Kafka connector reference

This page contains reference documentation for the managed Kafka connector in Lakeflow Connect.

Connector options

The following options configure the Kafka source for each destination table in the ingestion pipeline. Specify these options under connector_options.kafka_options in your pipeline definition. See Examples for full pipeline examples.

Option	Type	Default	Description
topics	List of strings	—	List of topic names to subscribe to. Mutually exclusive with topic_pattern. Either topics or topic_pattern is required.
topic_pattern	String	—	Java regular expression matching topic names to subscribe to. Mutually exclusive with topics.
starting_offset	String	latest	Where to begin reading when no checkpoint exists (first run only). Valid values: latest, earliest.
key_transformer	Transformer	—	Deserializer configuration for message keys. If not set, the key column is retained as BINARY. See Transformer options.
value_transformer	Transformer	—	Deserializer configuration for message values. If not set, the value column is retained as BINARY. See Transformer options.

Transformer options

Transformers define how binary Kafka message keys and values are deserialized into structured columns. Specify the serialization format and the corresponding format-specific options under key_transformer or value_transformer. You can configure a transformer for the key, the value, or both independently. If no transformer is set, the column is retained as BINARY.

For JSON, you can provide an explicit schema, use schema inference with evolution, or omit json_options entirely to store the value as a VARIANT column.

Option	Applies to	Type	Default	Description
format	All	String	—	Serialization format of the data. Valid values: STRING, JSON. STRING requires no additional options. If no json_options are specified on the transformer, the value is parsed as Variant by default. See Variant Data Format for more information.
json_options.schema	JSON	String	—	Inline schema in Spark DDL format (for example, "id BIGINT, name STRING"). Mutually exclusive with schema_file_path.
json_options.schema_file_path	JSON	String	—	Path to a .ddl schema file. Mutually exclusive with schema. Supports Unity Catalog Volumes paths (/Volumes/...).
json_options.schema_evolution_mode	JSON	String	—	Schema evolution mode for automatic schema inference. See Schema Evolution Modes.
json_options.schema_hints	JSON	String	—	Comma-separated "column_name type" pairs to influence schema inference (for example, "id BIGINT, ts TIMESTAMP"). Requires schema_evolution_mode to be set. See Override schema inference using schema hints.

Connection properties

When you create the Unity Catalog Kafka connection in Catalog Explorer, you must specify the following properties depending on the authentication method. See Create a Kafka connection for connection creation steps.

Username and password

Property	Description
Connection name	A unique name for the connection in Unity Catalog.
Connection type	Select Kafka.
Auth type	Select Username and Password.
Username	The username used to authenticate with the Kafka cluster.
Password	The password used to authenticate with the Kafka cluster.
Bootstrap servers	The bootstrap server address of the Kafka cluster (for example, broker1:9092,broker2:9092).
Schema registry URL (optional)	The URL of your schema registry.
Schema registry API key (optional)	The API key for your schema registry.
Schema registry API secret (optional)	The API secret for your schema registry.

Service Credential

Property	Description
Connection name	A unique name for the connection in Unity Catalog.
Connection type	Select Kafka.
Auth type	Select Service Credential.
Service credential	Select an existing Unity Catalog service credential or click Create new service credential.
Bootstrap servers	The bootstrap server address of the Kafka cluster (for example, broker1:9092,broker2:9092).
Schema registry URL (optional)	The URL of your schema registry.
Schema registry API key (optional)	The API key for your schema registry.
Schema registry API secret (optional)	The API secret for your schema registry.

Destination table schema

The Kafka connector writes to streaming tables (append-only). The columns written to the destination table depend on whether transformers are configured.

Without transformers (raw binary)

When no key_transformer or value_transformer is configured, the destination table contains the following columns:

Column	Type	Description
key	BINARY	The raw binary content of the Kafka message key.
value	BINARY	The raw binary content of the Kafka message value.

With a STRING transformer

When format: STRING is set on a transformer, the corresponding column is written as STRING instead of BINARY.

With a JSON transformer

When format: JSON is set on a transformer:

• If no json_options are specified, the column is written as VARIANT.
• If json_options.schema or json_options.schema_file_path is specified, the JSON is parsed into typed columns matching the schema.
• If json_options.schema_evolution_mode is set, schema inference is used and the schema evolves automatically.

Note

Kafka metadata columns — including topic, partition, offset, timestamp, timestampType, and headers — are not available in the destination table in Beta.