Apache Camel

Apache Camel is an open source integration framework with 350+ connectors for databases, APIs, message brokers, and cloud services. Write routes in Java, YAML, or XML. Run on Spring Boot, Quarkus, or standalone with the Camel CLI. In production since 2007 — used by thousands of companies worldwide. Apache License 2.0.

What is Apache Camel? | Getting Started | Components | Tooling | Docs for AI agents (llms.txt)

Get started in seconds

camel init hello.yaml
camel run hello.yaml

Or add to your existing Spring Boot project:

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.camel.springboot</groupId>
    <artifactId>camel-spring-boot-starter</artifactId>
</dependency>

Write it your way

The same route in YAML, Java, or XML — pick what fits your team:

YAML:

- route:
    from:
      uri: kafka:incoming-orders
      steps:
        - unmarshal:
            json: {}
        - to:
            uri: sql:INSERT INTO orders(id, data) VALUES(:#${header.id}, :#${body})

Java:

from("kafka:incoming-orders")
    .unmarshal().json()
    .to("sql:INSERT INTO orders(id, data) VALUES(:#${header.id}, :#${body})");

Runtimes

Runtime	What it does
Camel Spring Boot	Camel on Spring Boot with starters for 350+ connectors
Camel Quarkus	Cloud-native Camel with fast startup, low memory, native compilation
Camel CLI	Run, develop, test, and trace routes from the command line

Other runtimes: Camel K (Kubernetes), Camel Karaf (OSGi), Camel Kafka Connector (Kafka Connect)

Components

350+ connectors for connecting to anything — Kafka, REST, JDBC, AWS, Azure, GCP, Salesforce, and more:

• Components
• Enterprise Integration Patterns (EIPs)
• Data Formats
• Languages

AI integration

Apache Camel provides an MCP server (Model Context Protocol) for AI coding assistants — Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and Gemini CLI get full Camel catalog context. Camel also includes components for LangChain4j and OpenAI, and supports the A2A agent-to-agent protocol for connecting AI agents to enterprise systems.

AI coding assistants can read the documentation as Markdown: llms.txt indexes it, and documentation pages are also available as Markdown by replacing .html with .md in the URL. Projects made by camel export and the Camel Maven archetypes include an AGENTS.md that points there.

Visual designers

• Kaoto — open source visual designer for Camel routes, drag-and-drop, no code required
• Karavan — visual designer for Camel integrations in VS Code and standalone

Examples

• Camel CLI Examples — YAML and scripting examples
• Camel Examples — Camel Standalone examples
• Camel Spring Boot Examples — Camel Spring Boot integration
• Camel Quarkus Examples — Camel Quarkus integration

Contributing

We welcome all kinds of contributions:

https://github.com/apache/camel/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md

Community

• User Stories: https://camel.apache.org/community/user-stories/
• Website: https://camel.apache.org/
• Issue tracker: https://issues.apache.org/jira/projects/CAMEL
• Mailing list: https://camel.apache.org/community/mailing-list/
• Chat: https://camel.zulipchat.com/
• Stack Overflow: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/apache-camel

Licensing

Apache License 2.0 — see LICENSE.txt.