# Confluent Cloud

{% hint style="success" %}
Lenses will not start without a valid Kafka Connection. You can either add the connection via the bootstrap wizard or use [provisioning ](/latest/devx/5.5/deployment/installation/automation.md)for automated deployments.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="info" %}
For Confluent Platform see [Apache Kafka.](/latest/devx/5.5/getting-started/connections/kafka/apache-kafka.md)
{% endhint %}

## Create a Data integration API key <a href="#create-a-data-integration-api-key" id="create-a-data-integration-api-key"></a>

1. From **`Data integration API keys`**, select **`Create Key`**.
2. For this guide select **`Global access`**

## Creating a Connection

In the Lenses bootstrap UI, Select:

1. Security Protocol **SASL SSL**
2. SASL Mechanism P**LAIN**

In the JAAS Configuration update the `username` and `password` from the respective fields Key and Secret of the API key created above:

```plaintext
org.apache.kafka.common.security.plain.PlainLoginModule required 
username="[Your_API_KEY]" 
password="[Your_API_KEY_SECRET]"
```


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# Agent Instructions: 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/devx/5.5/getting-started/connections/kafka/confluent-cloud.md?ask=<question>
```

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.