Install

Understand how to install Lenses VS Code Extension for Kafka.

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Install from the VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code

2. Go to Extensions (Cmd+Shift+X / Ctrl+Shift+X)

3. Search for "Kafka", "Apache Kafka", or "Lenses.io"

4. Click Install on Lenses.io — Apache Kafka for VS Code

Also available on Open VSX for Cursor, VSCodium, and other VS Code-compatible editors.

No Lenses instance yet? Click Install Community Edition (Docker) on the welcome screen after installation. Community Edition is free—no payment, signup, or credit card required. Docker is the only prerequisite.

Install from a VSIX file

code --install-extension lenses-vscode-x.x.x.vsix

Requirements

• VS Code version 1.96.0 or higher

• A running Lenses.io instance with API access enabled (use the free Community Edition if you don't have one—no payment or credit card required)

• Network connectivity between your machine and the Lenses API

Recommended extensions

• YAML—Enhanced YAML editing for environment configuration

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Version compatibility

Important: The extension version must match your Lenses.io API version (minor version compatibility).

Extension Version	Compatible API Version
6.2.x	6.2.y

The extension checks version compatibility when connecting and displays a warning if there's a mismatch. While you can continue with mismatched versions, some features may not work correctly.

Example:

• Extension 6.2.0 ✅ API 6.2.1 (compatible)

• Extension 6.2.0 ⚠️ API 6.1.5 (warning shown)

• Extension 6.2.0 ⚠️ API 6.3.0 (warning shown)