Creating an Apache Kafka® topic
===============================

When working with Apache Kafka®, while it is possible to configure it to :doc:`automatically create topics when a message is produced to a non-existent topic <create-topics-automatically>`, it is generally recommended to create topics beforehand, especially in production environments. This approach offers several advantages:

* It allows you to define specific topic settings, such as the number of partitions, replication factor, retention period, and more.
* It helps prevent the generation of incorrect topics due to typos or other mistakes.


Create an Apache Kafka® topic
-------------------------------

To create a new topic using the `Aiven Console <https://console.aiven.io/>`_, follow these steps: 

1. Log in to `Aiven Console <https://console.aiven.io/>`_ and select the Aiven for Apache Kafka® service where you want to create the topic.
2. From the left sidebar, select **Topics**. 
3. Select **Create topic** to create a new topic and enter a name for the topic. 
4. If required, set the advanced configuration option to **Yes**. 
5. In the **Topic advanced configuration** section, you can set properties such as the replication factor, number of partitions, and other settings. These settings can be modified later if needed.
6. Select **Create topic**. 
   The new topic will be visible immediately, but may take a few minutes before you can update its settings.


You can also use the :ref:`topic-create <avn_cli_service_topic_create>` command to create a new topic using :doc:`Aiven CLI </docs/tools/cli>`.