Docs Self-Managed Reference rpk Commands rpk topic rpk topic create This is documentation for Self-Managed v23.3. To view the latest available version of the docs, see v24.2. rpk topic create Create topics. Topics created with this command will have the same number of partitions, replication factor, and key/value configs. For more information about topics, see rpk topic describe. Usage rpk topic create [TOPICS...] [flags] Flags Value Type Description -d, --dry - Dry run: validate the topic creation request; do not create topics. -h, --help - Help for create. -p, --partitions int32 Number of partitions to create per topic; -1 defaults to the cluster property default_topic_partitions (default -1). -r, --replicas int16 Replication factor (must be odd); -1 defaults to the cluster’s default_topic_replications (default -1). -c, --topic-config string (repeatable) Topic properties can be set by using <key>=<value>. For example -c cleanup.policy=compact. This flag is repeatable, so you can set multiple parameters in a single command. See Topic Properties for the full list of properties. --config string Redpanda or rpk config file; default search paths are /var/lib/redpanda/.config/rpk/rpk.yaml, $PWD/redpanda.yaml, and /etc/redpanda/redpanda.yaml. -X, --config-opt stringArray Override rpk configuration settings. See rpk -X or execute rpk -X help for inline detail or rpk -X list for terser detail. --profile string Profile to use. See rpk profile for more details. -v, --verbose - Enable verbose logging. Examples Create a topic Create a topic named my-topic: rpk topic create my-topic Output: TOPIC STATUS my-topic OK Create multiple topics Create two topics (my-topic-1, my-topic-2) at the same time with one command: rpk topic create my-topic-1 my-topic-2 Output: TOPIC STATUS my-topic-1 OK my-topic-2 OK Set a topic property Create topic my-topic-3 with the topic property cleanup.policy=compact: rpk topic create my-topic-3 -c cleanup.policy=compact Output: TOPIC STATUS my-topic-3 OK Create topic with multiple partitions Create topic my-topic-4 with 20 partitions: rpk topic create my-topic-4 -p 20 Output: TOPIC STATUS my-topic-4 OK Create topic with multiple replicas The replication factor must be a positive, odd number (such as 3), and it must be equal to or less than the number of available brokers. Create topic my-topic-5 with 3 replicas: rpk topic create my-topic-5 -r 3 Output: TOPIC STATUS my-topic-5 OK Combine flags You can combine flags in any way you want. This example creates two topics, topic-1 and topic-2, each with 20 partitions, 3 replicas, and the cleanup policy set to compact: rpk topic create -c cleanup.policy=compact -r 3 -p 20 topic-1 topic-2 Output: TOPIC STATUS topic-1 OK topic-2 OK Back to top × Simple online edits For simple changes, such as fixing a typo, you can edit the content directly on GitHub. Edit on GitHub Or, open an issue to let us know about something that you want us to change. Open an issue Contribution guide For extensive content updates, or if you prefer to work locally, read our contribution guide . Was this helpful? thumb_up thumb_down group Ask in the community mail Share your feedback group_add Make a contribution rpk topic consume rpk topic delete