# schema_registry_encode

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/llms.txt). Component-specific: [connect-full.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect-full.txt)

---
title: schema_registry_encode
latest-connect-version: 4.93.0
latest-operator-version: v26.1.4
latest-console-tag: v3.7.3
latest-redpanda-tag: v26.1.9
docname: processors/schema_registry_encode
page-component-name: connect
page-version: master
page-component-version: master
page-component-title: Connect
page-relative-src-path: processors/schema_registry_encode.adoc
page-edit-url: https://github.com/redpanda-data/rp-connect-docs/edit/main/modules/components/pages/processors/schema_registry_encode.adoc
page-git-created-date: "2024-05-24"
page-git-modified-date: "2026-05-26"
---

<!-- Source: https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/components/processors/schema_registry_encode.md -->

**Available in:** [Cloud](https://docs.redpanda.com/cloud-data-platform/develop/connect/components/processors/schema_registry_encode/%20%22View%20the%20Cloud%20version%20of%20this%20component%22), Self-Managed

Automatically encodes and validates messages with schemas from a Confluent Schema Registry service.

This processor uses the [Franz Kafka Schema Registry client](https://github.com/twmb/franz-go/tree/master/pkg/sr).

Introduced in version 3.58.0.

#### Common

```yml
processors:
  label: ""
  schema_registry_encode:
    url: "" # No default (required)
    subject: "" # No default (required)
    refresh_period: 10m
    schema_metadata: ""
    format: "" # No default (optional)
    avro:
      raw_json: "" # No default (optional)
      record_name: ""
      namespace: ""
```

#### Advanced

```yml
processors:
  label: ""
  schema_registry_encode:
    url: "" # No default (required)
    subject: "" # No default (required)
    refresh_period: 10m
    schema_metadata: ""
    format: "" # No default (optional)
    normalize: true
    avro:
      raw_json: "" # No default (optional)
      record_name: ""
      namespace: ""
    oauth:
      enabled: false
      consumer_key: ""
      consumer_secret: ""
      access_token: ""
      access_token_secret: ""
    basic_auth:
      enabled: false
      username: ""
      password: ""
    jwt:
      enabled: false
      private_key_file: ""
      signing_method: ""
      claims: {}
      headers: {}
    tls:
      skip_cert_verify: false
      enable_renegotiation: false
      root_cas: ""
      root_cas_file: ""
      client_certs: []
```

Encodes messages automatically from schemas obtains from a [Confluent Schema Registry service](https://docs.confluent.io/platform/current/schema-registry/index.html) by polling the service for the latest schema version for target subjects.

If a message fails to encode under the schema then it will remain unchanged and the error can be caught using [error-handling methods](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/error_handling/).

Avro, Protobuf and JSON schemas are supported, all are capable of expanding from schema references as of v4.22.0.

## [](#avro-json-format)Avro JSON format

By default, this processor expects documents formatted as [Avro JSON](https://avro.apache.org/docs/current/specification/) when encoding with Avro schemas. In this format, the value of a union is encoded in JSON as follows:

-   If the union’s type is `null`, it is encoded as a JSON `null`.

-   Otherwise, the union is encoded as a JSON object with one name/value pair. The name is the type’s name, and the value is the recursively-encoded value. The user-specified name is used for Avro’s named types (record, fixed, or enum). For other types, the type name is used.


For example, the union schema `["null","string","Transaction"]`, where `Transaction` is a record name, would encode:

-   A `null` as a JSON `null`

-   The string `"a"` as `{"string": "a"}`

-   A `Transaction` instance as `{"Transaction": {…​}}`, where `{…​}` indicates the JSON encoding of a `Transaction` instance


Alternatively, you can consume documents in [standard/raw JSON format](https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/linkedin/goavro/v2#NewCodecForStandardJSONFull) by setting the field [`avro_raw_json`](#avro_raw_json) to `true`.

### [](#known-issues)Known issues

Important! There is an outstanding issue in the [avro serializing library](https://github.com/linkedin/goavro) that Redpanda Connect uses which means it [doesn’t encode logical types correctly](https://github.com/linkedin/goavro/issues/252). It’s still possible to encode logical types that are in-line with the spec if `avro_raw_json` is set to true, though now of course non-logical types will not be in-line with the spec.

