confluent-schema-registry

Schema evolution in Kafka requires compatibility mode selection. Confluent Schema Registry enforces BACKWARD, FORWARD, FULL, or transitive variants to ensure producers and consumers remain compatible as schemas change. Register your Avro, Protobuf, or JSON Schema with the appropriate mode to validate compatibility before deployment.

BACKWARD compatibility allows new consumers to read old data; FORWARD allows old consumers to read new data; FULL supports both directions. Transitive variants extend these guarantees across multiple schema versions. Choose based on your deployment order: consumers first (BACKWARD), producers first (FORWARD), or simultaneous (FULL).

Confluent Schema Registry supports Avro, Protobuf, and JSON Schema formats. Register, validate, and evolve schemas in any format with the same compatibility modes and governance features, enabling multi-format Kafka ecosystems in production and development environments.

Register a schema through the Schema Registry API, specifying the subject, format (Avro, Protobuf, JSON Schema), and compatibility mode. The registry automatically validates the new schema against existing versions in your chosen mode and rejects incompatible changes.

Yes. Confluent Schema Registry manages schemas, naming conventions, and topic bindings in both Confluent Cloud and self-hosted deployments. Compatibility enforcement, validation, and evolution workflows operate identically across cloud and on-premises environments.

The Schema Registry rejects the incompatible schema change based on your selected mode. Review the validation error, adjust your schema evolution strategy, or temporarily modify the compatibility mode if the change is intentional and safe for your deployment.