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The\nConsole reads a bounded window directly from Kafka, then lets you narrow the\nresult or switch to a streaming view.",[143,144,146],"h2",{"id":145},"what-is-a-kafka-consumer","What is a Kafka consumer?",[139,148,149,150,154],{},"A Kafka consumer reads records from topic partitions and tracks its position\nwith an offset for each partition. Apache Kafka includes the\n",[151,152,153],"code",{},"kafka-console-consumer"," command for reading records in a terminal.",[139,156,157,158,162],{},"Kafma reads directly from the brokers for interactive inspection. Opening or\nrefreshing a Console tab does not join a consumer group, trigger a rebalance, or\ncommit offsets. To inspect application consumers and their committed positions,\nsee ",[159,160,161],"a",{"href":88},"Consumer groups",".",[143,164,166],{"id":165},"consume-from-the-beginning-or-a-timestamp","Consume from the beginning or a timestamp",[139,168,169,170,174],{},"Choose ",[171,172,173],"strong",{},"From"," based on the part of the topic you need:",[176,177,178,185,191,197],"ul",{},[179,180,181,184],"li",{},[171,182,183],{},"Newest"," loads a one-time snapshot of the latest records.",[179,186,187,190],{},[171,188,189],{},"Beginning"," starts at the earliest records still retained by Kafka. Records\nalready removed by retention are not available.",[179,192,193,196],{},[171,194,195],{},"Offset"," starts each partition at the specified offset.",[179,198,199,202],{},[171,200,201],{},"Timestamp"," starts each partition at its first available record at or after\nthe selected local date and time.",[139,204,205,208],{},[171,206,207],{},"Limit"," caps the records loaded by a snapshot. It keeps a large topic bounded\nwithout changing anything on the broker.",[139,210,211],{},[212,213],"img",{"alt":214,"height":215,"src":216,"width":217},"Choosing where to start consuming Kafka messages, including the beginning, an offset, or a timestamp",924,"https:\u002F\u002Fmedia.kafma.app\u002Fdocs\u002Fconsole\u002Fconsuming-messages\u002Ffrom-timestamp.png",1564,[143,219,221],{"id":220},"search-and-inspect-kafka-messages","Search and inspect Kafka messages",[139,223,224],{},"Search filters the records already loaded into the Console; it does not scan the\nentire topic. Enter text to search message keys and values. Use the partition\nfilter when offsets or ordering need to be read in one partition.",[139,226,227,228,231],{},"Expand a row to see its full key and value, headers, partition, offset, timestamp,\nsize, and compression. Avro and Protobuf payloads\n",[159,229,230],{"href":40},"decode automatically"," when a Schema Registry\nis configured.",[139,233,234],{},[212,235],{"alt":236,"height":237,"src":238,"width":239},"A decoded Avro message with its metadata and message actions visible",1204,"https:\u002F\u002Fmedia.kafma.app\u002Fchangelog\u002Fv1.0.0\u002Fhomepage-console-decode.png",2428,[139,241,242,243,162],{},"Bulk Forward and Export use the current filtered set. Narrow the view before\n",[159,244,245],{"href":49},"reusing messages",[143,247,249],{"id":248},"live-and-watch-group-modes","Live and Watch Group modes",[139,251,252,255],{},[171,253,254],{},"Live"," starts at the topic's current end and shows records produced from that\npoint forward. Its buffer holds the latest 500 records; older records dropped\nfrom the view remain on the broker.",[139,257,258],{},[212,259],{"alt":260,"height":261,"src":262,"width":239},"Kafma Console tailing live Kafka messages while a producer loop runs below",1366,"https:\u002F\u002Fmedia.kafma.app\u002Fchangelog\u002Fv1.0.0\u002Fhomepage-console-produce.png",[139,264,265,268],{},[171,266,267],{},"Watch Group"," shows a bounded window around a selected consumer group's\ncommitted positions. It marks records as consumed (✓✓), pending (◷), or\nunassigned (·), and shows the group's member status and lag. Kafma reads this\ninformation without joining the group.",[139,270,271],{},"The divider separates the group's remaining backlog above from its most recently\nconsumed record below. The lag count and trend show whether the group is\ncatching up or falling further behind, while the messages at the front of the\nlag help you investigate stalled consumption.",[139,273,274],{},[212,275],{"alt":276,"height":277,"src":278,"width":279},"Watching a Kafka consumer group's member status, lag trend, backlog, and latest consumed message",1368,"https:\u002F\u002Fmedia.kafma.app\u002Fdocs\u002Fconsole\u002Fconsuming-messages\u002Fwatch-group.png",1562,[143,281,283],{"id":282},"next-steps","Next steps",[176,285,286,291,296],{},[179,287,288],{},[159,289,290],{"href":40},"Decode Avro and Protobuf messages",[179,292,293],{},[159,294,295],{"href":44},"Produce Kafka messages",[179,297,298],{},[159,299,300],{"href":49},"Replay and export Kafka messages",{"title":302,"searchDepth":26,"depth":26,"links":303},"",[304,305,306,307,308],{"id":145,"depth":21,"text":146},{"id":165,"depth":21,"text":166},{"id":220,"depth":21,"text":221},{"id":248,"depth":21,"text":249},{"id":282,"depth":21,"text":283},"Use Kafma’s consumer to read Kafka messages from the newest records, the beginning, or a timestamp. Search by key or value, or watch a consumer group.","md","2026-08-01",{},true,{"title":37,"description":309},{"loc":36},"docs\u002Fconsole\u002Fconsuming-messages","d7JPJxfGGmGMgqZfsU9afEaYvty66dPYKxyv4shMVpQ",1785561255515]