# zendesk/maxwell

Maxwell's daemon, a mysql-to-json kafka producer

Repository: https://github.com/zendesk/maxwell
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/maxwell
Homepage: https://maxwells-daemon.io/
Language: Java
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Last push: 2026-08-13T01:22:29+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 96/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 97, release rhythm 91, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4223, "days_push": 21, "days_rel": 60, "gap_med": 30.0, "n_releases_24m": 9}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4258, forks 1043 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:40.580257+00:00)

## What it is
Maxwell's Daemon is a change data capture (CDC) application that reads MySQL binlogs and emits row-level changes as JSON to Kafka, Kinesis, and other streaming platforms. It is a self-contained Java daemon deployable via command line, Docker, or Homebrew.

## Use cases
- stream mysql binlog changes to kafka as
- maintain an audit log of all database changes
- build or expire caches from database change events
- keep a search index in sync with mysql
- etl data out of mysql into streaming platforms
- enable inter-service communication via change events

## When to choose
- you need row-level change data capture from mysql or mariadb
- you want  change events delivered to kafka, kinesis, or similar producers
- you need an audit trail of every insert, update, and delete
- you want a lightweight, self-hosted cdc daemon without heavy infrastructure

## When to avoid
- your source database is not mysql or mariadb
- you need a gui or managed cdc service
- you only need periodic batch exports rather than real-time streaming
- you require full-table initial syncs with complex transformations out of the box

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: etl, streaming, message-queue, database, serialization
- domain: databases, big-data, developer-tools
- platform: jvm, self-hosted
- tags: change-data-capture, mysql-binlog, kafka-producer, cdc, kinesis, audit-log, data-engineering, docker, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- zendesk/maxwell (main) score 96

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:40.580257+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:22:06.857832+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/zendesk/maxwell (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:40.580257+00:00, sha fd07c153391c)
  - homepage: https://maxwells-daemon.io/ (fetched 2026-08-29T09:11:43.268295+00:00, sha dd6f46572317)
  - site_page: https://maxwells-daemon.io/quickstart (fetched 2026-08-29T09:11:43.270611+00:00, sha 8217cd7ff9d7)
  - site_page: https://maxwells-daemon.io/changelog (fetched 2026-08-29T09:11:43.272513+00:00, sha f35ba260c95a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.