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+# Kafka Gateway Implementation Phases
+
+## Phase 1: Core SeaweedMQ Integration (PRIORITY HIGH)
+**Goal**: Enable real message retrieval from SeaweedMQ storage
+
+### Tasks:
+- [ ] Implement `integration.SeaweedMQHandler.GetStoredRecords()` to return actual records
+- [ ] Add proper SMQ record conversion from SeaweedMQ format to Kafka format  
+- [ ] Wire Fetch API to use real SMQ records instead of synthetic batches
+- [ ] Add integration tests for end-to-end message storage and retrieval
+
+**Files to modify**:
+- `weed/mq/kafka/integration/seaweedmq_handler.go`
+- `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/fetch.go` (verification)
+- Add test file: `weed/mq/kafka/integration/record_retrieval_test.go`
+
+## Phase 2: CreateTopics Protocol Compliance (PRIORITY HIGH)
+**Goal**: Fix CreateTopics API parsing and partition handling
+
+### Tasks:
+- [ ] Implement `handleCreateTopicsV0V1` request parsing
+- [ ] Add support for partition count and basic topic configurations
+- [ ] Wire CreateTopics to actual SeaweedMQ topic creation
+- [ ] Add CreateTopics integration tests
+
+**Files to modify**:
+- `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/handler.go`
+- `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/create_topics.go` (new file)
+- Add test file: `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/create_topics_test.go`
+
+## Phase 3: ApiVersions Matrix Accuracy (PRIORITY MEDIUM)
+**Goal**: Ensure advertised API versions match actual implementation
+
+### Tasks:
+- [ ] Audit current `handleApiVersions` response against implemented features
+- [ ] Lower max versions for APIs with incomplete implementations
+- [ ] Add version validation in request handlers
+- [ ] Document supported vs unsupported features per API version
+
+**Files to modify**:
+- `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/handler.go` (`handleApiVersions`)
+- Add file: `weed/mq/kafka/API_VERSION_MATRIX.md`
+- Add test file: `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/api_versions_test.go`
+
+## Phase 4: Consumer Group Protocol Metadata (PRIORITY MEDIUM)
+**Goal**: Proper JoinGroup protocol metadata parsing
+
+### Tasks:
+- [ ] Implement consumer protocol metadata parsing in JoinGroup
+- [ ] Extract subscription topics and user data from metadata
+- [ ] Populate ClientHost from connection information
+- [ ] Support multiple assignment strategies properly
+
+**Files to modify**:
+- `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/joingroup.go`
+- `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/consumer_group_metadata.go` (new file)
+- Add test file: `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/consumer_group_metadata_test.go`
+
+## Phase 5: Multi-Batch Fetch Support (PRIORITY MEDIUM)
+**Goal**: Support multiple record batch concatenation in Fetch responses
+
+### Tasks:
+- [ ] Implement proper record batch concatenation
+- [ ] Handle batch size limits and chunking
+- [ ] Add support for compressed record batches
+- [ ] Performance optimization for large batch responses
+
+**Files to modify**:
+- `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/fetch.go`
+- Add test file: `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/fetch_multi_batch_test.go`
+
+## Phase 6: Flexible Versions Support (PRIORITY LOW)
+**Goal**: Basic support for flexible versions and tagged fields
+
+### Tasks:
+- [ ] Add flexible version detection in request headers
+- [ ] Implement tagged field parsing/skipping
+- [ ] Update response encoders for flexible versions
+- [ ] Add flexible version tests
+
+**Files to modify**:
+- `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/handler.go`
+- `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/flexible_versions.go` (new file)
+- Add test file: `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/flexible_versions_test.go`
+
+## Phase 7: Error Handling and Edge Cases (PRIORITY LOW)
+**Goal**: Comprehensive error handling and Kafka spec compliance
+
+### Tasks:
+- [ ] Audit all error codes against Kafka specification
+- [ ] Add missing error codes for network/timeout scenarios
+- [ ] Implement proper connection timeout handling
+- [ ] Add comprehensive error handling tests
+
+**Files to modify**:
+- `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/errors.go`
+- All protocol handler files
+- Add test file: `weed/mq/kafka/protocol/error_handling_test.go`
+
+## Current Status: Ready to start Phase 1
+
+### Implementation Notes:
+- Each phase should include comprehensive tests
+- Commit after each phase completion
+- Backward compatibility must be maintained
+- Integration tests should verify end-to-end functionality