Overview
Beginning August 19, 2026, Confluent is changing how user inactivity is measured on the Confluent Cloud console, and increasing the inactivity session timeout from 30 minutes to 2 hours. This change will be rolled out progressively; no change is required.
A new definition of inactivity. Previously, user inactivity on the Confluent Cloud console interface was defined by whether the console browser tab is open and visible. Now, inactivity is based on your actual interaction on the console — mouse, keyboard, and window activity, plus the API calls those actions generate. This change is a more robust implementation for user inactivity and improves upon previous cases of sporadic early logouts.
A longer idle timeout. The idle logout timer increases from 30 minutes to 2 hours. This increase offers a better user experience for console workflows that may naturally involve periods of waiting or reading, such as Flink SQL Workspaces and cluster provisioning.
The 8-hour maximum session length is unchanged. User accounts are signed out after a maximum of 8 hours of continuous activity and must authenticate with Confluent Cloud.
Organizations that want to reduce to a 1-hour idle logout timer instead of the new default 2-hours can request it. See Requesting a 1-hour idle timeout below.
What Is Changing and Why
Confluent Cloud user accounts may observe changes to automatic inactivity logout due to absence of user activity on the console user interface. User activity includes mouse, keyboard, and window movements. Background polling that the Cloud Console performs on its own — for example, refreshing a status view — does not count as activity and does not extend your session. This new definition for user inactivity better aligns with industry standards.
Rather than signing you out without notice, the Cloud Console now warns you before a session ends:
Idle session warning. Appears when your session is within 15 minutes of expiring from inactivity. Any mouse or keyboard interaction in the Cloud Console extends your session and dismisses the warning.
Maximum session warning. Appears when you are within 60 minutes of the 8-hour maximum session length. This limit cannot be extended by activity — the warning includes a Reauthenticate option that takes you to the sign-in page so you can start a new session without losing your place.
Session state is kept in sync across all Cloud Console tabs open in the same browser, so extending or ending a session in one tab is reflected in the others.
Summary of changes
|
Before August 19, 2026 |
On and after August 19, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Definition of idle |
No Cloud Console tab visible |
No user interaction and no user-initiated API calls |
Idle timeout |
30 minutes |
2 hours |
Maximum session length |
8 hours |
8 hours (unchanged) |
Advance warning before logout |
None |
Warning banner before idle and maximum session expiry |
Who Is Affected
This change applies to all user accounts signing in to the commercial Confluent Cloud console at https://confluent.cloud.
What is not impacted:
Confluent Cloud for Government (CCG) is not affected.
Confluent CLI, REST API, and client applications are not affected. This change only applies to browser sessions in the Cloud Console. Workload identities using client authentication methods such as API keys, OAuth, and mTLS authentication are not impacted.
Requesting a 1-hour Idle Timeout
Organizations can request a reduced 1-hour idle timeout for their organization. Reducing the idle timer below 1 hour is no longer supported.
To make this request, open a case with Confluent Support and include:
Your Confluent Cloud organization ID (found in the cloud console under Settings, or by running the CLI command
confluent organization describe).Link to this article.
The 8-hour maximum session length is not configurable.
If you have questions about how this change affects your organization, or you would like to request the 1 hour idle timeout, contact your account team or Confluent Support.