An application that asks a Genie Agent needs to handle the conversation, wait for a response, and read whichever attachments come back. LakeSpeak.Genie provides that client for .NET.

I maintain LakeSpeak.NET as an independent open-source project. This walkthrough uses the published 0.4.0 package in a .NET 8 console application. Start with a local HTTP fixture, then use the same client with an Agent you can already access.

Run the example before configuring a workspace

Install the .NET 8 SDK. The first run needs NuGet access. It does not need a Databricks account or the LakeSpeak CLI.

Download the companion project and extract it. The source directory is pinned to the tested revision. Run these commands inside the extracted project:

dotnet restore --locked-mode --source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json
dotnet build -c Release --no-restore
dotnet run -c Release --no-build --no-restore -- --fixture

The output is:

OFFLINE HTTP fixture: no workspace, credentials, or Databricks CLI calls.
There were 42 orders yesterday.
SQL: SELECT count(*) AS order_count FROM orders WHERE order_date = current_date() - 1
order_count
42
OFFLINE fixture PASS (published LakeSpeak.Genie 0.4.0).

FixtureHandler supplies the conversation and query-result responses in memory. The installed client parses those responses. The companion checks the returned SQL and one complete row containing 42. The SQL shown here is fixture data. This command does not execute it against a warehouse.

Read the video transcript · English captions · Download the example

The narrated walkthrough combines explanatory animation with a labelled excerpt of the actual offline fixture run.

Register the client in your application

The live path uses these registrations:

var services = new ServiceCollection();
services.AddDatabricksCliAuthentication(profileName);
services.AddLakeSpeak(options => options.Profile = profileName);

using var provider = services.BuildServiceProvider();
var genie = provider.GetRequiredService<IGenieClient>();
var response = await genie.AskAsync(
    agentId, question, cancellationToken: cancellationToken);

The complete project includes the using directives and argument handling. In a hosted application, use your existing dependency-injection container and supply the cancellation token from the request or background task.

The response can contain answer text, generated SQL and a tabular result. Genie can also ask for clarification. Check whether a result exists before using its rows. The example prints an incomplete-result warning and exits with code 1 if the result is truncated.

Ask an existing Agent

For a live question, you need:

The Databricks CLI available to the process.
An existing Genie Agent shared with your identity.
Permission to use the Agent's warehouse and underlying data.

Copy the Agent's ID from Databricks. This console example does not resolve display names. Replace YOUR_WORKSPACE_HOST and YOUR_AGENT_ID before running these commands:

databricks auth login --host "https://YOUR_WORKSPACE_HOST" --profile my-workspace
dotnet run -c Release --no-build --no-restore -- my-workspace "YOUR_AGENT_ID" "How many orders were placed yesterday?"

The selected CLI profile owns login and token refresh. Check DATABRICKS_HOST too: an existing environment value can override the profile's host. The authentication guide documents that precedence and the OAuth M2M path for unattended applications.

A live question creates conversation history and can use warehouse compute. Inspect the returned SQL and compare the answer with a result you understand before relying on it.

When setup fails

Symptom	Check
The process cannot find `databricks`	Confirm the CLI is installed and on the PATH inherited by the application.
The request reaches the wrong workspace	Check the selected profile and any `DATABRICKS_HOST` override.
The Agent is not found or access is denied	Check that you passed an ID, then check Agent sharing, warehouse access and data permissions for that identity.
The response has text but no rows	Read the response. It may be a clarification rather than a completed query result.
The .NET SDK cannot be selected	The companion pins a .NET 8 SDK. Use its README's tested .NET 10 adaptation if you are working on .NET 10.

What was exercised

The published 0.4.0 client passed this offline fixture on .NET 8 and .NET 10. A separate installed .NET 8 consumer also completed one live synthetic question in a nonproduction AWS workspace. Its existing starter Agent generated SELECT 1 AS probe_value and returned one complete row containing 1.

The current-source .NET 10 M2M suite passed all nine live tests on 7 November 2026. That suite covers questions, follow-up, re-execution, feedback and client cancellation. It is separate from the installed-package check. Client cancellation does not establish that remote warehouse work stopped.

These checks do not establish business-answer accuracy or GCP compatibility. The video above shows the local fixture, not the live test. The compatibility record keeps the dated checks and their limits.

Choosing the client or the CLI

The official Databricks CLI already provides Genie terminal commands. Use the .NET client when the conversation belongs inside your C# application. Databricks also provides native benchmark evaluations.

LakeSpeak's separate Question Pack CLI supports versioned questions and reviewable reports. In 0.4.0, behavior.requireQueryResult: true makes a pack reject missing or truncated results. A complete zero-row result succeeds. The default is false; this setting does not judge whether an answer is correct.