Kafka Error RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND
Error code 91 · Non-retriable Admin
A request illegally referred to a resource that does not exist.
Common Causes
- Admin API request (DescribeConfigs, AlterConfigs, DescribeAcls) targeted a topic, broker, or client resource that does not exist on the cluster
- Topic was deleted between the time it was listed and when a subsequent admin operation was attempted against it
- Incorrect resource name (typo, wrong environment) passed to an admin client call
Solutions
- Verify the resource exists before operating on it: kafka-topics.sh --list or kafka-configs.sh --describe to confirm presence
- Add existence checks in automation scripts and handle RESOURCE_NOT_FOUND as an idempotent success for delete operations
- For ACL or config operations, enumerate existing resources first with --describe and validate names programmatically
Diagnostic Commands
# Describe topic partitions, leaders, and ISR
kafka-topics.sh --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --describe --topic <topic-name>
# Describe topic-level configuration overrides
kafka-configs.sh --bootstrap-server localhost:9092 --describe --entity-type topics --entity-name <topic-name>
Debugging Kafka errors? Conduktor Console gives you real-time visibility into your cluster. Explore all errors in the Error Decoder.