Kafka Error GROUP_ID_NOT_FOUND
Error code 69 · Non-retriable Consumer
The group id does not exist.
Common Causes
- Attempting to describe, delete, or alter offsets for a consumer group that never committed any offsets and has no metadata on the broker
- Group offsets were deleted (via `kafka-consumer-groups.sh --delete-offsets` or retention expiry) and the group no longer exists
- Typo in group ID or wrong cluster — the group exists on a different environment
Solutions
- Verify the group ID with `kafka-consumer-groups.sh --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --list` before issuing management commands
- If the group was deleted unintentionally, restart consumers — the group will be re-created when the first offset is committed
- Check `offsets.retention.minutes` (default 10080 / 7 days) — groups with no active consumers and no committed offsets within this window are purged
Diagnostic Commands
# Search for the consumer group by name
kafka-consumer-groups.sh --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --list | grep <groupId>
# Describe consumer group offsets and lag
kafka-consumer-groups.sh --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --describe --group <groupId> 2>&1Related APIs
This error can be returned by: ConsumerGroupDescribe · DescribeGroups · ShareGroupDescribe · StreamsGroupDescribe
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