code: {post_batch.status_code}")
        print(f"Response: {post_batch.text}")

except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
    print(f"Network error occurred: {e}")
except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
    print(f"JSON decode error: {e}")
    print(f"Response text: {post_batch.text}")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"Unexpected error: {e}")

Run the notebook cell, you should see several lines printed as the Livy Batch job is created and run.
To see the changes, navigate back to your Lakehouse.

Integration with Fabric Environments

By default, this Livy API session runs against the default starter pool for the workspace. Alternatively you can use Fabric Environments Create, configure, and use an environment in Microsoft Fabric to customize the Spark pool that the Livy API session uses for these Spark jobs. To use your Fabric Environment, update the prior notebook cell with this one line change.

payload_data = {
    "name":"livybatchdemo_with"+ newlakehouseName,
    "file":"abfss://YourABFSPathToYourPayload.py", 
    "conf": {
        "spark.targetLakehouse": "Fabric_LakehouseID",
        "spark.fabric.environmentDetails" : "{\"id\" : \""EnvironmentID"\"}"  # remove this line to use starter pools instead of an environment, replace "EnvironmentID" with your environment ID
        }
    }

View your jobs in the Monitoring hub

You can access the Monitoring hub to view various Apache Spark activities by selecting Monitor in the left-side navigation links.

When the batch job is completed state, you can view the session status by navigating to Monitor.
Select and open most recent activity name.
In this Livy API session case, you can see your previous batch submission, run details, Spark versions, and configuration. Notice the stopped status on the top right.

To recap the whole process, you need a remote client such as Visual Studio Code, a Microsoft Entra app token, Livy API endpoint URL, authentication against your Lakehouse, a Spark payload in your Lakehouse, and finally a batch Livy API session.

Feedback

Was this page helpful?

Last updated on 2025-11-10