# Message Broker

> Central hub that decouples apps from messaging infrastructure details — smart middleman.

- **Category**: Integration
- **Subcategory**: System Management
- **Canonical URL**: https://designpattern.fyi/patterns/message_broker/

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## Description
Clean, reusable architecture pattern.


## Use Cases
Enterprise integration hub — 10 source systems publish to the broker in their native formats. Broker applies routing (by region, type), enrichment (add metadata), and translation (canonical format). 15 target systems receive correctly formatted, routed messages. Neither source nor target knows about each other.





## Trade-offs


### Advantages

- Single integration point — reduces N*N point-to-point connections to N connections

- Centralizes routing, transformation, and protocol translation

- Applications stay decoupled from infrastructure details

- Broker manages message persistence, retry, and delivery guarantees




### Considerations & Drawbacks

- Broker is a critical central component — must be HA and well-operated

- Centralized routing can become a bottleneck at high message rates

- Broker logic (routing, transformation) can become over-complicated

- Single broker ownership model creates organizational dependencies







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**Reference**: [Original Source](https://www.enterpriseintegrationpatterns.com/patterns/messaging/MessageBroker.html)