The Consumer Experience

Understanding what your consumers see and do — from the moment they find your listing to the moment they run their first query — is the fastest way to improve your listing quality. This page walks through the consumer journey so you can optimize each step from the provider side.

How consumers find you

Consumers browse marketplace.databricks.com or discover listings inside their Databricks workspace. They can filter by:

• Provider name
• Product type (dataset, AI model, notebook, app, MCP server)
• Category (industry, use case)
• Cost (free or paid)
• Keyword search

What this means for you: Your listing title, description, category tags, and provider name all feed directly into search and filter results. A listing that doesn't match common search terms won't be found. See Listings for metadata best practices.

The listing detail page

When a consumer clicks your listing, they land on the listing detail page. This is your primary selling surface — the consumer decides here whether to request access or move on.

The detail page shows:

• Title and summary — the first text they read
• Provider profile (name, logo, description, website)
• Long description — use cases, coverage, freshness, differentiators
• Sample notebooks — consumers can preview notebooks before requesting access
• Terms of service link
• Access button — either Get instant access or Request access

The notebook preview is your highest-leverage asset

Consumers can see your sample notebooks before agreeing to terms or requesting access. A notebook that shows a clear, runnable example of your data answering a real business question converts dramatically better than a text description alone.

Accessing a listing

There are two access flows depending on how you configured the listing:

Instant access

1. Consumer clicks Get instant access
2. Accepts Databricks terms of service and your Terms of Use
3. Access is granted immediately — no approval from you required
4. If the consumer is on Unity Catalog: a new read-only catalog appears in their workspace within minutes
5. If the consumer is on an external platform: they download a credential file for use with Delta Sharing-compatible tools

Your role: None at fulfillment time. Monitor via the Provider Analytics Dashboard and system tables.

Request access

1. Consumer clicks Request access
2. Enters their name, company, email, and intended use case
3. Accepts Databricks terms of service
4. You receive an email notification and the request appears in your Consumer Requests tab in the Provider Console
5. You review and take one of three actions:
   • Fulfill — select the appropriate share; consumer receives access
   • Mark as pending — ongoing commercial negotiation; visible to you but not the consumer
   • Deny — optionally include a reason

See Access management for fulfillment workflows.

Commercial transactions happen outside Marketplace

Databricks Marketplace does not process payments. For paid listings, you negotiate, invoice, and collect payment directly with the consumer. Use "Mark as pending" to hold requests while your commercial conversation is ongoing.

What consumers receive

Once access is granted, what a consumer gets depends on their workspace type and what you included in the listing:

Consumer type	What they receive
Unity Catalog workspace	A read-only catalog mounted directly in their workspace; plus any notebooks, volumes, models, apps, or Genie Agents included in the share. See What Can I List? for a full breakdown of asset types.
External / non-Unity Catalog	A credential file to connect via the Delta Sharing protocol; tabular data only

For D2D consumers, the catalog appears under the name specified during mount (or the provider/share name as default). They can query it immediately using SQL, Python, or any other supported language. The data is read-only — they cannot write back to your tables.

The consumer's first session

Here's what a typical new consumer does after receiving access:

1. Opens the catalog in Catalog Explorer to browse the schema
2. Runs the sample notebook to see pre-built queries and visualizations
3. Starts exploring with their own queries

The first 15 minutes are critical for retention. If a consumer can't produce a meaningful result quickly, they disengage. Your sample notebook directly controls that experience.

Checklist for a strong first session:

• Sample notebook runs end-to-end in under 2 minutes
• First cell explains what the data covers and what the notebook demonstrates
• At least one query produces a visualization, not just a raw table
• Column and table descriptions are visible in Catalog Explorer (set via Unity Catalog)
• If you've shared a Genie Agent, it's pre-loaded with example questions in the instructions

Monitoring the consumer experience

After going live, use the Provider Analytics Dashboard and system tables to understand consumer behavior:

Signal	What it tells you
Views → requests conversion	Whether your listing description is compelling
Requests → fulfilled rate	Whether your access model creates friction
Time between request and fulfillment	Your operational response time
Active recipients over time	Retention and ongoing usage

Low view-to-request conversion usually means the listing description or sample notebook isn't compelling. Low request-to-fulfillment rate often means the "by request" flow has too much friction for the audience.

See Monitoring for dashboard setup and sample queries.

What's next

• Optimize your listing content with Listings best practices
• Manage incoming requests in Access management
• Track consumer activity with Monitoring