Messages

View, filter, search, and export Kafka messages.

Message Viewer

The message viewer lets you consume and inspect messages in real-time.

Starting a Consumer

  1. Select a topic from the sidebar
  2. Go to the Messages tab
  3. Choose your starting position:
    • Beginning: Start from the earliest message
    • End: Start from the latest message
    • Timestamp: Start from a specific time
    • Offset: Start from a specific offset (per partition)
  4. Click Start

Message Display

Each message shows:

  • Partition: Which partition the message is in
  • Offset: The message’s position in the partition
  • Timestamp: When the message was produced
  • Key: Message key (if present)
  • Value: Message content
  • Headers: Key-value metadata

Format Detection

Topiq automatically detects and formats:

JSON

{
  "orderId": "12345",
  "status": "completed",
  "items": [...]
}

Avro

If Schema Registry is configured, Avro messages are automatically deserialized.

Plain Text

Displayed as-is with optional encoding detection.

Filtering Messages

By Key

Filter messages by their key:

order-12345           # Exact match
order-*               # Wildcard

By Value

Search within message content:

"status":"completed"  # JSON field
error                 # Contains text

By Header

Filter by header key or value:

correlation-id=abc    # Header match

Exporting Messages

Export messages for analysis or sharing:

  1. Click Export in the toolbar
  2. Choose format:
    • JSON: Full message data
    • CSV: Tabular format
  3. Select messages (all or filtered)
  4. Click Export

Message Details

Click on any message to open the detail view:

  • Full message content with formatting
  • Copy key, value, or headers
  • Navigate to previous/next message
  • View raw bytes

Producing Messages

Send test messages directly from Topiq:

  1. Right-click on a topic → Produce Message
  2. Or click Produce in the Messages tab

Message Fields

  • Key: Optional message key
  • Value: Message content
  • Headers: Optional key-value pairs
  • Partition: Specific partition or auto-assign

Templates

Save frequently used message templates:

  1. Fill in your message
  2. Click Save as Template
  3. Access from Templates dropdown

Performance Tips

Large Topics

  • Use offset-based starting point
  • Apply filters before starting
  • Limit message count

High-Volume Topics

  • Pause consumption when reviewing
  • Use key filters to reduce volume
  • Consider using consumer groups