Installation

Requirements

• Node.js 18 or later
• A running Kafka broker (for integration)

Installing the Client

Install the core client package:

pnpm

pnpm add @kafkats/client

npm

npm install @kafkats/client

yarn

yarn add @kafkats/client

Installing Flow (Stream Processing)

For Kafka Streams-like processing, install the flow package:

pnpm

pnpm add @kafkats/flow

npm

npm install @kafkats/flow

yarn

yarn add @kafkats/flow

Optional Packages

Native CRC32C (Recommended)

For maximum producer/consumer throughput, install the optional native CRC32C implementation:

pnpm

pnpm add @node-rs/crc32

npm

npm install @node-rs/crc32

yarn

yarn add @node-rs/crc32

With native CRC32C enabled, kafkats can exceed the throughput of other popular Kafka clients.

If not installed, kafkats falls back to a pure TypeScript CRC32C implementation.

Zod Codec

For schema validation with Zod:

pnpm add @kafkats/flow-codec-zod zod

LMDB State Store

For persistent state in stream processing:

pnpm add @kafkats/flow-state-lmdb

Native Dependencies

The LMDB package includes native bindings. Make sure you have the necessary build tools installed on your system.

TypeScript Configuration

kafkats is written in TypeScript and includes type definitions. For the best experience, ensure your tsconfig.json includes:

{
	"compilerOptions": {
		"module": "ESNext",
		"moduleResolution": "bundler",
		"strict": true,
		"esModuleInterop": true
	}
}

Verifying Installation

Create a simple test file to verify the installation:

import { KafkaClient } from '@kafkats/client'

const client = new KafkaClient({
	clientId: 'test',
	brokers: ['localhost:9092'],
})

console.log('kafkats installed successfully!')

Run it:

npx tsx test.ts