Application group lifecycle, JSON schema validation, and multi-cluster Partner Zones

Manage application group membership and permissions

Self-service application groups now have full lifecycle management:

• Members tab: Add and manage group members
• Resource access tab: Set granular permissions across topics, consumer groups, subjects, and connectors
• External mapping: Align application groups with user groups from identity providers

Regex-based group assignment works for both user groups and application groups.

See all resources associated with an application

Application instances now include a resources tab showing all associated resources, dependencies, and relationships.

Use Confluent subject naming strategies

Support for Confluent subject strategies directly in the produce page. Reference and organize schemas without forcing a naming convention.

Mark violations instead of blocking them

Trust policies can mark violating messages with a special header instead of blocking them. Downstream systems see flagged data and can audit, route, or act on it.

Validate JSON messages against schemas

JSON Schema Rules validate the structure and content of every JSON message:

• Check fields, types, and structure against your defined schema
• Log, tag, or block violations
• No Schema Registry required

Learn more in our blog.

Use pre-built regex patterns for rules

A regex library provides pre-built examples when creating data quality rules.

Create Partner Zones across multiple clusters

Partner Zones (now GA) work across any Kafka cluster configured in Gateway. Create isolated environments for external partners without spinning up multiple proxies.

For a full list of changes, read the complete release notes.