# Get started with Redpanda integration

<Badge text="⭐ Community Toolkit" variant="tip" size="large" />

[Redpanda](https://www.redpanda.com/) is a Kafka API-compatible streaming platform. The Community Toolkit integration runs a Redpanda broker in a container and exposes its Kafka API, Schema Registry, and Admin API endpoints.

## Prerequisites

- An Aspire AppHost project
- A Kafka client integration for any application that connects to the broker

## Add Redpanda to your AppHost

Install the [📦 CommunityToolkit.Aspire.Hosting.RedPanda](https://www.nuget.org/packages/CommunityToolkit.Aspire.Hosting.RedPanda) package in the AppHost:

```bash title="Terminal"
aspire add CommunityToolkit.Aspire.Hosting.RedPanda
```

Add a broker and reference it from the client resource. See [Set up Redpanda in the AppHost](../redpanda-host/) for persistence, resource sizing, and optional web consoles.

```typescript title="apphost.mts"
import { createBuilder } from './.aspire/modules/aspire.mjs';

const builder = await createBuilder();
const redpanda = await builder.addRedPanda('redpanda');
const api = await builder.addProject('api', '../Api/Api.csproj');
await api.withReference(redpanda);
await api.waitFor(redpanda);

await builder.build().run();
```

```csharp title="AppHost.cs"
var builder = DistributedApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
var redpanda = builder.AddRedPanda("redpanda");

builder.AddProject<Projects.Api>("api")
    .WithReference(redpanda)
    .WaitFor(redpanda);

// After adding all resources, run the app...
builder.Build().Run();
```

The Kafka bootstrap address exposed to referencing resources uses the `host:port` format. Redpanda can be used with the Aspire Kafka client integration. For client setup, see [Connect to Apache Kafka](/integrations/messaging/apache-kafka/apache-kafka-connect/).

## See also

- [Set up Redpanda in the AppHost](../redpanda-host/)
- [Connect to Apache Kafka](/integrations/messaging/apache-kafka/apache-kafka-connect/)
- [Redpanda documentation](https://docs.redpanda.com/)
- [CommunityToolkit.Aspire.Hosting.RedPanda source and tests](https://github.com/CommunityToolkit/Aspire/tree/main/src/CommunityToolkit.Aspire.Hosting.RedPanda)