# Manage Real-Time Context Engine Topics in Confluent Cloud Enable, disable, and manage Real-Time Context Engine topics in your Confluent Cloud cluster. For the quickest path to a working agent query, see [Get Started](get-started.md#rtce-get-started). ## Prerequisites You need the following to manage Real-Time Context Engine topics: - A Basic, Standard, Enterprise, or Dedicated cluster on AWS in a [supported region](../../get-started/regions.md#providers-regions). - A Apache Kafka® topic with a registered schema (Avro, Protobuf, or JSON Schema). - At minimum, the CloudClusterAdmin role. - A Cloud API key for CLI access. - A Cloud API key or Global API key for Terraform access. For full details on roles and permissions, see [Access Control](access-control.md#rtce-access-control). ## Navigate to the Topics page The Confluent Cloud Console procedures in the following sections all start from the **Topics** page. To navigate to this page, complete the following steps. 1. Sign in to [Confluent Cloud](https://confluent.cloud). 2. From the navigation menu, select **Environments** and then select your environment. 3. Click **Clusters** and then select your cluster. 4. From the navigation menu, select **Topics**. ## Enable the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic When you enable the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic, Confluent Cloud materializes the topic data into a table optimized for fast lookups. The Real-Time Context Engine continuously ingests new data from the topic so that the table always reflects the latest state. ### Cloud Console To enable the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic, complete the following steps. 1. In the topics list, find the **Context engine** column and click the status link for the topic you want to enable. This opens the Real-Time Context Engine side panel. 2. In the side panel, verify that all prerequisite checks pass. If any check shows a warning, the toggle is disabled. 3. Toggle the Real-Time Context Engine on. The status changes to **Turning on** while the data is materialized. When the process completes, the status changes to **On**. ### Confluent CLI Use the following command to enable the Real-Time Context Engine on an existing topic: ```bash confluent rtce rtce-topic create \ --cloud \ --region \ --topic-name \ --description "" ``` The following command-specific flags are supported: * `--cloud`: Required. The cloud provider. Set to `aws`. * `--region`: Required. The AWS region of the cluster. * `--topic-name`: Required. The name of the Kafka topic to enable. * `--description`: Optional. A description of the topic data. The following example enables the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic: ```bash confluent rtce rtce-topic create \ --cloud aws \ --region us-west-2 \ --topic-name orders_topic \ --description "Customer orders table" ``` ### Confluent Cloud APIs Send a POST request to enable the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic: ```bash curl -X POST \ https://api.confluent.cloud/rtce/v1/rtce-topics \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -u ":" \ -d '{ "spec": { "cloud": "", "description": "", "environment": {"id": ""}, "kafka_cluster": {"id": ""}, "region": "", "topic_name": "" } }' ``` The following request body parameters are supported: * `cloud`: Required. The cloud provider. Set to `AWS`. * `region`: Required. The AWS region of the cluster. * `topic_name`: Required. The name of the Kafka topic to enable. * `environment.id`: Required. The ID of the Confluent Cloud environment. * `kafka_cluster.id`: Required. The ID of the Kafka cluster. * `description`: Optional. A description of the topic data. The following example enables the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic: ```bash curl -X POST \ https://api.confluent.cloud/rtce/v1/rtce-topics \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -u "$KEY:$SECRET" \ -d '{ "spec": { "cloud": "AWS", "description": "Customer orders table", "environment": {"id": "env-abc123"}, "kafka_cluster": {"id": "lkc-abc123"}, "region": "us-west-2", "topic_name": "orders_topic" } }' ``` ### Terraform Use the [confluent_rtce_topic](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/confluentinc/confluent/latest/docs/resources/confluent_rtce_topic) resource to enable the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic: ```terraform resource "confluent_rtce_topic" "example" { cloud = "" description = "" environment { id = "" } kafka_cluster { id = "" } region = "" topic_name = "" } ``` The following arguments are supported: * `cloud`: Required. The cloud provider. Set to `"AWS"`. * `region`: Required. The AWS region of the cluster. * `topic_name`: Required. The name of the Kafka topic to enable. * `environment.id`: Required. The ID of the Confluent Cloud environment. * `kafka_cluster.id`: Required. The ID of the Kafka cluster. * `description`: Optional. A description of the topic data. The following example enables the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic: ```terraform resource "confluent_rtce_topic" "example" { cloud = "AWS" description = "Customer orders table" environment { id = "env-abc123" } kafka_cluster { id = "lkc-abc123" } region = "us-west-2" topic_name = "orders_topic" } ``` If enabling fails, verify that you meet the [prerequisites](#rtce-manage-topics). ## Disable the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic When you disable the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic, the materialized table is removed and AI agents lose access to the data immediately. After you disable the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic, any AI agents that query the topic receive errors until you re-enable the Real-Time Context Engine and the data re-materializes. ### Cloud Console To disable the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic, complete the following steps. 