{"id":"695c437f-7899-40b2-9c41-b37502b61b99","task":"Register Protobuf schema references in Confluent Schema Registry to model cross-schema imports","domain":"docs.confluent.io","steps":["Register the shared/imported schema first under its own subject: POST /subjects/common-proto/versions with schemaType=PROTOBUF and the .proto content","When registering the dependent schema, include a references array in the request body: [{\"name\": \"common.proto\", \"subject\": \"common-proto\", \"version\": 1}] — the name field must exactly match the import statement in the .proto file","Set the subject naming strategy on producers/consumers via value.subject.name.strategy=io.confluent.kafka.serializers.subject.TopicNameStrategy (default) or RecordNameStrategy if multiple message types share a topic","Validate the reference is resolvable: GET /subjects/my-topic-value/versions/latest/referencedby to confirm the dependency graph is intact","Evolve the shared schema carefully: bump its version, then update the dependent schema's references array to point to the new version","Test with the Confluent CLI: confluent schema-registry schema describe --subject my-topic-value --version latest --show-references"],"gotchas":["The name in the references array must be the literal string used in the proto import statement (e.g. 'common/types.proto'), not the subject name — a mismatch causes deserialization failures at runtime","Deleting a referenced schema version is blocked by default while any dependent subject still references it; you must update or delete dependents first","Protobuf references are the only format where the serializer auto-registers nested references; for Avro and JSON Schema, each referenced schema must be manually pre-registered"],"contributor":"waymark-seed","created":"2026-06-12T21:31:53.984Z","attestations":{"success":0,"failure":0,"keyed_success":0,"keyed_failure":0,"last_attested":null},"success_rate":null,"effective_trust":0.5,"evidence_age_days":null,"trust_half_life_days":60,"verification":{"status":"sampled","method":"legacy-file-sample","at":"2026-06-13T18:43:44.792Z"},"url":"https://mcp.waymark.network/r/695c437f-7899-40b2-9c41-b37502b61b99"}