## [](#protobuf-format)Protobuf format

This processor encodes Protobuf messages either from any format parsed within Redpanda Connect (encoded as JSON by default), or from raw JSON documents. For more information about the JSON mapping of Protobuf messages, see the [Protocol Buffers documentation](https://developers.google.com/protocol-buffers/docs/proto3#json).

### [](#multiple-message-support)Multiple message support

When a target subject presents a Protobuf schema that contains multiple messages it becomes ambiguous which message definition a given input data should be encoded against. In such scenarios Redpanda Connect will attempt to encode the data against each of them and select the first to successfully match against the data, this process currently **ignores all nested message definitions**. In order to speed up this exhaustive search the last known successful message will be attempted first for each subsequent input.

We will be considering alternative approaches in future so please [get in touch](https://redpanda.com/slack) with thoughts and feedback.

## [](#fields)Fields

### [](#avro)`avro`

Configuration for Avro encoding.

**Type**: `object`

### [](#avro-namespace)`avro.namespace`

The Avro namespace for the root record type when encoding from a common schema (schema\_metadata mode).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#avro-raw_json)`avro.raw_json`

Whether messages encoded in Avro format should be parsed as normal JSON rather than Avro JSON. Overrides the deprecated top-level `avro_raw_json` when set.

**Type**: `bool`

### [](#avro-record_name)`avro.record_name`

The name to use for the root Avro record type when encoding from a common schema (schema\_metadata mode). If empty, derived from the subject.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#basic_auth)`basic_auth`

Allows you to specify basic authentication.

Requires version 4.7.0 or later.

**Type**: `object`

### [](#basic_auth-enabled)`basic_auth.enabled`

Whether to use basic authentication in requests.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#basic_auth-password)`basic_auth.password`

A password to authenticate with.

> ⚠️ **CAUTION**
>
> This field contains sensitive information that usually shouldn’t be added to a configuration directly. For more information, see [Secrets](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/secrets/).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#basic_auth-username)`basic_auth.username`

A username to authenticate as.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#format)`format`

The encoding format to use when converting a common schema from metadata. Required when `schema_metadata` is set.

**Type**: `string`

**Options**: `avro`, `json_schema`

### [](#jwt)`jwt`

Beta

Configure JSON Web Token (JWT) authentication. This feature is in beta and may change in future releases. JWT tokens provide secure, stateless authentication between services.

Requires version 4.7.0 or later.

**Type**: `object`

### [](#jwt-claims)`jwt.claims`

A value used to identify the claims that issued the JWT.

**Type**: `object`

**Default**: `{}`

### [](#jwt-enabled)`jwt.enabled`

Whether to use JWT authentication in requests.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#jwt-headers)`jwt.headers`

Additional key-value pairs to include in the JWT header (optional). These headers provide extra metadata for JWT processing.

**Type**: `object`

**Default**: `{}`

### [](#jwt-private_key_file)`jwt.private_key_file`

Path to a file containing the PEM-encoded private key using PKCS#1 or PKCS#8 format. The private key must be compatible with the algorithm specified in the `signing_method` field.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#jwt-signing_method)`jwt.signing_method`

The cryptographic algorithm used to sign the JWT token. Supported algorithms include RS256, RS384, RS512, and EdDSA. This algorithm must be compatible with the private key specified in the `private_key_file` field.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#normalize)`normalize`

Whether to normalize the schema before registering with the schema registry (schema\_metadata mode only).

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `true`

### [](#oauth)`oauth`

Configure OAuth version 1.0 authentication for secure API access.

Requires version 4.7.0 or later.

**Type**: `object`

### [](#oauth-access_token)`oauth.access_token`

A value used to gain access to the protected resources on behalf of the user.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#oauth-access_token_secret)`oauth.access_token_secret`

A secret provided in order to establish ownership of a given access token.

> ⚠️ **CAUTION**
>
> This field contains sensitive information that usually shouldn’t be added to a configuration directly. For more information, see [Secrets](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/secrets/).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#oauth-consumer_key)`oauth.consumer_key`

A value used to identify the client to the service provider.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#oauth-consumer_secret)`oauth.consumer_secret`

A secret used to establish ownership of the consumer key.

