> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.condense.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Kafka Topics

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### Overview

The **Kafka Topics** page in Condense provides a management interface to view, create, and configure topics within a Kafka cluster. From this page, administrators can define replication and partitioning, adjust retention policies, and apply advanced topic-level settings without requiring direct Kafka CLI commands.

Path: **Kafka Management → Kafka Topics**

### Topic List

On the left-hand panel, Condense displays all existing topics in the connected Kafka cluster.

* Topics are listed alphabetically.
* A search box allows filtering by topic name.

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Selecting a topic loads its configuration details in the main panel.

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### Topic Actions

For each topic, Condense provides the following actions in the top-right menu:

* **Messages** → Opens the message viewer for browsing records in the topic.

* **Edit** → Enables modification of topic configuration.
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* **Delete** → Permanently deletes the selected topic from the cluster.
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Additionally, the **Create Topic** button allows new topic creation with custom parameters.

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### Basic Configuration

When creating or editing a topic, the following required fields must be defined:

| Field                       | Description                                                                     | Example |
| --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- |
| **Replication Factor**      | Number of replicas `for `each partition. Ensures<br /> data availability.       | `3`     |
| **No of Partitions**        | Number of partitions in the topic. Determines parallelism <br />and throughput. | `6`     |
| **Retention Period (days)** | Duration for which messages are retained <br />in the topic before deletion.    | `7`     |

### Advanced Configurations

Advanced settings allow fine-grained control of topic behavior. These fields map directly to Kafka topic configuration parameters.

|   |   |   |
| - | - | - |
|   |   |   |
|   |   |   |

Field

Description

Example

**Cleanup Policy**

Determines log cleanup strategy. Options: `Delete` (default), `Compact`.

`Delete`

**Delete Retention Period (days)**

How long delete markers are retained during log compaction.

`1`

**Max Compaction Lag (ms)**

Maximum time a record can remain uncompacted.

`9223372036854775807`

**Max Message Size (bytes)**

Maximum size of an individual message allowed.

`5242940`

**Message Timestamp After Max (ms)**

Upper bound for timestamp range in messages.

`9223372036854775807`

**Message Timestamp Before Max (ms)**

Lower bound for timestamp range in messages.

`9223372036854775807`

**Message Timestamp Type**

Defines how message timestamps are set. Options: `CreateTime`, `LogAppendTime`.

`CreateTime`

**Min Compaction Lag (ms)**

Minimum time a record must remain before compaction.

`0`

**Min In-Sync Replicas**

Minimum number of replicas that must acknowledge a write for it to succeed.

`1`

**Retention Size (bytes)**

Maximum total size of log segments retained before deletion. `-1` = unlimited.

`-1`

**Segment Size (bytes)**

Size of each log segment file before rolling.

`1073741824`

**Segment Period (ms)**

Time-based rolling interval for log segments.

`604800000`

### Usage Notes

* All advanced fields correspond to Kafka’s topic-level configuration properties.
* Fields not explicitly set in Condense will use Kafka cluster defaults.
* Certain changes (e.g., partition count) are not reversible once applied.
* Care must be taken with retention and cleanup policies to avoid unintended data loss.

### Related Sections

* [Resource Utilization](/condense/condense-app-getting-started/resource-utilization)
* [ksqlDB](/condense/condense-app-getting-started/ksqldb)