# Streaming Admin API > Operate a Redpanda cluster via its HTTP Admin API on port 9644, covering broker lifecycle, partitions, cluster config, health, security, and enterprise features. - Skill: `redpanda-data/streaming-admin-api` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 8 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add redpanda-data/streaming-admin-api` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/redpanda-data/streaming-admin-api/raw - Safety review: CAUTION (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: DevOps & Infra, Cloud Platforms - Tags: Admin Api, Broker Lifecycle, Cluster Management, Curl, Http, Rbac, Redpanda, Tiered Storage - Author: redpanda-data (https://skillmd.com/u/redpanda-data) - Updated: 2026-08-22 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/redpanda-data/streaming-admin-api --- # Redpanda Streaming: Admin API The Redpanda Admin API is an HTTP interface served on **port 9644** (default) with base path `/v1`. It lets you manage brokers, partitions, cluster configuration, security, features, tiered storage, and diagnostics. All operations that `rpk` performs against the cluster go through this API. Starting in **Redpanda v25.3**, new endpoints are served as **ConnectRPC** services alongside the legacy `/v1` REST endpoints — both on port 9644. Legacy endpoints remain fully supported. ## Quickstart ```bash ADMIN=http://localhost:9644 # List all brokers in the cluster curl "$ADMIN/v1/brokers" # Get cluster health overview curl "$ADMIN/v1/cluster/health_overview" # Get cluster config schema (describes every cluster config property) curl "$ADMIN/v1/cluster_config/schema" # Get current cluster config (non-default values only) curl "$ADMIN/v1/cluster_config" # Get the full cluster config including defaults curl "$ADMIN/v1/cluster_config?include_defaults=true" # --- With Basic auth (when authentication is enabled) --- curl -u admin:password "$ADMIN/v1/brokers" # --- With Bearer token --- curl -H "Authorization: Bearer " "$ADMIN/v1/brokers" # Decommission broker 3 curl -u admin:password -X PUT "$ADMIN/v1/brokers/3/decommission" # Check decommission progress curl -u admin:password "$ADMIN/v1/brokers/3/decommission" # Alter cluster config: set log_compression_type curl -u admin:password -X PUT "$ADMIN/v1/cluster_config" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"upsert": {"log_compression_type": "snappy"}, "remove": []}' # Get features and cluster logical version curl "$ADMIN/v1/features" # Get license information curl -u admin:password "$ADMIN/v1/features/license" ``` ## Base URL and Port ``` http://:9644/v1/ ``` All brokers in the cluster serve the Admin API. Any broker can answer read requests; write operations that mutate cluster state are forwarded internally to the controller leader. You can target any broker with any request. ## Authentication Authentication is **optional** — it mirrors the authentication configuration of the cluster. When enabled: - **Basic auth**: `curl -u : ...` - **Bearer token**: `curl -H "Authorization: Bearer " ...` - **mTLS**: Provide a client certificate and key when TLS is configured with `require_client_auth: true`. Most write endpoints and some read endpoints require **superuser** privileges. Some endpoints are public (no auth required even when auth is enabled). See [auth-and-connection.md](references/auth-and-connection.md) for full details. ## Endpoint Groups | Group | Base path | What it covers | |---|---|---| | Brokers | `/v1/brokers` | List, get, decommission, recommission, maintenance mode | | Partitions | `/v1/partitions` | Node-local partition list, replica state, move replicas, rebalance | | Cluster | `/v1/cluster/` | Health overview, partition balancer status, cluster-wide partition metadata | | Cluster Config | `/v1/cluster_config` | Read/alter cluster configuration, schema, per-node status | | Features | `/v1/features` | Feature flags, licensing, enterprise status | | Security | `/v1/security/` | SASL users (create/list/delete/update), OIDC whoami, RBAC roles (Enterprise) | | Transactions | `/v1/transactions` | List transactions, find coordinator, abort stuck transactions | | Cloud Storage | `/v1/cloud_storage/` | Tiered storage status per partition, cluster recovery, manifest | | Debug | `/v1/debug/` | CPU profile, disk stat, partition state, self-test, controller status | | Debug Bundle | `/v1/debug/bundle` | Start, status, cancel, download a debug bundle ZIP | | ConnectRPC (v25.3+) | `/redpanda.core.admin.v2./` | Shadowing, connected-client monitoring, and future features | ## Key Operations by Use Case ### Broker Lifecycle ```bash # List all brokers curl "$ADMIN/v1/brokers" # Get a specific broker curl "$ADMIN/v1/brokers/1" # Put broker into maintenance mode (drains leadership before restart) curl -u admin:password -X PUT "$ADMIN/v1/brokers/2/maintenance" # Remove from maintenance mode curl -u admin:password -X DELETE "$ADMIN/v1/brokers/2/maintenance" # Decommission (permanently remove broker from cluster) curl -u admin:password -X PUT "$ADMIN/v1/brokers/3/decommission" # Recommission (cancel a decommission in progress) curl -u admin:password -X PUT "$ADMIN/v1/brokers/3/recommission" # Check pre-restart safety curl "$ADMIN/v1/broker/pre_restart_probe" ``` ### Partition Operations ```bash # Get partitions hosted on this node (node-local only) curl "$ADMIN/v1/partitions" # Get detailed state for a specific partition (namespace/topic/partition) curl "$ADMIN/v1/partitions/kafka/my-topic/0" # Get all partitions across the cluster curl "$ADMIN/v1/cluster/partitions" # Move partition replicas to different nodes curl -u admin:password -X POST "$ADMIN/v1/partitions/kafka/my-topic/0/replicas" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '[{"node_id": 1, "core": 0}, {"node_id": 2, "core": 0}, {"node_id": 3, "core": 0}]' # Cancel an ongoing reconfiguration curl -u admin:password -X POST "$ADMIN/v1/partitions/kafka/my-topic/0/cancel_reconfiguration" # Trigger on-demand partition rebalance curl -u admin:password -X POST "$ADMIN/v1/partitions/rebalance" # Check partition balancer status curl "$ADMIN/v1/cluster/partition_balancer/status" ``` ### Cluster Configuration ```bash # Full config schema — inspect property types, defaults, needs_restart, visibility curl "$ADMIN/v1/cluster_config/schema" | jq '.["log_retention_ms"]' # Read a single config property curl "$ADMIN/v1/cluster_config?key=log_retention_ms" # Alter config curl -u admin:password -X PUT "$ADMIN/v1/cluster_config" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"upsert": {"log_retention_ms": 86400000}, "remove": []}' # Dry-run a config change (validates without applying) curl -u admin:password -X PUT "$ADMIN/v1/cluster_config?dry_run=1" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"upsert": {"log_retention_ms": -1}, "remove": []}' # Check which nodes need restart after a config change curl "$ADMIN/v1/cluster_config/status" ``` ### Health and Diagnostics ```bash # Cluster health overview (is_healthy, leaderless/under-replicated counts, nodes down) curl "$ADMIN/v1/cluster/health_overview" # Get CPU profile (wait 5 seconds for samples) curl "$ADMIN/v1/debug/cpu_profile?wait_ms=5000" # Disk stat for data directory curl "$ADMIN/v1/debug/storage/disk_stat/data" # Controller log status (last_applied_offset, committed_index) curl "$ADMIN/v1/debug/controller_status" # Self-test: start disk + network benchmarks curl -u admin:password -X POST "$ADMIN/v1/debug/self_test/start" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{}' # Query results curl "$ADMIN/v1/debug/self_test/status" ``` ### ConnectRPC Endpoints (v25.3+) ```bash # ConnectRPC endpoints use POST and fully-qualified service paths curl -u admin:password \ -X POST "http://localhost:9644/redpanda.core.admin.v2.ShadowLinkService/FailOver" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"name": "", "shadowTopicName": ""}' ``` ConnectRPC endpoints also accept binary Protobuf bodies with `Content-Type: application/proto`. SDKs can be generated from the Buf Schema Registry at `buf.build/redpandadata/core`. ## Enterprise Features Most of Redpanda's enterprise differentiators are configured and operated through this same Admin API — cluster config (`PUT /v1/cluster_config`), the cloud_storage endpoints, the RBAC `/v1/security/roles*` endpoints, and the ConnectRPC `ShadowLinkService`. **These require a valid Enterprise license.