> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://v2.dataos.info/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://v2.dataos.info/build/v1/move/mode/stream.md).

# Streaming

Streaming movement runs a long-lived consumer that reads records from an event-streaming system in micro-batches and writes them to the sink. It processes records as they arrive, with no snapshot, cursor, or extraction window. Use it when the source is a message broker and events must land with minimal delay.

## When to use streaming

* The source is Apache Kafka or NATS JetStream.
* Events must be landed continuously, with minimal delay.
* The use case does not fit a scheduled batch window.
* You do not need transaction-log change capture; use [CDC](/build/v1/move/mode/cdc.md) for that.

## Before you begin

Ensure you have:

* A source topic or subject reachable from DataOS.
* A Depot for the source broker, or an approved connection with secrets projected via `use.projection`.
* A Depot for the destination, and a compute profile.

## 1. Choose your source

Streaming supports 2 brokers:

| Source         | Description                              |
| -------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| Apache Kafka   | Topic-based event streams                |
| NATS JetStream | Subject-based persistent message streams |

For per-source options, see the [stream pipelines reference](https://v2.dataos.info/references/resources/nilus/stream/sample-configs) in References.

## 2. Write the manifest

Create a `nilus` resource with `spec.type: stream`:

```yaml
name: ${{pipeline-name}}
version: v1alpha
type: nilus
tags:
  - nilus-stream
description: ${{description}}
spec:
  type: stream
  compute: ${{compute-profile}}
  logLevel: INFO
  source:
    address: dataos://${{source-depot}}?purpose=ro
    options:
      source_table: "${{topic-or-subject}}"   # Kafka topic or NATS subject
  sink:
    address: dataos://${{sink-depot}}?purpose=rw
    options:
      dest_table: ${{schema.table}}
      incremental_strategy: append
```

## 3. Apply and confirm

```bash
dataos-ctl resource apply -f ${{path-to-manifest.yaml}}
dataos-ctl resource get -t nilus -n ${{pipeline-name}}
```

The pipeline runs continuously. Once events are landing, [explore the moved data](/build/v1/move/explore-moved-data.md) to confirm records are arriving as expected.


---

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