> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.n8n.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.n8n.io/integrations/builtin/trigger-nodes/n8n-nodes-base.kafkatrigger.md).

# Kafka Trigger

[Kafka](https://kafka.apache.org/) is an open-source distributed event streaming platform that one can use for high-performance data pipelines, streaming analytics, data integration, and mission-critical applications.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Credentials**

You can find authentication information for this node [here](/integrations/builtin/credentials/kafka.md).
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
**Schema Registry**

To decode messages with an authenticated Confluent Schema Registry (for example, Confluent Cloud), enable **Use Schema Registry** in the node and add a [Schema Registry credential](https://github.com/n8n-io/n8n-docs/blob/main/integrations/builtin/credentials/schemaregistry.md).
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
**Message compression**

The Kafka Trigger can consume uncompressed messages and messages compressed with **GZIP**. It can't decode messages compressed with **LZ4**, **Snappy**, or **ZSTD** (a common default for Confluent and JVM producers): consuming such a topic fails with an unsupported-compression-format error. To consume the topic, configure the producer to use gzip or no compression.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
**Examples and templates**

For usage examples and templates to help you get started, refer to n8n's [Kafka Trigger integrations](https://n8n.io/integrations/kafka-trigger/) page.
{% endhint %}


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