Kapa.ai annoucement blogpost with Strimzi

_posts/2026-07-05-kapa-ai-assistant.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "Meet Strimzi's New AI Assistant: Kapa.ai"
+date: 2026-07-05
+author: maros_orsak
+---
+
+If you have visited the [Strimzi website](https://strimzi.io) recently, you may have noticed something new: a small floating button in the bottom-right corner of every page.
+That is [Kapa.ai](https://www.kapa.ai/), an AI-powered assistant now available across the entire Strimzi website, ready to help you find answers to your questions about Strimzi and Apache Kafka on Kubernetes.
+
+<!--more-->
+
+![Kapa.ai widget on the Strimzi website](/assets/images/posts/2026-07-05-kapa-ai-widget.png)
+
+### Why We Added an AI Assistant
+
+As Strimzi has grown, so has the volume of questions from the community.
+Many of these questions, whether they come through [Slack](https://slack.cncf.io/), [GitHub Discussions](https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/discussions), or issues, are already answered somewhere in our documentation.
+But finding the right answer in the right place is not always easy, especially for newcomers.
+
+Maintainers spend a significant amount of time answering repetitive questions, which takes time away from development, reviews, and other project work.
+This is a common challenge across open-source projects, sometimes called the "support tax."
+
+The [CNCF partnered with Kapa.ai](https://contribute.cncf.io/blog/2026/04/09/reducing-support-tax-cncf-kapa-ai/) to offer AI-powered assistants to all CNCF projects, free of charge.
+When we saw the opportunity, we decided to try it out for Strimzi.
+
+### What Is Kapa.ai?
+
+Kapa.ai is an AI assistant platform built specifically for technical communities.
+Unlike a general-purpose chatbot, it uses Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) to ground its responses in a project's actual knowledge base.
+This means answers come from Strimzi's own documentation, GitHub issues, discussions, and other project-specific sources, rather than from a generic language model that might hallucinate.
+
+### How It Works
+
+Click the Strimzi icon in the bottom-right corner of any page on the Strimzi website, and a chat window opens.
+You can ask questions in natural language, and Kapa.ai will search through the Strimzi knowledge base to find relevant answers.
+
+![Kapa.ai chat window](/assets/images/posts/2026-07-05-kapa-ai-chat.png)
+
+Each answer includes references to the source material, so you can verify the information and dive deeper if needed.
+
+Here are a few examples of questions you could ask:
+- "How do I configure TLS for Kafka listeners in Strimzi?"
+- "What is the difference between KRaft and ZooKeeper mode in Strimzi?"
+- "How do I set up Kafka Connect with Strimzi?"
+- "What annotations control certificate renewal?"
+
+### What Kapa.ai Means for the Community
+
+The goal is not to replace human interaction.
+Strimzi's community channels remain the best place for in-depth discussions, design conversations, and collaboration.
+
+What Kapa.ai does is handle the common, well-documented questions, so maintainers can focus on the work that needs a human: code reviews, design decisions, mentoring contributors, and pushing the project forward.
+
+It also helps identify gaps in our documentation.
+When the assistant cannot answer a question, that is a signal that we may need to improve our docs in that area.
+
+### Privacy and Data
+
+Kapa.ai does **not** use community question-and-answer data for training models or any other purpose.
+Your data stays with the project.
+You can read more about the CNCF's partnership and data policies in their [announcement blog post](https://contribute.cncf.io/blog/2026/04/09/reducing-support-tax-cncf-kapa-ai/).
+
+### Try It Out
+
+Head over to [strimzi.io](https://strimzi.io) and click the floating Strimzi icon in the bottom-right corner.
+Ask it anything about Strimzi, and let us know what you think.
+
+After each answer, you will see "Good Answer" and "Bad Answer" buttons along with an optional text field where you can explain your rating.
+
+![Kapa.ai feedback buttons](/assets/images/posts/2026-07-05-kapa-ai-chat-feedback.png)
+
+This feedback loop matters. 
+Positive ratings confirm that the knowledge base is working well, while negative ratings with a short rationale help us pinpoint where the assistant falls short and where our documentation needs improvement.
+
+We would love to hear your experience.
+Share your feedback on the [#strimzi](https://cloud-native.slack.com/channels/strimzi) Slack channel or open a [GitHub Discussion](https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/discussions).