[FEATURE REQ] Support reading from a specific partition/offset without a consumer group (Kafka-style Assign)

[AJosephsen]

Library name

Azure.Messaging.EventHubs.Consumer

Please describe the feature.

We distribute transactions on one Event Hub, and dimensions (like Accounts) on another compacted Event Hub.

Every consumer of Accounts needs the full, up-to-date snapshot from all partitions.
Currently, each consumer must have its own consumer group to read from partitions, which adds unnecessary complexity and maintenance (dynamic consumer-group creation, cleanup, etc.).

It would be much simpler if we could start reading from a specific partition and offset without needing a consumer group, similar to Confluent.Kafka’s

API.

using var consumer = new ConsumerBuilder<Ignore, string>(config)
    .SetValueDeserializer(Deserializers.Utf8)
    .SetErrorHandler((_, e) => Console.WriteLine($"Error: {e.Reason}"))
    .Build();

consumer.Assign(new TopicPartitionOffset(topic, 0, Offset.End));

[jsquire]

Hi @AJosephsen. Thank you for reaching out for your suggestion. The requirement of a consumer group for readers is an Event Hubs service invariant, not an artificial requirement posed by the client. Given the prominence of consumer groups in the Event Hubs ecosystem and the limitations/quotas related to them, the maintainers of the Azure SDK do not feel that it is appropriate to abstract the concept away in the client without corresponding service changes.

If you'd like to suggest changes for the Event Hubs service, you'll need to engage the service team directly. Unfortunately, they do not provide support from our repository nor monitor issues here. To ensure that the right team has visibility and can help, your best path forward for would be to [open an Azure support request](https://learn.microsoft.com/services-hub/unified/support/open-support-requests?pivots=existing, inquire on the Microsoft Q&A site or leave your suggestion on the Azure Feedback site.

[github-actions]

Hi @AJosephsen. Thank you for opening this issue and giving us the opportunity to assist. We believe that this has been addressed. If you feel that further discussion is needed, please add a comment with the text "/unresolve" to remove the "issue-addressed" label and continue the conversation.