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Interceptors are plugins that intercept and modify Kafka requests and responses in real time. They help enforce policies, protect data, and add functionality without changing your applications or Kafka configuration.

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What Interceptors do

Interceptors can:
  • Encrypt and decrypt message fields or entire payloads
  • Block or skip records that don’t meet data quality rules
  • Enforce producer settings like acks or compression
  • Control topic creation parameters like replication factor or partition count
  • Transform message content or headers

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How they work

Interceptors execute in priority order (lowest number first) and can be:
  • Chained - Multiple Interceptors process requests sequentially
  • Scoped - Apply to specific , groups, or
  • Overridden - More specific scopes override broader ones
Gateway applies Interceptors dynamically based on which client connects, so different teams can have different policies without separate clusters.