> ⚠️ **CAUTION**
>
> This field contains sensitive information that usually shouldn’t be added to a configuration directly. For more information, see [Secrets](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/secrets/).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#oauth-enabled)`oauth.enabled`

Whether to use OAuth version 1 in requests.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#refresh_period)`refresh_period`

The period after which a schema is refreshed for each subject, this is done by polling the schema registry service.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `10m`

```yaml
# Examples:
refresh_period: 60s

# ---

refresh_period: 1h
```

### [](#schema_metadata)`schema_metadata`

When set, the processor reads a schema in benthos common schema format from this metadata key on each message, converts it to the format specified by `format`, registers it with the schema registry under the configured subject, and encodes the message. When empty (the default), the processor pulls the latest schema from the registry instead.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#subject)`subject`

The schema subject to derive schemas from. This field supports [interpolation functions](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/interpolation/#bloblang-queries).

**Type**: `string`

```yaml
# Examples:
subject: foo

# ---

subject: ${! meta("kafka_topic") }
```

### [](#tls)`tls`

Custom TLS settings can be used to override system defaults.

**Type**: `object`

### [](#tls-client_certs)`tls.client_certs[]`

A list of client certificates to use. For each certificate either the fields `cert` and `key`, or `cert_file` and `key_file` should be specified, but not both.

**Type**: `object`

**Default**: `[]`

```yaml
# Examples:
client_certs:
  - cert: foo
    key: bar

# ---

client_certs:
  - cert_file: ./example.pem
    key_file: ./example.key
```

### [](#tls-client_certs-cert)`tls.client_certs[].cert`

A plain text certificate to use.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#tls-client_certs-cert_file)`tls.client_certs[].cert_file`

The path of a certificate to use.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#tls-client_certs-key)`tls.client_certs[].key`

A plain text certificate key to use.

> ⚠️ **CAUTION**
>
> This field contains sensitive information that usually shouldn’t be added to a configuration directly. For more information, see [Secrets](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/secrets/).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#tls-client_certs-key_file)`tls.client_certs[].key_file`

The path of a certificate key to use.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

### [](#tls-client_certs-password)`tls.client_certs[].password`

A plain text password for when the private key is password encrypted in PKCS#1 or PKCS#8 format. The obsolete `pbeWithMD5AndDES-CBC` algorithm is not supported for the PKCS#8 format.

Because the obsolete pbeWithMD5AndDES-CBC algorithm does not authenticate the ciphertext, it is vulnerable to padding oracle attacks that can let an attacker recover the plaintext.

> ⚠️ **CAUTION**
>
> This field contains sensitive information that usually shouldn’t be added to a configuration directly. For more information, see [Secrets](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/secrets/).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

```yaml
# Examples:
password: foo

# ---

password: ${KEY_PASSWORD}
```

### [](#tls-enable_renegotiation)`tls.enable_renegotiation`

Whether to allow the remote server to repeatedly request renegotiation. Enable this option if you’re seeing the error message `local error: tls: no renegotiation`.

Requires version 3.45.0 or later.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#tls-root_cas)`tls.root_cas`

An optional root certificate authority to use. This is a string, representing a certificate chain from the parent trusted root certificate, to possible intermediate signing certificates, to the host certificate.

> ⚠️ **CAUTION**
>
> This field contains sensitive information that usually shouldn’t be added to a configuration directly. For more information, see [Secrets](https://docs.redpanda.com/connect/configuration/secrets/).

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

```yaml
# Examples:
root_cas: |-
  -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
  ...
  -----END CERTIFICATE-----
```

### [](#tls-root_cas_file)`tls.root_cas_file`

An optional path of a root certificate authority file to use. This is a file, often with a .pem extension, containing a certificate chain from the parent trusted root certificate, to possible intermediate signing certificates, to the host certificate.

**Type**: `string`

**Default**: `""`

```yaml
# Examples:
root_cas_file: ./root_cas.pem
```

### [](#tls-skip_cert_verify)`tls.skip_cert_verify`

Whether to skip server side certificate verification.

**Type**: `bool`

**Default**: `false`

### [](#url)`url`

The base URL of the schema registry service.

**Type**: `string`