Redpanda Connector | Collate Messaging Services

This section provides guides and references to use the Redpanda connector. Configure and schedule Redpanda metadata and profiler workflows from the Collate UI:

• Requirements
• Metadata Ingestion
• Troubleshooting

​

Requirements

Connecting to Redpanda does not require any previous configuration. The ingestion of the Kafka topics’ schema is done separately by configuring the Schema Registry URL. However, only the Bootstrap Servers information is mandatory.

​

Metadata Ingestion

To ingest metadata from Redpanda, you need to create a service connection. The service connects Redpanda with Collate. Once you create a service, Collate automatically starts ingesting metadata.

​

Step 1: Add New Service

Open the Services page and start a new service.

1. Navigate to Settings > Services and select the Messaging service.
2. Click Add New Service.

​

Step 2: Select a Service and Connector

From the service type dropdown, select Messaging Services, then click the Redpanda connector tile.

​

Step 3: Add Service Name and Description

• Enter a unique, descriptive Service Name. Collate identifies services by their service name. Enter a name that distinguishes this deployment from other Redpanda services you are ingesting metadata from.
• Optional: Enter a Description for the service.

​

Step 4: Configure Connection Options

Specify where ingestion runs, provide your source credentials, and verify the connection.

​

Select Ingestion Runner

Select an Ingestion Runner: the runner where the ingestion pipeline will execute.

​

Enter Connection Details

Enter the connection details for Redpanda. The right-hand panel in the UI displays inline help for each field.

• Bootstrap Servers: List of brokers as comma separated values of broker host or host:port. Example: host1:9092,host2:9092
• Schema Registry URL: URL of the Schema Registry used to ingest the schemas of the topics.
• SASL Username: SASL username for use with the PLAIN and SASL-SCRAM mechanisms.
• SASL Password: SASL password for use with the PLAIN and SASL-SCRAM mechanisms.
• SASL Mechanism: SASL mechanism to use for authentication.
• Basic Auth User Info: Schema Registry Client HTTP credentials in the form of username:password. By default, user info is extracted from the URL if present.
• Consumer Config: See the librdkafka configuration reference for accepted additional values.
• Schema Registry Config: See the Confluent Schema Registry client reference for accepted additional values.

​

Test Connection

1. Click Test Connection to verify the credentials.
2. After the test succeeds, click Save.

​

Step 5: Configure Ingestion Options

In the What to Ingest step, use filter patterns to control which assets Collate ingests from your messaging service. Filter rules match topic names using the following match types.

​

How Filter Patterns Work

• Include: Add one or more comma-separated values. Each value uses one of the following match types. Collate ingests only assets whose names match at least one rule. Leave blank to include all assets.
• Exclude: Add one or more comma-separated values. Each value uses one of the following match types. Collate skips any asset whose name matches a rule. Leave blank to exclude nothing.

Rules match topic names using one of five match types:

• contains: matches any name containing the value. For example, sales matches my_sales_data and sales_2024.
• starts with: matches names beginning with the value. For example, prod_ matches prod_db and prod_schema.
• ends with: matches names ending with the value. For example, _raw matches events_raw and logs_raw.
• is exactly: matches the exact name only. For example, analytics matches only analytics.
• matches regex: matches names using a regular expression. For example, ^prod_.*_v\d+$ matches prod_events_v1.

When both Include and Exclude are set, Exclude takes priority.

​

Filter Options

The Topic section includes the following filter options:

• Topic: Controls which topics Collate ingests from the source.

This section provides the following controls:

• Scan Mode: Choose between the following scan modes:
  • Scan all: Ingests every asset of that type the connector can access. This is the default.
  • Only specific: Enables include rules so only assets matching at least one rule are ingested.
• Exclude system toggle: Use this toggle to filter out system-reserved names defined by the connector for that asset type.
• Always exclude: Add permanent exclusion rules (shown in red). Assets matching these rules are never ingested, regardless of include rules.
• Preview: Shows a real-time summary of what will be in scope based on your current rules.
• Include rules: In Only specific mode, click + Add to define a rule. Added rules appear as chips. An asset is included if it matches any rule.

​

Step 6: Create & Deploy

Click Create & Deploy to deploy the agent and start the first metadata ingestion run. Collate saves the service configuration and immediately begins pulling metadata from the source. To monitor ingestion progress or view the service you just added, go to Settings > Services and select your service.

​

Configure Metadata Agent and Schedule Ingestion

The Metadata Agent extracts topics, schemas, and other structural metadata from your source and keeps your Collate catalog in sync. It powers discovery, lineage, and governance across your data assets. When you click Create & Deploy, Collate automatically deploys a Metadata Agent for this service and triggers the first ingestion run. View its status and run history from the Agents tab on the service detail page. To configure the additional Metadata Agent and schedule ingestion, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to Settings > Services and select the Messaging service.
2. Select your service and click the Agents tab.
3. Click Add Agent and select Metadata from the dropdown. For some services, the dropdown is not available and clicking Add Agent takes you directly to the agent configuration page.
4. On the Configure Ingestion page, do the following and click Next.
   • Name this Ingestion: Enter a unique, recognizable name for this ingestion pipeline.
   • Agent Setup: Configure the core parameters for this agent. The following fields are available:

     Field	Default	Description
     Generate Sample Data	Off	Option to turn on/off generating sample data during metadata extraction.
     Mark Deleted Topics	On	Soft-delete topics in Collate when they are removed from the source. Associated entities like sample data and lineage are also deleted.

     
   • Filter Patterns: Apply include or exclude rules to scope which topics this agent ingests. These follow the same filter options described in Step 5.
   • Scope & Behaviour: Control what metadata to include and how to handle deletions. Toggle each option on or off based on your needs:

     Toggle	Default	Description
     Enable Debug Log	Off	Sets the ingestion log level to DEBUG. Useful for troubleshooting.
     Override Metadata	Off	When on, source values overwrite existing descriptions, tags, owners, and display names in Collate. When off, Collate only updates fields that have no existing value.

     
5. On the Schedule Interval page, set when the agent runs:
   • Schedule: Choose a preset interval (Hourly, Daily, Weekly, Monthly) or enter a custom cron expression.
   • On-Demand: No automatic schedule. Trigger the agent manually when needed.
   
6. Click Add to deploy the agent.

​

Troubleshooting