•SYSTEM DESIGN
Databricks System Design Questions
Every system design problem candidates reported at Databricks between September 2025 and September 2026, most-asked first. Each one links to a full solution.
Problems
7
Candidate reports
17
Asked more than once
2
start here
Question type
7 HLD
Topics Databricks tests
Design Chat APIs, Storage, and Core Message Flows
Design a real-time chat system like WhatsApp or Slack supporting one-to-one and group conversations (and, for Slack variants, workspaces, channels and threaded replies). Users send and receive messages with low latency, see…
Also worded as: Design Chat Deletion Semantics Under Concurrent Sends · Design a Chat Application with a Partitioned Cache +4
Design an Online Book Seller Platform
Design an online bookstore platform. Users browse and search books, see prices (aggregated from multiple external sellers or suppliers, with individual and batched price lookups), manage a cart, place orders, pay, and track order…
Also worded as: Design a Bookstore Pricing API with Batch Fetches · Design a Book Price Aggregator +2
Design a Distributed File System
Design a distributed file system like GFS or HDFS that stores very large files across thousands of commodity machines. Support create, read, append/write, delete and directory operations with a hierarchical namespace.…
Design a stock order manager
Design a stock trading or brokerage platform like Zerodha or Robinhood. Users view real-time quotes, place orders (market, limit, stop), see order status and fills, and view holdings and balances. Orders are validated (buying…
Design CRUD APIs with async jobs
Design a backend service that provides CRUD APIs for a resource plus asynchronous background jobs that operate on those resources (e.g., long-running exports or processing). Clients create resources, trigger jobs, poll or…
Design a dependency-aware job scheduler
Design a distributed job scheduler that runs user-defined jobs at a specified time (one-time) or on a recurring cron schedule, at a scale of millions of jobs per day. Requirements: jobs fire close to their scheduled time, each…
Design a digital game shop backend
Design a digital game distribution platform like Steam: a game catalog, user libraries, purchases and refunds, promotions and discounts, entitlements (who owns what), license checks at launch, and delivery of large game downloads…
Duplicate reports of the same problem are merged and counted.
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What system design questions does Databricks ask?
Candidates reported 7 distinct system design problems at Databricks between September 2025 and September 2026, including Design Chat APIs, Storage, and Core Message Flows, Design an Online Book Seller Platform, Design a Distributed File System.
How to prepare for Databricks system design interview?
Start with the Databricks problems reported most often, work through each full solution, then practice explaining a design end to end under time pressure in a mock interview.
What is the difference between HLD and LLD at Databricks?
HLD (High-Level Design) focuses on system architecture, scalability, and component interactions. LLD (Low-Level Design) dives into class diagrams, API contracts, and database schemas. Databricks tests both.