CosmosDB Change Feed, move on in the feed without code changes

Question

CosmosDB Change Feed, move on in the feed without code changes

Johnston, Anthony 5

I have been asked to find a strategy for moving on to the next record in a change feed, manually, not in the code.

I have looked at the documentation on change feed processors and the leases they create to bookmark their current location in the feed.

Changing the lease manually makes me nervous as it is an internal structure and I don't know what will happen if I do and it breaks.

Please can I have some guidance on this approach or any other you can suggest

Thank you

Anonymous

2025-08-26T12:06:10.5233333+00:00

Hi @Johnston, Anthony

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A, we are reviewing your question and will get back to you with updates as soon as possible. We truly appreciate your patience and understanding.

Regards,
Vrishabh
Johnston, Anthony 5 Reputation points

2025-08-27T16:18:12.53+00:00

Thank you Vrishabh for this anwser, I will investigate which is best for us.

I am reading between the lines, but I think you are steering me away from manually updating the lease content?

Anthony
Anonymous

2025-08-28T09:24:11.5266667+00:00

Hi Johnston, Anthony,

Thank you for reviewing the proposed solution.

As you mentioned earlier in your concern.

*"Changing the lease manually makes me nervous as it is an internal structure and I don't know what will happen if I do and it breaks."
*
We kindly request you to review the steps outlined and update us once completed.

Regards,
Vrishabh
Anonymous

2025-08-29T05:03:31.21+00:00

Hi Johnston, Anthony,

We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution, please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.

Regards,
Vrishabh
Anonymous

2025-09-01T05:01:41.9866667+00:00

Hi Johnston, Anthony,

Just checking in to see if the given solution helped. If this answers your query, if you have any further query do let us know.

Regards,
Vrishabh

1 answer

Your answer

Anonymous

2025-08-26T12:06:10.5233333+00:00

Hi @Johnston, Anthony

Thank you for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A, we are reviewing your question and will get back to you with updates as soon as possible. We truly appreciate your patience and understanding.

Regards,
Vrishabh
Johnston, Anthony 5 Reputation points

2025-08-27T16:18:12.53+00:00

Thank you Vrishabh for this anwser, I will investigate which is best for us.

I am reading between the lines, but I think you are steering me away from manually updating the lease content?

Anthony
Anonymous

2025-08-28T09:24:11.5266667+00:00

Hi Johnston, Anthony,

Thank you for reviewing the proposed solution.

As you mentioned earlier in your concern.

*"Changing the lease manually makes me nervous as it is an internal structure and I don't know what will happen if I do and it breaks."
*
We kindly request you to review the steps outlined and update us once completed.

Regards,
Vrishabh
Anonymous

2025-08-29T05:03:31.21+00:00

Hi Johnston, Anthony,

We haven’t heard from you on the last response and was just checking back to see if you have a resolution yet. In case if you have any resolution, please do share that same with the community as it can be helpful to others. Otherwise, will respond with more details and we will try to help.

Regards,
Vrishabh
Anonymous

2025-09-01T05:01:41.9866667+00:00

Hi Johnston, Anthony,

Just checking in to see if the given solution helped. If this answers your query, if you have any further query do let us know.

Regards,
Vrishabh

Answer 1

Hi @Johnston, Anthony,

It appears you're aiming to explore the Cosmos DB change feed manually, without introducing any modifications to the existing codebase.

While the Azure Portal does not offer a direct interface to manually navigate the change feed, you can inspect data changes and their associated timestamps by querying the container directly. This allows visibility into the latest updates without altering the change feed processor's lease state.
Implement a Custom Tracking - Instead of modifying lease configurations, implement a custom field—such as a status attribute—within your documents to track processing state. This enables efficient filtering of unprocessed entries and facilitates controlled handling of change feed events without altering lease mechanics.
Replica Approach - If direct lease manipulation is a concern, consider maintaining a separate Cosmos DB container or an alternative storage solution such as Azure Blob Storage to log change feed events or processing metadata. This approach allows independent management of processing state and avoids interference with the built-in lease coordination mechanism
For a resilient and scalable solution, leveraging Azure Functions or a dedicated Change Feed Processor is recommended for handling change feed events. These services offer native support for lease management, ensuring fault tolerance and eliminating the need for manual intervention in lease state coordination.
Refer document -
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cosmos-db/nosql/change-feed-design-patterns?tabs=latest-version https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cosmos-db/nosql/read-change-feed

If you have more detailed information about what you're specifically trying to achieve or concerns regarding the change feed, feel free to share.

Regards,
Vrishabh

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CosmosDB Change Feed, move on in the feed without code changes

1 answer

Your answer