Confluent for VS Code Simplifies Real-Time Data Streaming Projects for Developers

We’re excited to announce that Confluent for VS Code is now Generally Available with Confluent Cloud and Confluent Platform! The extension is open source, readily accessible on the VS Code Marketplace, and supports all forms of Apache Kafka® deployments—underscoring our dedication to equipping streaming data engineers with tools that optimize productivity and collaboration.

Join us on April 2 for a webinar on the latest in Confluent Cloud and a demo of Confluent for VS Code.

What Is Confluent for VS Code

Confluent for VS Code is a free Visual Studio Code (VS Code) extension designed for any engineer working on streaming Kafka data. With this extension, you can:

• Streamline project setup with ready-to-use templates, reducing setup time and ensuring consistency across your development efforts.

• Connect to any Kafka cluster to develop, manage, debug, and monitor real-time data streams, without needing to switch between multiple tools.

• Gain visibility into Kafka topics so you can stream, search, filter, and visualize Kafka messages in real time, and live debug alongside your code.

• Perform essential data operations such as editing and producing Kafka messages to topics, downloading complete topic data, and iterating on schemas.

What’s New

Before making this extension widely available, we partnered with numerous customers and early adopters to understand their experiences, in order to make it the ultimate tool for any Kafka developer looking to enhance productivity, as well as the overall data streaming developer experience:

“Our platform team has found the ability to browse messages via Confluent Cloud for VS Code to be incredibly beneficial, not only for us but also for other product teams involved in producing or consuming messages. The extension addressed an immediate need for our team by enabling us to view and search through large volumes of events.”

— Bill Overton, Product Owner at Eaton

With this release, Confluent for VS Code introduces powerful new features designed to enhance workflow efficiency, expand connectivity options, and streamline schema management. Shaped by the feedback of early adopters, this update makes Confluent for VS Code the ultimate tool for any Kafka developer, enabling greater productivity and a seamless development experience.

Accelerate Local Development

The extension has introduced the ability to run local Kafka and Schema Registry clusters directly within the extension, eliminating the need for external scripts or commands. This streamlined setup process leverages Docker to help you iterate faster during inner loop development, and keep your focus on building data-driven solutions.

Extension for All Kafka Developers

Confluent for VS Code now supports direct connections to Confluent Cloud, Confluent Platform, WarpStream, and self-managed Apache Kafka, with standard authentication patterns. Moreover, importing and exporting connections means you can quickly share setups within your team, to facilitate collaboration.

Expanded Project Templates and Messaging

Building on the existing Generate Project from Templates functionality, we have introduced expanded language support—including Python, Go, and .NET—and refined the current templates to unify configuration and documentation. Most templates include Docker Compose configs and instructions, making it easier than ever to get started—whether you're building a producer or consumer application, working with the Apache Flink® Table API, or developing a custom connector.

Features for Developers, By Developers

It is now possible to manually produce messages to topics within VS Code, enabling quick testing and iteration without leaving your development environment. We have introduced shareable links to topics, which facilitate discussion and review by enabling direct access to relevant Kafka resources.

For teams working with Schema Registry, new schema evolution support makes it simpler to create, compare, modify, and manage schemas across versions.

Alongside various performance enhancements and bug fixes, these updates create a more stable and responsive experience for developers working with real-time data.

Getting Started

The Confluent for VS Code extension is available to install from the Visual Studio Marketplace for free so that you can experience real-time data development right in your IDE. We also welcome you to contribute to the open-source project on GitHub, and join the discussion to help shape the extension’s future and make the tool even more useful.

Want to learn more? Visit the product page, reference the extension documentation, and tune into Streaming Frontiers for a livestream demo.

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If you are new to Confluent, sign up for a free trial of Confluent Cloud or Confluent Platform today and create your first cluster, explore new topics, and create streaming pipelines and applications. New Confluent Cloud sign-ups receive $400 of credit for the first 30 days, and you can use CCBLOG60 for an additional $60 in free usage.*

We look forward to seeing how Confluent for VS Code helps teams unlock faster iteration cycles, more seamless collaboration, and new enterprise-grade streaming workflows. Expect more exciting features to come, as we work to continuously improve the experience and meet data streaming engineers where they are.

The preceding outlines our general product direction and is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality. The development, release, timing, and pricing of any features or functionality described may change. Customers should make their purchase decisions based on services, features, and functions that are currently available.

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Apache®, Apache Flink®, Apache Kafka®, Kafka®, and Flink® are either registered trademarks or trademarks of the Apache Software Foundation in the United States and/or other countries. No endorsement by the Apache Software Foundation is implied by the use of these marks. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.