Configure Kafka MCP Server

Set up MCP (Model Context Protocol) server integration for natural language Kafka operations.

What This Command Does

MCP Server Detection: Auto-detect installed MCP servers
Server Ranking: Recommend best server for your needs
Configuration: Generate Claude Desktop config
Testing: Verify MCP server connectivity
Usage Guide: Show natural language examples

Supported MCP Servers

Server	Language	Features	Best For
Confluent Official	-	Natural language, Flink SQL, Enterprise	Production + Confluent Cloud
tuannvm/kafka-mcp-server	Go	Advanced SASL (SCRAM-SHA-256/512)	Security-focused deployments
kanapuli/mcp-kafka	Node.js	Basic operations, SASL_PLAINTEXT	Quick start, dev environments
Joel-hanson/kafka-mcp-server	Python	Claude Desktop integration	Desktop AI workflows

Example Usage

# Start MCP configuration wizard
/sw-kafka:mcp-configure

# I'll:
# 1. Detect installed MCP servers (npm, go, pip, CLI)
# 2. Rank servers (Confluent > tuannvm > kanapuli > Joel-hanson)
# 3. Generate Claude Desktop config (~/.claude/settings.json)
# 4. Test connection to Kafka
# 5. Show natural language examples

What Gets Configured

Claude Desktop Config (~/.claude/settings.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "kafka": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["mcp-kafka"],
      "env": {
        "KAFKA_BROKERS": "localhost:9092",
        "KAFKA_SASL_USERNAME": "admin",
        "KAFKA_SASL_PASSWORD": "admin-secret"
      }
    }
  }
}

Natural Language Examples

After MCP is configured, you can use natural language with Claude:

You: "List all Kafka topics"
Claude: [Uses MCP to call listTopics()]
Output: user-events, order-events, payment-events

You: "Create a topic called 'analytics' with 12 partitions and RF=3"
Claude: [Uses MCP to call createTopic()]
Output: Topic 'analytics' created successfully

You: "What's the consumer lag for group 'orders-consumer'?"
Claude: [Uses MCP to call getConsumerGroupOffsets()]
Output: Total lag: 1,234 messages across 6 partitions

You: "Send a test message to 'user-events' topic"
Claude: [Uses MCP to call produceMessage()]
Output: Message sent to partition 3, offset 12345

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+ (for kanapuli or Joel-hanson)
Go 1.20+ (for tuannvm)
Confluent Cloud account (for Confluent MCP)
Kafka cluster accessible from your machine

Post-Configuration

After MCP is configured, I'll:

✅ Restart Claude Desktop (required for MCP changes)
✅ Test MCP server with simple command
✅ Show 10+ natural language examples
✅ Provide troubleshooting tips if connection fails

Skills Activated: kafka-mcp-integration Related Commands: /sw-kafka:deploy, /sw-kafka:dev-env MCP Docs: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/

/mcp-configure