KafkIO has no accounts, ads, analytics or telemetry, and it never uploads your clusters, credentials, messages or log files. Apart from the clusters and services you connect it to, it talks to kafkio.com for two things: the update check, and bug reports, which you send. This page lists every connection KafkIO makes.
Every connection KafkIO makes
| Connection, and where to | When | What it carries |
|---|---|---|
| Kafka brokers, Schema Registry, Kafka Connect, ksqlDB: the addresses in the cluster's settings | When you connect a cluster, and while it's connected | What those services need: your credentials, and the topics, messages, schemas and connectors you work with. Statistics are refreshed every 30 seconds for each connected cluster. |
| Sign-in services: the OAuth token endpoint, Microsoft Entra ID, AWS or Kerberos KDC you set up | When a cluster's security settings use them | What the sign-in method needs, such as a client ID and secret (Security & Authentication). |
Update check: www.kafkio.com |
Shortly after KafkIO starts, then once a day, and when you check by hand | A request for the latest version number. |
Bug reports and feedback: www.kafkio.com |
Only when you click Submit in the form | What you typed in the form. |
Check connection:
www.google.ie |
When you click it in the Network preferences | One request for the page's headers (no content), to test the proxy. Nothing about you or your clusters. |
Network Tool: the hosts you enter (the example row is
google.ie, port 80) |
When you run a check | Name lookups, a reachability check and a connection attempt to each port. |
| Proxy detection: your own network | When you click Auto-detect in the Network preferences | KafkIO reads your system's proxy settings; if they point to an automatic configuration script, that script is fetched from wherever your settings say. |
KafkIO doesn't listen for incoming network connections: it detects a copy that's already running through a file in its data folder, not a network port.
The update check
While KafkIO runs, it asks kafkio.com for the latest version shortly after it starts and then once a day; Help ▸ Check for Updates asks straight away (Updating KafkIO describes the dialogs). What comes back is a version number, which KafkIO compares with its own. Like any web request, it reaches the server from your public IP address.
If you've set up a proxy in Preferences ▸ Network, the check uses it. When an automatic check fails, nothing is shown; KafkIO carries on as usual.
Turning off update checks
Untick Check for latest version online in Preferences ▸ Network to turn off the automatic check. Help ▸ Check for Updates still works whenever you want to check by hand.
Bug reports and feedback
Nothing is sent until you click Submit (Submit Bug, Submit Request or Submit Feedback) in the form (Reporting bugs and requesting features). Then KafkIO sends the submission type, the name or e-mail and the description, exactly as they are in the form (including any stack trace or log lines in the description), to kafkio.com over HTTPS.
It doesn't attach log files, screenshots, cluster settings or messages. The server e-mails the report to the KafkIO team and answers with the ticket ID you see.
Submit in Browser sends nothing from KafkIO: it copies the form's text to your clipboard and opens the contact page, where you paste and send it yourself.
Links that open your browser
Some buttons open a web page in your browser instead of sending anything from KafkIO. What reaches the site is then whatever your browser sends for any page:
- Help ▸ Online help (F1), the toolbar's heart button, the New version available dialog's What's new? and Download update, Help ▸ KafkIO Resources and the links in the About dialog: pages on kafkio.com, plus certak.com from the About dialog and X (Twitter) from KafkIO Resources (KafkIO resources).
- The Search globe beside each setting in a topic's or broker's
Settings tab: a Google search for the setting's name, such as
kafka topic retention.ms. Only the setting's name goes into the search, never its value.
What KafkIO never sends
To kafkio.com or anyone else apart from the services you configure, KafkIO never sends:
- cluster names, addresses or settings,
clusters.json, or anything else from its data folder; - passwords, keys, certificates, tokens or Kerberos tickets;
- topic, consumer group, schema or connector names, or the content of any message;
- log files, or crash reports (nothing is reported unless you send the form);
- usage statistics or telemetry of any kind: which features you use, what you click, how often or how long you use KafkIO;
- your computer's name, your user name, or any hardware or installation identifier.
The only exception is what you put in a bug report yourself: a report started from an error dialog includes the error's stack trace, which can name a topic or host, so read it before you send it.