@ousiaresearch/kafkajs
v3.2.0-beta.0
Published
A modern Apache Kafka client for Node.js — maintained fork of KafkaJS by Ousia Research
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anduril0202Readme
Charon — Kafka Client for Node.js
The maintained fork of KafkaJS. Drop-in replacement. No code changes.
KafkaJS was the standard Kafka client for Node.js — 12 million monthly downloads, pure JavaScript, zero native dependencies. In August 2024, its maintainers stepped down. Two years later, no successor emerged.
Charon is that successor.
Why this fork exists
The original tulios/kafkajs hasn't seen a commit since August 2024. 400+ open issues. 10 open PRs, including bugfixes from weeks ago that no one reviewed. 12.2 million monthly npm downloads — all running unmaintained code.
Three takeover attempts failed. Confluent built an alternative — zero adoption. The community tried community forks — they died. Users stay because they need pure JavaScript: no native compilation, no platform-specific binaries, no Docker image bloat.
Charon picks up where KafkaJS left off. Same API, same protocol, now actively maintained by Ousia Research.
Migration — one line
- "kafkajs": "^2.2.4"
+ "@ousia/kafkajs": "^3.0.0"- const { Kafka } = require('kafkajs')
+ const { Kafka } = require('@ousia/kafkajs')That's it. No code changes. No API changes. Same protocol, same behavior. Now with a maintainer.
What's new in v3.0.0
- Node >= 18 (was >= 14)
- Actively maintained — PRs reviewed, issues triaged, bugs fixed
- GitHub Actions CI — tested against Node 18, 20, 22 on Kafka 2.4 through latest
- KRaft support — Kafka 3.3+ without ZooKeeper
- Modern tooling — updated dependencies, security audits, dependabot
- TypeScript types maintained — no more stale
.d.tsfiles
Bugs fixed in this release
(To be populated as we merge fixes)
Sponsors
Charon is maintained by Ousia Research. If your company depends on this library, consider sponsoring to keep it maintained.
| Tier | Price | What you get | |------|-------|-------------| | Supporter | $5/mo | Name in README, warm feelings | | Professional | $25/mo | Priority issue triage, sponsor badge | | Enterprise | $100/mo | Email support, SLA on critical bugs | | Partner | $500/mo | Dedicated support channel, roadmap input |
Credits
Charon is a fork of KafkaJS, created by Túlio Ornelas and maintained by Tommy Brunn and the KafkaJS community. We're grateful for the foundation they built.
"Charon" — the ferryman. Carries your messages across the river.