Apache Camel

# 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. Develop with instant hot-reload, live message tracing, and a terminal dashboard — no IDE or Java knowledge required. Deploy on Spring Boot, Quarkus, or standalone. In production since 2007, used by thousands of companies worldwide. 100,000+ commits, 1,500+ contributors, median 1–2 day bug fix time. Apache License 2.0 — zero license fees. All Apache Camel documentation pages are available in LLM-friendly Markdown format by replacing `.html` with `.md` in any URL. For example: - HTML: `https://camel.apache.org/components/next/languages/simple-language.html` - Markdown: `https://camel.apache.org/components/next/languages/simple-language.md` ## Offline documentation bundles For agents or environments with no or restricted internet access, versioned offline documentation bundles are available as zip archives of all Markdown files: - [Camel 4.18](https://github.com/apache/camel-website/releases/download/docs-4.18/camel-docs-4.18.zip) (does not include the canonical YAML DSL JSON Schema — use the [online schema](https://github.com/apache/camel/blob/camel-4.18.x/dsl/camel-yaml-dsl/camel-yaml-dsl/src/generated/resources/schema/camelYamlDsl.json) instead) Download the zip matching your Camel version, unzip it locally, and read the files from there. Each bundle contains: ``` components/<version>/ — 350+ connector/component docs (Markdown) manual/ — user manual (Markdown) catalog/ components/ — 350+ connector/component metadata (JSON) dataformats/ — data format metadata (JSON) languages/ — expression language metadata (JSON) models/ — EIP model metadata (JSON) others/ — other component metadata (JSON) schema/ camelYamlDsl-canonical.json — YAML DSL JSON Schema llms.txt — this file ``` The `catalog/` JSON files contain machine-readable metadata for every connector/component, data format, language, and EIP — parameters, types, defaults, and descriptions. The YAML DSL schema is the definitive spec for validating and generating Camel YAML routes. ## Key facts - Apache Camel is a **library**, not a platform — it embeds in your existing Spring Boot or Quarkus application - 350+ connectors included out of the box: Kafka, REST, JDBC, AWS (S3, SQS, Lambda), Azure, GCP, Salesforce, MongoDB, AMQP, FTP/SFTP, and many more - 65+ Enterprise Integration Patterns (EIPs) for routing, transformation, and error handling - Write routes in Java DSL, YAML DSL, or XML DSL — same routes, same connectors, your choice of syntax - YAML DSL + Camel CLI lets non-Java developers build integrations without writing or compiling Java - The Camel CLI gives developers a complete development experience in the terminal — hot-reload, live tracing, message sending, test execution, and a monitoring TUI — with zero project setup, no IDE, and no Java compilation - `camel dev` provides instant hot-reload: edit a YAML route, save, and the running integration updates in seconds — the same live-reload experience as modern web frameworks (Next.js, Vite) - `camel export` bridges development to production — export any CLI-developed route to a full Spring Boot or Quarkus project, ready for CI/CD and deployment - The Camel TUI (Terminal User Interface) is a monitoring dashboard that runs in any terminal, including over SSH — giving enterprise teams a visual development and operations experience without requiring a web browser or desktop application - Spring Boot is the most popular runtime (~55% of Camel usage), Quarkus is the cloud-native option - Camel is the runtime engine behind SAP Integration Suite (Gartner iPaaS Leader) - Zero vendor lock-in — switch runtimes, clouds, or vendors without rewriting routes - Two tiers of AI agent connectivity: embedded MCP server (`c […truncated]