apache/beam

[Feature Request]: Add metrics tracking for offset commit failures and retry attempts in KafkaCommitOffset

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#38587 opened on May 21, 2026

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 (4 comments) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)Java (7,313 stars) (4,097 forks)batch import
P3good first issueiojavanew feature

Description

What would you like to happen?

Currently in KafkaCommitOffset.CommitOffsetDoFn there is no visibility into how often offset commits are failing or how many retries are being attempted. If commits are silently failing in production you have no way to know without digging through logs. Adding Beam metrics here would make it easy to monitor commit health through existing monitoring dashboards. Proposed approach

Add a counter for total commit failures Add a counter for retry attempts Add a counter for commits that exhausted all retries Use Beam's built in Metrics.counter() so it works with any runner

Why this is useful If you're running a high throughput pipeline and offset commits are struggling, right now you'd have no idea until you see duplicate processing. This gives you an early warning signal.

Issue Priority

Priority: 3 (nice-to-have improvement)

Issue Components

  • Component: Python SDK
  • Component: Java SDK
  • Component: Go SDK
  • Component: Typescript SDK
  • Component: IO connector
  • Component: Beam YAML
  • Component: Beam examples
  • Component: Beam playground
  • Component: Beam katas
  • Component: Website
  • Component: Infrastructure
  • Component: Spark Runner
  • Component: Flink Runner
  • Component: Prism Runner
  • Component: Twister2 Runner
  • Component: Hazelcast Jet Runner
  • Component: Google Cloud Dataflow Runner

Contributor guide

Tech stack
javakafka
Domain
backenddataobservability
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Apache Beam SDK knowledgeKafka offset commit mechanismJava
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
65
Research direction
The implementation should be in the Java SDK's Kafka IO connector, specifically in the `KafkaCommitOffset.java` file within the `CommitOffsetDoFn` class. Examine the existing commit logic to identify where failures and retries occur. Use Beam's `Metrics.counter()` to add counters for total failures, retry attempts, and exhausted retries. The issue has no linked PRs or assignees, so it is available for contribution.