** ```bash # Is an enterprise feature enabled without a valid license? curl -u admin:secret "$ADMIN/v1/features/enterprise" # license_status, violation, features[] curl -u admin:secret "$ADMIN/v1/features/license" # loaded license details # Enable Continuous Data Balancing (Enterprise) curl -u admin:secret -X PUT "$ADMIN/v1/cluster_config" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"upsert": {"partition_autobalancing_mode": "continuous"}, "remove": []}' # Shadow Linking / DR failover (ConnectRPC, v25.3+) curl -u admin:secret -X POST "$ADMIN/redpanda.core.admin.v2.ShadowLinkService/FailOver" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"name": "dr-east"}' ``` Features and their cluster-config / topic keys: Tiered Storage (`cloud_storage_enabled`, `redpanda.remote.*`), Cloud Topics (`cloud_topics_enabled`), Iceberg Topics (`iceberg_enabled`, `redpanda.iceberg.mode/.delete/.partition.spec/.target.lag.ms/.invalid.record.action`), Continuous Data Balancing (`partition_autobalancing_mode=continuous`, `partition_autobalancing_*`, `core_balancing_continuous`), Shadow Linking (`ShadowLinkService`), Remote Read Replicas (`cloud_storage_enable_remote_read`, `redpanda.remote.readreplica`), Audit Logging (`audit_*`), RBAC (`/v1/security/roles*`), OIDC/Kerberos (`sasl_mechanisms`, `oidc_*`, `sasl_kerberos_*`), Server-Side Schema ID Validation (`enable_schema_id_validation`), Leadership Pinning (`default_leaders_preference`, `redpanda.leaders.preference`), FIPS (`fips_mode`, node config). See [enterprise-features.md](references/enterprise-features.md) for every nested key, grounded in source. ## Reference Directory - [endpoints-overview.md](references/endpoints-overview.md): Full endpoint-group map with HTTP methods, paths, and what each returns — grounded in the Swagger 1.2 JSON specs. - [auth-and-connection.md](references/auth-and-connection.md): Base URL, port 9644, TLS configuration, Basic auth, Bearer tokens, mTLS, and the auth_level model (public / authenticated / superuser). - [brokers-and-partitions.md](references/brokers-and-partitions.md): Broker lifecycle (list, decommission, recommission, maintenance mode) and partition operations (state, move replicas, rebalance, force recover). Full curl examples and response schemas. - [cluster-config.md](references/cluster-config.md): Reading the config schema, getting and altering cluster configuration, the `needs_restart` flag, the difference between cluster config and node config, and the per-node status endpoint. - [debug-endpoints.md](references/debug-endpoints.md): The `/v1/debug/*` endpoints — cpu_profile, disk_stat, partition state, self-test, controller status, sampled memory profile — plus the debug_bundle HTTP API. curl examples and response field meanings. - [enterprise-features.md](references/enterprise-features.md): Redpanda Enterprise differentiators driven through the Admin API, with every nested config key and topic property grounded in source: Tiered Storage / shadow indexing, Topic Recovery / Whole Cluster Restore, Remote Read Replicas, Cloud Topics, Iceberg Topics, Continuous Data Balancing (+ intra-broker core balancing), Leadership Pinning, Audit Logging, RBAC roles endpoints, OIDC/OAuthBearer/Kerberos auth, Server-Side Schema ID Validation, FIPS, and the ShadowLinkService ConnectRPC API for cross-cluster disaster recovery. Includes the license-violation remediation table (which config key disables each feature).