Modern CLI for Apache Kafka

Lightweight and efficient command-line tool for managing Kafka clusters. A modern alternative to JVM-based tools, inspired by kubectl.

šŸ¹ Go
ā˜• Apache Kafka
āš” CLI
šŸš€ Get Started šŸ“– View on GitHub
Terminal - Kafta Demo

Powerful Features

Simplify Kafka cluster management with a modern, fast and intuitive CLI tool.

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Topic Management

Create, delete, list and describe Kafka topics with simple and intuitive commands.

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Consumer Groups

Monitor, describe and manage consumer groups, including real-time lag analysis.

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Produce & Consume

Produce and consume messages directly from the terminal with interactive interface.

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Schema Registry

Manage Avro schemas with fast and detailed views. List subjects quickly or view compatibility levels and version counts.

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Multi-cluster

Native support for multiple Kafka clusters across different environments.

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Performance

Lightweight binary with no JVM dependency, ensuring fast and efficient execution.

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Security

Complete support for SASL authentication and secure communication via TLS.

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Output Formats

Display data in Table, JSON and YAML formats for different needs.

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Enhanced Schema Commands

Simplified syntax with positional arguments, automatic latest version detection, and smart error handling.

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Auto-complete

Smart suggestions and auto-complete for bash, zsh and fish shells.

Get Started

Install Kafta quickly using Go and configure your Kafka clusters. Requires Go 1.18+ and access to Apache Kafka.

# Install latest version
go install github.com/electric-saw/kafta/cmd/kafta@latest
# Verify installation
kafta --help
# Check version
kafta version
# For Go < 1.18 (legacy)
go get -u github.com/electric-saw/kafta
# Configure local development cluster
kafta config set-cluster local \
--bootstrap-servers localhost:9092
# Configure production cluster with SASL
kafta config set-cluster production \
--bootstrap-servers prod-kafka-1:9092,prod-kafka-2:9092 \
--security-protocol SASL_SSL \
--sasl-mechanism PLAIN \
--sasl-username myuser \
--sasl-password mypassword
# Configure staging cluster
kafta config set-cluster staging \
--bootstrap-servers staging-kafka:9092 \
--schema-registry http://staging-schema-registry:8081
# List all configured clusters
kafta config get-contexts
# Switch to production cluster
kafta config use-context production
# Set default output format
kafta config set output json
# Configure TLS with certificates
kafta config set-cluster secure \
--bootstrap-servers secure-kafka:9092 \
--security-protocol SSL \
--ssl-ca-location /path/to/ca-cert \
--ssl-certificate-location /path/to/client-cert \
--ssl-key-location /path/to/client-key
# Set request timeout
kafta config set request-timeout 30s
# Enable debug mode
kafta config set debug true
# List all schema subjects (fast - single API call)
kafta schema subjects
# List subjects with detailed compatibility info (slower)
kafta schema subjects --detail
# Get latest schema version (automatically uses latest)
kafta schema get user-events-value
# Get specific schema version
kafta schema get user-events-value --version 2
# List all versions with compatibility information
kafta schema versions user-events-value
# Compare schemas and see differences
kafta schema diff user-events-value \
--schema '{"type":"record","name":"Test","fields":[]}'
# Smart error handling - shows helpful messages
kafta schema get
# Output: Error: error: Subject not informed
# Usage: kafta schema get SUBJECT [flags]
# Bash completion
kafta completion bash > /etc/bash_completion.d/kafta
# Or for current user
kafta completion bash >> ~/.bashrc
# Zsh completion
kafta completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_kafta"
# Fish completion
kafta completion fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/kafta.fish
# PowerShell (Windows)
kafta completion powershell > kafta.ps1
. ./kafta.ps1

Usage Examples

See how to use Kafta to manage your Kafka clusters efficiently.

List Topics
View all topics in the cluster
$ kafta topic list
āœ“ user-events āœ“ order-events āœ“ payment-events
Create Topic
Create new topics with specific configurations
$ kafta topic create my-topic --partitions 3 --replication-factor 1
āœ“ Topic 'my-topic' created successfully
Consumer Lag
Monitor consumer group lag
$ kafta consumer lag my-group
TOPIC PARTITION LAG my-topic 0 15 my-topic 1 3
Switch Contexts
Switch between different Kafka clusters
$ kafta config get-contexts
CURRENT NAME CLUSTER * local localhost:9092 production prod-kafka:9092 staging staging-kafka:9092
List Schema Subjects (Fast)
View all schema subjects quickly with a single API call
$ kafta schema subjects
user-events-value order-events-key payment-events-value
Schema Subjects with Details
View subjects with compatibility levels and version counts
$ kafta schema subjects --detail
SUBJECT COMPATIBILITY VERSIONS user-events-value BACKWARD 3 order-events-key FULL 2 payment-events-value FORWARD 1
Get Latest Schema
Retrieve the latest version of a schema
$ kafta schema get user-events-value
{ "type": "record", "name": "UserEvent", "fields": [ {"name": "userId", "type": "string"}, {"name": "action", "type": "string"} ] }
Schema Versions with Compatibility
List all versions with compatibility information for each
$ kafta schema versions user-events-value
VERSION ID COMPATIBILITY 1 101 BACKWARD 2 102 BACKWARD 3 103 BACKWARD
Schema Comparison
Compare schemas and see differences
$ kafta schema diff user-events-value --schema '{"type":"record","name":"UserEvent","fields":[{"name":"id","type":"string"}]}'
Schema differences found: - field 'userId' removed - field 'action' removed + field 'id' added