> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.lenses.io/latest/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.lenses.io/latest/changelog/lenses-6.1/hq.md). # HQ {% updates format="full" %} {% update date="2026-03-28" tags="new" %} ## 6.1.4 ### Community Edition Increasing limit of users from 2 to 5\ Making entry to the CE easier {% endupdate %} {% update date="2026-01-23" tags="new,improvements,fixed" %} ## 6.1.3 ### Kafka to Kafka Replication The latest release of Lenses K2K integration now supports bi-directional. This feature allows data to be copied from Cluster A's Topic One to Cluster B's Topic Two and vice versa. The bi-directional support ensures that the data does not replicate indefinitely, preventing continuous loops. Two K2K instances should be deployed one copying from cluster A to cluster B, the second one from cluster B to cluster A, and both should have the bi-directional flag on.

### SQL Studio A bunch of great improvements to make the experience of building and troubleshooting streaming applications better. ### Topic and Schema listing support In addition to the global topic listing page, in Studio you can now list all topics and schemas per environment. The listing, as a tab, in Studio, provides all the same functionality as the main topic listing, but allows you to split the view for IDE style work, list all your topics, while you work on schema or other resources in one view.

Click the "open listing in a new tab" on the topic or schema nodes in the navigation tree.

### Preview Panel We added a preview panel to help you quickly identify key information about topics, such as replication factor, message counts, size and partitions.

### Improved search A new search has been added, its more intuitive and lists per resource type what is found, and giving you access to the context menu actions available.

### Bookmark Schemas You can now bookmark schemas in addition to environments and topics.

### IAM Role Policy creation & templates The IAM role policy creation flow now lets you directly choose from a default template and select groups to add the role to, previously this had to be performed in separate steps. Additionally the Policy editor has been enhanced with more JSON schema support, a problem panel to see issues and a diff editor to see what you have changed in the policy.

### Alerts Alert events are now available in HQ, no need to drill down to the Legacy Agent UX to: 1. View events 2. Manage alert channels 3. Create alert rules

### Audits Audit events are now available in HQ, no need to drill down to the Legacy Agent UX to: 1. View audit events 2. Manage audit channels

