Process & Analyze Pinecone Data in Databricks (AWS)

Databricks is a cloud-based service that provides data processing capabilities through Apache Spark. When paired with the CData JDBC Driver, customers can use Databricks to perform data engineering and data science on live Pinecone data. This article explains how to host the CData JDBC Driver in AWS, as well as connect to and process live Pinecone data in Databricks.

With built-in optimized data processing, the CData JDBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live Pinecone data. When you issue complex SQL queries to Pinecone, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to Pinecone and utilizes the embedded SQL engine to process unsupported operations client-side (often SQL functions and JOIN operations). Its built-in dynamic metadata querying allows you to work with and analyze Pinecone data using native data types.

Install the CData JDBC Driver in Databricks

To work with live Pinecone data in Databricks, install the driver on your Databricks cluster.

1. Navigate to your Databricks administration screen and select the target cluster.
2. On the Libraries tab, click "Install New."
3. Select "Upload" as the Library Source and "Jar" as the Library Type.
4. Upload the JDBC JAR file (cdata.jdbc.api.jar) from the installation location (typically C:\Program Files\CData[product_name]\lib).

Access Pinecone Data in your Notebook: Python

With the JAR file installed, we are ready to work with live Pinecone data in Databricks. Start by creating a new notebook in your workspace. Name the notebook, select Python as the language (though Scala is available as well), and choose the cluster where you installed the JDBC driver. When the notebook launches, we can configure the connection, query Pinecone, and create a basic report.

Configure the Connection to Pinecone

Connect to Pinecone by referencing the JDBC Driver class and constructing a connection string to use in the JDBC URL. Additionally, you will need to set the RTK property in the JDBC URL (unless you are using a Beta driver). You can view the licensing file included in the installation for information on how to set this property.

Step 1: Connection Information

driver = "cdata.jdbc.api.APIDriver"
url = "jdbc:api:RTK=5246...;Profile=C:\profiles\Pinecone.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key;APIVersion=2025-10';"

Built-in Connection String Designer

For assistance in constructing the JDBC URL, use the connection string designer built into the Pinecone JDBC Driver. Either double-click the JAR file or execute the jar file from the command-line.

java -jar cdata.jdbc.api.jar

Fill in the connection properties and copy the connection string to the clipboard.

Authentication

To authenticate to Pinecone, and connect to your own data or to allow other users to connect to their data, you can use API Key authentication.

Using API Key Authentication

To authenticate using an API Key, you need to obtain your API Key from your Pinecone console at https://app.pinecone.io/.

You can then connect by setting the AuthScheme to APIKey and providing your API key:

• AuthScheme: Set this to APIKey.
• APIKey: Set this to your API key from Pinecone.

Example connection strings:

Standard API Key Configuration:

Profile=C:\profiles\Pinecone.apip;AuthScheme=APIKey;ProfileSettings='APIKey=your_api_key;APIVersion=2025-10';

Load Pinecone Data

Once you configure the connection, you can load Pinecone data as a dataframe using the CData JDBC Driver and the connection information.

Step 2: Reading the data

remote_table = spark.read.format ( "jdbc" ) \
	.option ( "driver" , driver) \
	.option ( "url" , url) \
	.option ( "dbtable" , "Indexes") \
	.load ()

Display Pinecone Data

Check the loaded Pinecone data by calling the display function.

Step 3: Checking the result

display (remote_table.select (""))

Analyze Pinecone Data in Databricks

If you want to process data with Databricks SparkSQL, register the loaded data as a Temp View.

Step 4: Create a view or table

remote_table.createOrReplaceTempView ( "SAMPLE_VIEW" )

With the Temp View created, you can use SparkSQL to retrieve the Pinecone data for reporting, visualization, and analysis.

% sql

SELECT ,  FROM SAMPLE_VIEW ORDER BY  DESC LIMIT 5

The data from Pinecone is only available in the target notebook. If you want to use it with other users, save it as a table.

remote_table.write.format ( "parquet" ) .saveAsTable ( "SAMPLE_TABLE" )

Download a free, 30-day trial of the CData API Driver for JDBC and start working with your live Pinecone data in Databricks. Reach out to our Support Team if you have any questions.