...

• This KIP only proposes additions. There should be no compatibility issues.

  
  

Rejected Alternatives

Make Kafka Rest Server an external third-party tool

...

Main Reason for this KIP is to add Rest Server to Kafka. Shipping Kafka Rest Server as part of a normal Kafka release
makes it immediately available to every user that downloads Kafka. Also helps to maintain the version compatibility
between Kafka clients and Rest Server.

...