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Status Future consideration
Workspace Instana
Categories Sensor
Created by Guest
Created on Jan 27, 2026

RELATED IDEAS

Support for downstream call visibility for applications using both KafkaBatchListener (batch processing) and standard Kafka listeners (single record processing)

When com.instana.kafka.correlate.send.receive flag is set to true, downstream calls may not be captured for implementations using KafkaBatchListener.

We need simultaneous visibility into our application which uses both methods (KafkaBatchListener and standard Kafka listeners).

Using the instana.kafka.correlate.send.receive flag currently forces a trade-off where enabling one capability disables the other. Our services utilize multiple Kafka processing patterns (both batch and individual record processing), making JVM-level toggles or via ENV variable as in our case impractical.

Idea priority Medium
  • Admin
    Prashant Raj Singh
    May 26, 2026

    Hello,

    Thank you for sharing this request and the detailed context around your Kafka usage pattern.

    We understand that your application uses both KafkaBatchListener-based batch processing and standard Kafka listeners for single-record processing within the same JVM. The current Kafka send/receive correlation behavior can create a trade-off in this scenario, where enabling the correlation flag improves visibility for individual record processing but may impact downstream call visibility for batch-based processing.

    We agree that this is a valid observability gap for applications using mixed Kafka processing patterns. We are moving this request to Future Consideration while we further evaluate the best technical approach. As part of this evaluation, we will research whether span-link-style correlation or a similar model can help represent batch/asynchronous Kafka processing more accurately while preserving downstream call visibility.

    Based on the outcome of this research, we will determine the appropriate implementation direction and whether this can be prioritized in a future release.

    We truly value your feedback and appreciate you highlighting this use case. If you have additional implementation details, sample listener patterns, or trace examples, please feel free to share them, as they would help with our evaluation.

    Please note: IBM's statements regarding its plans, directions, and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice at IBM's sole discretion.

    Reply

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