1. In the topics list, find the **Context engine** column and click the status link for the topic you want to disable. This opens the Real-Time Context Engine side panel. 2. Toggle the Real-Time Context Engine off. The status changes to **Turning off**. When the process completes, the status changes to **Off**. ### Confluent CLI Use the following command to disable the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic: ```bash confluent rtce rtce-topic delete ``` The following example disables the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic: ```bash confluent rtce rtce-topic delete orders_topic ``` ### Confluent Cloud APIs Send a DELETE request to disable the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic: ```bash curl -X DELETE \ "https://api.confluent.cloud/rtce/v1/rtce-topics/?environment=&spec.kafka_cluster=" \ -u ":" ``` The following query parameters are required: * `environment`: The ID of the Confluent Cloud environment. * `spec.kafka_cluster`: The ID of the Kafka cluster. The following example disables the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic: ```bash curl -X DELETE \ "https://api.confluent.cloud/rtce/v1/rtce-topics/orders_topic?environment=env-abc123&spec.kafka_cluster=lkc-abc123" \ -u "$KEY:$SECRET" ``` ### Terraform To disable the Real-Time Context Engine on a topic, remove the `confluent_rtce_topic` resource from your Terraform configuration and run `terraform apply`. ## View enabled topics You can view the list of topics that have the Real-Time Context Engine enabled and check their current status. ### Cloud Console The **Context engine** column shows the status of each topic. Possible values are **On**, **Off**, **Turning on**, and **Turning off**. ### Confluent CLI Use the following command to list topics with the Real-Time Context Engine enabled: ```bash confluent rtce rtce-topic list ``` ### Confluent Cloud APIs Send a GET request to list topics with the Real-Time Context Engine enabled: ```bash curl -X GET \ "https://api.confluent.cloud/rtce/v1/rtce-topics?environment=&spec.kafka_cluster=" \ -u ":" ``` The following query parameters are required: * `environment`: The ID of the Confluent Cloud environment. * `spec.kafka_cluster`: The ID of the Kafka cluster. The following example lists enabled topics: ```bash curl -X GET \ "https://api.confluent.cloud/rtce/v1/rtce-topics?environment=env-abc123&spec.kafka_cluster=lkc-abc123" \ -u "$KEY:$SECRET" ``` ## Edit a table description A table description helps AI agents understand the data in a topic and select the right tool for their query. You can add or update a description at any time after enabling the Real-Time Context Engine. #### NOTE Editing a table description is not supported in the Cloud Console. Send a PATCH request to update the description for a topic that has the Real-Time Context Engine enabled: ```bash curl -X PATCH \ "https://api.confluent.cloud/rtce/v1/rtce-topics/?environment=&spec.cloud=AWS&spec.kafka_cluster=" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -u ":" \ -d '{ "spec": { "environment": {"id": ""}, "kafka_cluster": {"id": ""}, "description": "" } }' ``` The following query parameters are required: * `environment`: The ID of the Confluent Cloud environment. * `spec.cloud`: The cloud provider. Set to `AWS`. * `spec.kafka_cluster`: The ID of the Kafka cluster. The following example updates the description for an enabled topic: ```bash curl -X PATCH \ "https://api.confluent.cloud/rtce/v1/rtce-topics/orders_topic?environment=env-abc123&spec.cloud=AWS&spec.kafka_cluster=lkc-abc123" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -u "$KEY:$SECRET" \ -d '{ "spec": { "environment": {"id": "env-abc123"}, "kafka_cluster": {"id": "lkc-abc123"}, "description": "Customer orders with status and shipping details" } }' ``` ## Schema changes Changing the schema for a topic that has the Real-Time Context Engine enabled causes agents that query the topic to receive errors. To resolve the issue, contact [Confluent Support](https://support.confluent.io). ## Related content - [Get Started](get-started.md#rtce-get-started) - Enable the RTCE and run your first query. - [Access Control](access-control.md#rtce-access-control) - Required roles for each operation. #### NOTE This website includes content developed at the [Apache Software Foundation](https://www.apache.org/) under the terms of the [Apache License v2](https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html).