Spring for Apache Kafka 4.1.0-RC1, 4.0.5, and 3.3.15 Available

On behalf of the team and everyone who contributed, we are pleased to announce that Spring for Apache Kafka `4.1.0-RC1`, `4.0.5`, and `3.3.15` have been released. We extend our gratitude to all contributors who made these releases possible.

A broader walkthrough of what is new in the 4.1 line thus far compared with 4.0 is in the _What’s New in 4.1 Since 4.0_ chapter of the reference manual.

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What's New in 4.1.0-RC1

• **ShareAckMode (#4376):** Container configuration now uses a `ShareAckMode` enum (`EXPLICIT`, `MANUAL`, `IMPLICIT`) in place of the deprecated boolean on `ContainerProperties`; defaults are unchanged for existing apps. Details: Record acknowledgment.

• **Async commits (#4324, #4380):** The share container can use asynchronous acknowledgment commits; `AcknowledgementCommitCallback` is provided as a commit callback for the user to have further control. Details: Synchronous vs asynchronous commits.

• **Lifecycle events (#4327):**`ShareKafkaMessageListenerContainer` publishes additional stop and failure events alongside the existing start events. Details: Lifecycle events.

Kafka Streams

• **group.protocol (#4329):**`StreamsBuilderFactoryBean` exposes `groupProtocol` so you can choose the classic consumer protocol or the Streams group protocol for server-side rebalance (KIP-1071). Details: Group protocol.

• **Native DLQ and Streams exception handlers (#4328):** Kafka 4.2’s KIP-1034 extends deserialization, processing, and production exception handlers with a shared `handleError()` contract and optional dead-letter records issued by Kafka Streams itself. Spring Kafka has traditionally used, `RecoveringDeserializationExceptionHandler` along with `DeadLetterPublishingRecoverer` + `KafkaTemplate`. This release aligns Spring Kafka’s recovering handlers for Kafka Streams with KIP-1034: `RecoveringDeserializationExceptionHandler` is updated, and `RecoveringProcessingExceptionHandler` / `RecoveringProductionExceptionHandler` are added. For more details, see Deserialization recovery, Processing recovery, and Production recovery.

Other fixes and documentation

• Async processing with filtered messages (`FilteringMessageListenerAdapter`) (#4377)
• `ShareKafkaMessageListenerContainer.doStart()` waits for the consumer thread (#4357)
• `StreamsBuilderFactory` properties remain immutable after initialization (#4382)
• JSpecify `@Nullable` on consumer and producer factories (#4355)
• Clearer container-properties documentation for `messageListener` (#4417)

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4.0.5 and 3.3.15 (patch releases)

Patch releases **`4.0.5`** and **`3.3.15`** carry the same kinds of fixes we shipped in `4.1.0-RC1` where they apply to those branches.

**`4.0.5`** includes fixes for filtering with async commits, share container startup, `StreamsBuilderFactory` immutability, factory nullability annotations, Kafka client patch alignment, and current Spring stack BOMs (Spring Framework, Reactor, Micrometer, tracing, Spring Data, logging).

**`3.3.15`** brings the `FilteringMessageListenerAdapter` fix and Framework/Reactor maintenance bumps for the 3.3.x line.

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Release notes

More details along with any dependency updates and other changes can be found in the release notes.

• 4.1.0-RC1
• 4.0.5
• 3.3.15

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Spring Boot integration

Spring Kafka `3.3.15` will be integrated into Spring Boot `3.5.14`. Spring Kafka `4.0.5` will be integrated into Spring Boot `4.0.6`. Spring Kafka `4.1.0-RC1` will be integrated into Spring Boot `4.1.0-RC1`.

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Feedback and issue reports are welcome on GitHub.

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