Getting started
StoatFlow targets JDK 25+ and Apache Kafka 4.x. Working familiarity with Kafka and stream processing concepts is assumed.
Pick a starting point
Starting fresh
New project, no existing Kafka Streams code. Pull in the dependency, wire up your first topology, run it locally.
Migrating from Kafka Streams
Existing Kafka Streams topology you want to run on StoatFlow. Dependency swap, config cleanup, what to remove and what stays.
What's documented today
Getting started — orientation and a first running app:
- Modules overview — which artifacts to depend on; DSL-only versus the batteries-included runtime.
- Installation — Maven repository, the dependency, and build setup (Gradle or Maven).
- License configuration — license key and environment for local development and CI/CD.
- Your first app — build and run a complete word-count app on the runtime.
- Project setup — the StoatFlow build conventions for Gradle and Maven, and what they configure.
Core concepts — the model behind the runtime:
- Architecture, exactly-once, lanes and parallelism, state and thread-safety, event time and watermarks, the configuration model, the error-handling model, and how StoatFlow differs from Kafka Streams.
Building topologies — the DSL and the Processor API:
- The DSL overview plus aggregations, windowing, joins, the Processor API, serdes, error handling, state stores, and testing.
Configuration, runtime, and operations:
- Configuration — how config layers and the engine + runtime keys.
- Running in production — the runtime, REST API, health checks, metrics, plugins, Docker, and native image.
- Deploying & operating — Kubernetes, probes, observability, tuning, and the production checklist.
- Migrating from Kafka Streams — what carries over, and cutover with or without state.
- Reference — configuration keys, the REST API, the Gradle plugin DSL, the KS compatibility matrix, and a glossary.
The docs are still maturing. Tell us what to write next.
Need help?
Stuck on something the docs don't yet cover? Get in touch — alpha-stage product, real people read every email. If you've hit something that probably belongs in these docs, say so and we'll write it.