# confluentinc/schema-registry

Confluent Schema Registry for Kafka

Repository: https://github.com/confluentinc/schema-registry
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/schema-registry
Homepage: https://docs.confluent.io/current/schema-registry/docs/index.html
Language: Java
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: schema-registry, kafka, schema, schemas, avro, avro-schema, rest-api, confluent, protobuf, protobuf-schema, json, json-schema
Last push: 2026-08-26T21:41:54+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 4285, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases, no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2462, forks 1159 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:53.529861+00:00)

## What it is
Confluent Schema Registry is a Java-based serving layer that stores and retrieves Avro, JSON Schema, and Protobuf schemas via a RESTful API, maintaining versioned schema history with configurable compatibility rules. It integrates with Apache Kafka clients through serializers/deserializers that handle schema storage and retrieval for message data.

## Use cases
- manage and version avro schemas for kafka topics
- enforce schema compatibility rules when evolving event data
- serialize and deserialize kafka messages with avro, protobuf, or  schemas
- store protobuf and  schemas centrally for streaming pipelines
- validate producer and consumer schema compatibility in kafka
- expose a rest api for schema registration and lookup
- implement data governance and data contracts for kafka streams

## When to choose
- you use Apache Kafka and need centralized schema management with compatibility enforcement
- your producers and consumers need Avro, Protobuf, or JSON Schema serialization wired into Kafka clients
- you require versioned schema history and safe schema evolution for event streaming pipelines
- you want a self-hosted or Confluent Cloud schema repository with a REST API

## When to avoid
- you don't use Kafka or a compatible event streaming platform
- you only need lightweight schema validation without a centralized registry service
- you need a schema store for non-streaming use cases like database migrations
- you cannot operate a JVM-based service and don't want a managed cloud option

## Facets
- artifact type: service
- maturity: active
- function: serialization, api-framework, http-server, database
- domain: apis, big-data, developer-tools
- platform: jvm, self-hosted
- tags: kafka, schema-registry, avro, protobuf, -schema, schema-evolution, data-governance, rest-api, confluent, data-engineering, streaming, docker, kubernetes, web-server

## Member repositories
- confluentinc/schema-registry (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:53.529861+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 2026-08-30T02:29:18.218250+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/confluentinc/schema-registry (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:53.529861+00:00, sha f818357d4942)
  - homepage: https://docs.confluent.io/current/schema-registry/docs/index.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:11:03.224072+00:00, sha ac2249a15f75)
  - site_page: https://docs.confluent.io/ (fetched 2026-08-29T10:11:03.233839+00:00, sha 8cc9d99272d2)
  - site_page: https://docs.confluent.io/platform/current/get-started/platform-quickstart.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:11:03.236093+00:00, sha d448cbf424c3)
  - site_page: https://docs.confluent.io/platform/current/get-started/kafka-basics.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:11:03.238582+00:00, sha 7e88792e609b)
  - site_page: https://docs.confluent.io/platform/current/get-started/docs-ai.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:11:03.240489+00:00, sha 59739dadc8a4)
  - site_page: https://docs.confluent.io/platform/current/installation/index.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:11:03.242200+00:00, sha 29a27ef0a798)
  - site_page: https://docs.confluent.io/platform/current/installation/overview.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:11:03.243735+00:00, sha 3b38c288e103)
  - site_page: https://docs.confluent.io/platform/current/installation/system-requirements.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:11:03.245386+00:00, sha e23db270fcdf)
  - site_page: https://docs.confluent.io/platform/current/installation/versions-interoperability.html (fetched 2026-08-29T10:11:03.247308+00:00, sha 108dd3cb3a80)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.