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KAFKA

Kafka Subscribe Trigger – Start Workflows from Kafka Topics

Summary (SEO Meta Description):
The Kafka Subscribe Trigger in WeHub starts workflows when new messages are published to a Kafka topic.
Configure it with a topic, group ID, partition, and offset to process real-time event streams.


Overview

The Kafka Subscribe Trigger listens for new messages from an Apache Kafka topic and starts a workflow whenever a message arrives.
It is part of the Kafka Integration, but appears as a standalone Trigger plugin when used to ingest data.

This trigger is ideal for real-time event streaming and event-driven architectures.


⚙️ Configuration Options

FieldTypeDescription
LabelStringCustom name for the trigger node (e.g., "Patient Events Consumer").
Select ConnectionConnectionChoose or create a Kafka connection.
TopicStringName of the Kafka topic to subscribe to (e.g., "patient_updates").
Group IDStringConsumer group ID for offset management (e.g., "group-1").
PartitionIntegerKafka partition number (default 0).
Start OffsetIntegerOffset to begin reading from (default 0 = from beginning, -1 = latest).
Header(s)Key/Value (String)Optional headers for message metadata.

💡 Example Use Cases

  • Healthcare → Subscribe to HL7/FHIR events published on Kafka topics.
  • Finance → Stream real-time transaction data for fraud detection workflows.
  • IoT → Consume telemetry data from Kafka topics for device monitoring.
  • ETL Pipelines → Ingest data from Kafka, enrich it with Processors, and push it into databases or APIs.

FAQ

Q: How is Kafka Subscribe different from Kafka Publish?
A:

  • Kafka Subscribe → Trigger plugin that starts workflows when messages arrive.
  • Kafka Publish → Processor plugin that sends messages to Kafka topics.

Q: What’s the role of Group ID?
A: The Group ID ensures messages are consumed in coordination with other consumers, allowing scaling and parallel processing.

Q: Can I choose which partition to consume from?
A: Yes. The Partition field lets you specify a partition. By default, it reads from partition 0.


Keywords: WeHub Kafka Subscribe, Kafka Trigger Plugin, Kafka Workflow Automation, Kafka Topic Consumer, Event-Driven Workflow