Kafka: auto.offset.reset only applies with no committed offset

It decides where a brand-new group starts, and is ignored once the group has committed anything.

Code
props.put(ConsumerConfig.AUTO_OFFSET_RESET_CONFIG, "earliest");  // or "latest"
Output
earliest: a new group reads the whole retained history
latest:   a new group sees only what arrives after it starts

An existing group resumes from its committed offset either way.
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Published 2026-08-11