#### SQL Processors Avro alias support Avro schema support field alias. With this release, SQL processors support writing queries referencing the alias field. For example given this schema: ```json { "type": "record", "name": "InsuranceContribution", "namespace": "com.example.insurance", "doc": "Insurance contribution payment record", "fields": [ { "name": "id", "type": "string" }, { "name": "paymentDuration", "aliases": [ "contributionDuration" ], "type": [ "null", "int" ], "default": null, "doc": "Payment duration in months" }, { "name": "amount", "type": [ "null", "double" ], "default": null }, { "name": "timestamp", "type": { "type": "long", "logicalType": "timestamp-millis" } } ] } ``` The following SQL processor projection is valid:
``` INSERT INTO alias_avro_copied SELECT STREAM contributionDuration as a, paymentDuration as b FROM alias_avro ``` ### CLI SQL Studio Support The lenses-cli now supports SQL Studio operations ### Improvements * Environment collapsible configuration panelTopic details page on the Topics screen has been simplified and improved to share the basic information. * Kafka ACL, Quotas and Data policies now support bulk deletion allowing you to delete multiple in one go. * Added quick access to legacy agent UI from HQ environments * Excel-style cell selection in data grids * Better diff visualization when editing environments ### Fixed * Fixed duplicate alert rule creation for consumer and producer alerts * Fixed tag visibility in topic drawer * Fixed topic marker sizing and letter centering * Fixed reset button not clearing grid filters * Fixed Monaco tooltip display in SQL studio * Fixed YAML worker disposal and file upload issues * Improved IAM policy examples and core roles {% endupdate %} {% update date="2025-12-19" tags="new" %} ## 6.1.2 ### Kafka to Kafka Replication We're making significant strides in integrating Lenses K2K into the Lenses ecosystem, which is set to deliver enhanced governance and control over the existing standalone solution. In this release, you'll find: * **Evolving Environment Management**: Initial roll-out of new capabilities in environment management, serviceability, and ACL management within HQ. * **Continued Studio Enhancements**: Studio now enables topic creation, editing, and viewing configurations, progressively reducing the need for the legacy Agent UX (still accessible if needed). * **Ongoing Styling Improvements**: Gradual updates to HQ's styling for a more refined user experience. We're eager for your feedback as we continue this integration journey. The latest release of the Lenses K2K integration introduces enhanced Kafka connection support, extending beyond PlainText and MSK with IAM Roles for Service Accounts (IRSA). This update now includes support for mTLS and SASL/SSL, along with PLAIN, SCRAM-SHA-256, and SCRAM-SHA-512 authentication mechanisms. **Adding a New Kafka Connection** To add a new Kafka connection: 1. Navigate to the **Apps** menu. 2. Choose the **Kafka Connections** tab. 3. Click on **New Kafka Connection**. A guided wizard will assist you through the necessary configuration steps. {% hint style="warning" %} In our ecosystem, Kafka connections are utilized by K2K and future applications provided by Lenses. These connections are managed by HQ. The Lenses agent does not directly use these connections to interact with the Kafka cluster. {% endhint %} **Creating a K2K App** Creating a K2K app now offers enhanced control, including: * Header replication : copies the Kafka message headers to the target * Error handling * Tracing headers for source record offset, partition, topic, and pipeline * Managing underlying topic names required by K2K for offsets tracking or exactly-once semantics * Adjusting K2K configurations such as batch size, commit size, interval, and exactly-once fencing parameters
This release introduces compatibility with various Kafka providers, including: * Confluent * Google * Azure Event Hubs * IBM Event Streams * Azure HDInsight Kafka * Warpstream * Instaclustr * Aiven * Oracle * RedPanda ### Topic management & exploration in Studio To create topics in SQL Studio: 1. Navigate to the desired environment node. 2. Click the ellipsis (three dots) and select **Create topic**. 3. Choose a creation method: * Use the default modal, or * Switch to **Advanced** for the native YAML editor. 4. Use breadcrumbs at the top to navigate across views. Each topic offers accessible options for summary, data, schema, and configuration via the navigation tree.

Use the split view to get side-by-side views.

### Insert messages on Studio No need to navigate to the agent to insert messages into a topic, its now available in the HQ Studio. Select "Insert Message" on the context menu in the Studio navigation tree and; 1. manual add messages 2. auto generate message 3. insert multiple messages Support is also included for message headers.

### Regenerate environment agent key You can now regenerate an environment agent key from HQ and either apply it directly to the agent or update the provisioning file manually. {% hint style="info" %} To apply the new key via the API, the agent must be connected. The agent will disconnect and reconnect once the key is successfully applied. {% endhint %} **Access:** Environment context menu → **Regenerate agent key**

### Kafka ACLs management in HQ Manage Kafka Access Control Lists (ACLs) directly from the HQ UI. View, create, and delete ACLs for your environments with full filtering and search capabilities. **Key capabilities** * View all ACLs with sortable columns (Principal, Resource Type, Resource Name, Operation, Permission, Host) * Create new ACLs with form validation and topic autocomplete * Delete ACLs with a confirmation dialog * Filter by resource type, permission type, and operation * Search across principal, resource name, and host * Download ACLs as JSON * Paginate through large ACL lists **Access:** Environment sidebar → **Kafka ACLs** or environment context menu → **View Kafka ACLs**

{% hint style="warning" %} Deleting or modifying ACLs can impact client access to Kafka resources. Review changes carefully before applying them in production environments. {% endhint %} ### Kafka Quotas management in HQ Manage Kafka quotas directly from the HQ UI. View, create, and delete quotas for your environments to control producer/consumer throughput and request rates. **Key capabilities** * View all quotas with sorting on columns (Entity Type, User, Client ID, Producer Rate, Consumer Rate, Request %) * Create quotas for specific users, client IDs, user+client combinations, or default quotas * Delete quotas with granular property selection (remove individual rate limits) * Filter by entity type (User, Client ID, User + Client ID) * Search across user and client ID names * Download quotas as JSON * Paginate through large quota lists **Quota types supported** | Type | Description | | -------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | User | Quota for a specific authenticated user principal | | Client ID | Quota for a specific client application identifier | | User + Client | Quota for a specific user and client ID combination | | Default User | Baseline quota for all users without a specific quota | | Default Client | Baseline quota for all client IDs without a specific quota | **Access** Environment sidebar → **Kafka Quotas** or environment context menu → **View Kafka Quotas** ### Environment health dashboard Monitor the health status of your environment's core services from a single dashboard. **Key capabilities** * Overview tab with key metrics (brokers, topics, partitions, consumer groups) * Brokers tab with detailed broker status and configuration * Connect tab for Kafka Connect cluster health * Schema Registries tab for schema registry status * Real-time status indicators (healthy, warning, error) * Health summary in the environment listing side drawer **Access:** Environment context menu → **View Health**

### Agent logs viewer in HQ View and filter agent log entries directly in the HQ UI for debugging and monitoring. **Key capabilities** * Real-time log streaming * Filter by log level (DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR) * Search within log messages * Filter by time range using timestamps * Auto-refresh capability **Access:** Environment context menu → **View Logs**

### Agent advanced configuration You can now access and manage advanced agent configuration settings directly from HQ. This enables you to adjust more detailed options without editing configuration files manually. {% endupdate %} {% update date="2025-11-27" tags="new,improvements" %} ## 6.1.1 ### Schema support in SQL Studio Schema Registry entries can now be listed and the schema details viewed from the Studio.

### Improvements #### K2K When a new K2K app is created, it automatically sets the Docker image to K2K Kafka-to-Kafka replicator version 1.1.0. #### K2K IAM The IAM checks for the K2K application have been enhanced to include dependencies such as source and target environment Kafka connections, Kubernetes cluster, and namespace. This update ensures comprehensive permission validation across multiple axes. New actions introduced: * **ManageOffsets**: Allows management of K2K application resources. * **GetKafkaConnectionDetails**: Retrieves details for Kafka connection resources. #### Studio * Global Topic page was not accessible in case K2K license for HQ was not issued * Left panel with explorer toggle had been removed. * Context menus are now available in both explorer and breadcrumbs. * Various fixes have been applied throughout the user interface to address glitches and inconsistencies, enhancing the in-app user experience. {% endupdate %} {% update date="2025-10-24" tags="new,improvements" %} ## 6.1.0 ### Kafka Connections Kafka Connections allow administrators to define connections to Kafka as Kubernetes secrets or service accounts, that reference the credentials to connect with. Most organisations already use secret providers such as AWS Secret Manager or Vault, and sync these to Kubernetes secrets automatically. This ensures Lenses or users deploying applications never need to deal with the credentials themselves. See the [documentation ](https://docs.lenses.io/latest/devx/6.1/user-guide/applications/kafka-connections)to get started.

### Kafka to Kafka Replication Lenses Kafka to Kafka Replicator is now integrated into Lenses. You can configure and deploy Lenses, with predefined Kafka Connections to move data between AWS MSK IAM clusters. {% hint style="success" %} More cluster authentication methods and providers coming soon! {% endhint %} See the [documentation ](https://github.com/lensesio-dev/gitbook-changelog/blob/main/changelog/lenses-6.1/features-improvements-and-fixes.md#kafka-to-kafka-replication)to get started.

### Configure Agent Provisioning from HQ You can now create an environment and configure the Agent provisioning directly from HQ. JSON schema support is added, providing syntax highlighting, auto completion and error reporting. You can also view and edit the existing provisioning files of agents already connected.

### SQL Studio SQL Studio is moving forward again, and now brings a more IDE style experience. An improved tree navigation provides: 1. Improved search functionality 2. Expanded topics nodes to browse schemas and consumer groups associated with topics 3. Context menu support to allow actions on topics 4. Bookmarking of favourite topics.

#### Improvements * Enhanced the performance of the environments screen, making it more responsive and capable of handling larger datasets. {% endupdate %} {% endupdates %} --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.lenses.io/latest/changelog/lenses-6.1/hq.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.