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feat(DOC-2012): document Kafka 4.x client compatibility and KIP-890 #1614

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feat(DOC-2012): document Kafka 4.x client compatibility and KIP-890 #1614

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061552a
feat(DOC-2012): document Kafka 4.x client compatibility and KIP-890
mfernest Mar 17, 2026
30ce813
style(DOC-2012): apply style guide audit to kafka-clients.adoc
mfernest Mar 24, 2026
12c83ea
Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into feat/doc-2012-kafka4x…
mfernest Mar 25, 2026
9eeb533
docs(DOC-2012): explain why KIP-890 is not needed in Redpanda
mfernest Mar 25, 2026
ca76612
Merge remote-tracking branch 'origin/main' into feat/doc-2012-kafka4x…
mfernest Mar 26, 2026
3f7a739
fix(DOC-2012): clarify KIP-890 fallback behavior per bashtanov review
mfernest Mar 26, 2026
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11 changes: 6 additions & 5 deletions modules/develop/pages/kafka-clients.adoc
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:description: Kafka clients, version 0.11 or later, are compatible with Redpanda. Validations and exceptions are listed.
// tag::single-source[]

Redpanda is compatible with Apache Kafka versions 0.11 and later, with specific exceptions noted on this page.
Redpanda is compatible with Apache Kafka® versions 0.11 and later, with specific exceptions noted on this page.

== Kafka client compatibility

Clients developed for Kafka versions 0.11 or later are compatible with Redpanda. Modern clients auto-negotiate protocol versions or use an earlier protocol version accepted by Redpanda brokers.
Clients developed for Kafka versions 0.11 or later are compatible with Redpanda, including Kafka 4.x clients. Modern clients auto-negotiate protocol versions or use an earlier protocol version accepted by Redpanda brokers.

TIP: Redpanda Data recommends always using the latest supported version of a client.

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Clients that have not been validated by Redpanda Data, but use the Kafka protocol, remain compatible with Redpanda subject to the limitations below (particularly those based on librdkafka, such as confluent-kafka-dotnet or confluent-python).

If you find a client that is not
supported, reach out to the Redpanda team in the community https://redpanda.com/slack[Slack^].
If you find an unsupported client, contact the Redpanda team in the community https://redpanda.com/slack[Slack^].

== Unsupported Kafka features

Redpanda does not currently support the following Apache Kafka features:
Redpanda does not support the following Kafka features:

* Multiple SCRAM mechanisms simultaneously for SASL users; for example, a user having both a `SCRAM-SHA-256` and a `SCRAM-SHA-512` credential. Redpanda supports only one SASL/SCRAM mechanism per user, either `SCRAM-SHA-256` or `SCRAM-SHA-512`.
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* Quotas per user for bandwidth and API request rates. However, xref:manage:cluster-maintenance/manage-throughput.adoc#client-throughput-limits[quotas per client and per client group] using AlterClientQuotas and DescribeClientQuotas APIs are supported.
endif::[]
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* https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/KAFKA/KIP-890[KIP-890^] (Transactions Server-Side Defense): Redpanda does not implement the server-side portion of KIP-890. Kafka 4.x clients use per-transaction epoch bumping to protect against erroneous transaction commits, but fall back to the standard transaction protocol when connecting to Redpanda.
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@bashtanov bashtanov Mar 19, 2026

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Would it make sense to describe that the Kafka problem that KIP-890 solves is not present in Redpanda due to Raft's atomicity guarantees?


If you have any issues while working with a Kafka tool, you can https://github.com/redpanda-data/redpanda/issues/new[file an issue^].

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