diff --git a/api/pyproject.toml b/api/pyproject.toml
index 734d2036..44f14f2c 100644
--- a/api/pyproject.toml
+++ b/api/pyproject.toml
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "damnit~=0.2.1",
     "aiohttp~=3.11",
     "aiofiles>=24.1.0",
+    "aiokafka>=0.13",
     "anyio>=4.11.0",
     "python-ulid[pydantic]>=3.1.0",
     "sqlmodel>=0.0.31",
diff --git a/api/src/damnit_api/db.py b/api/src/damnit_api/db.py
index d3d06d1c..d2301743 100644
--- a/api/src/damnit_api/db.py
+++ b/api/src/damnit_api/db.py
@@ -199,6 +199,31 @@ async def async_variable_tags(proposal):
     return variable_tags
 
 
+async def async_config_value(proposal, key):
+    metameta = await async_table(proposal, name="metameta")
+    selection = select(metameta.c.value).where(metameta.c.key == key)
+    async with get_session(proposal) as session:
+        result = await session.execute(selection)
+    return result.scalar()
+
+
+async def async_changed_values(proposal, data_proposal, run, values):
+    run_vars = await async_table(proposal, name="run_variables")
+
+    selection = (
+        select(run_vars)
+        .where(
+            run_vars.c.proposal == data_proposal,
+            run_vars.c.run == run,
+            run_vars.c.run.in_(values)
+        )
+    )
+
+    async with get_session(proposal) as session:
+        result = await session.execute(selection)
+    return result.mappings().all()  # FIX: # pyright: ignore[reportReturnType]
+
+
 # -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Etc.
 
diff --git a/api/src/damnit_api/graphql/subscriptions.py b/api/src/damnit_api/graphql/subscriptions.py
index 4212fb22..d59237d2 100644
--- a/api/src/damnit_api/graphql/subscriptions.py
+++ b/api/src/damnit_api/graphql/subscriptions.py
@@ -1,18 +1,87 @@
 import asyncio
+import json
 from collections.abc import AsyncGenerator
 
 import strawberry
+from aiokafka import AIOKafkaConsumer
 from async_lru import alru_cache
 from strawberry.scalars import JSON
 from strawberry.types import Info
 
-from ..db import async_latest_rows, async_table, async_variables
+from ..db import (
+    async_latest_rows,
+    async_table,
+    async_variables,
+    async_config_value,
+    async_changed_values,
+)
 from ..utils import create_map, wrap_values
 from .models import Timestamp, get_model
 from .utils import DatabaseInput, LatestData, fetch_info
 
 POLLING_INTERVAL = 1  # seconds
 
+KAFKA_BROKERS = ['exflwgs06.desy.de:9091']
+KAFKA_UPDATE_TOPIC = "test.damnit.db-{}"
+
+
+class DBWatcher:
+    # The registry holds 1 DBWatcher per proposal, so we retrieve new values
+    # from the database once, even if several clients are subscribed.
+    registry: dict[str, 'DBWatcher'] = {}
+
+    @classmethod
+    async def queue_for_proposal(cls, proposal, schema):
+        q = asyncio.Queue()
+        if (watcher := cls.registry.get(proposal)) is None:
+            watcher = cls(proposal, schema)
+            watcher.task = asyncio.create_task(watcher.run())
+        watcher.subscriptions.add(q)
+        return q
+
+    @classmethod
+    def drop_queue(cls, proposal, queue):
+        if (watcher := cls.registry.get(proposal)) is not None:
+            watcher.subscriptions.discard(queue)
+            if not watcher.subscriptions:
+                del cls.registry[proposal]
+                if watcher.task is not None:
+                    watcher.task.cancel()
+
+    def __init__(self, proposal, schema):
+        self.proposal = proposal
+        self.schema = schema
+        self.subscriptions = set()
+        self.task: asyncio.Task | None = None
+
+    def notify(self, d: dict):
+        for q in self.subscriptions:
+            q.put_nowait(d)
+
+    async def run(self):
+        db_id = await async_config_value(self.proposal, "db_id")
+        update_topic = KAFKA_UPDATE_TOPIC.format(db_id)
+
+        consumer = AIOKafkaConsumer(update_topic, bootstrap_servers=KAFKA_BROKERS)
+        await consumer.start()
+        try:
+            async for msg in consumer:
+                d = json.loads(msg.value)
+                if d.get('msg_kind') != 'run_values_updated':
+                    continue
+
+                d2 = d['data']
+                run_var_rows = await async_changed_values(
+                    self.proposal, d2['proposal'], d2['run'], d2['values']
+                )
+                res = await prepare_latest_data(run_var_rows, self.proposal, self.schema)
+                if res is not None:
+                    self.notify(res)
+        finally:
+            await consumer.stop()
+
+
+
 
 # Per-client cursor is deliberately omitted from the cache key so that
 # concurrent subscribers coalesce into a single DB read per tick.
@@ -30,14 +99,18 @@ async def poll_proposal(proposal, schema):
     )
     if not rows:
         return None
+    return prepare_latest_data(rows, proposal, schema)
 
-    latest_data = LatestData.from_list(rows)
+
+async def prepare_latest_data(latest_rows, proposal, schema):
+    latest_data = LatestData.from_list(latest_rows)
     latest_runs = create_map(
         await fetch_info(proposal, runs=list(latest_data.runs.keys())),
         key="run",
     )
 
     latest_variables = await async_variables(proposal)
+    model = get_model(proposal)
     if model.update(latest_variables, timestamp=latest_data.timestamp):
         schema.update(model.stype)
 
@@ -99,13 +172,11 @@ async def latest_data(
         database: DatabaseInput,
         timestamp: Timestamp,  # FIX: # pyright: ignore[reportInvalidTypeForm]
     ) -> AsyncGenerator[JSON]:  # FIX: # pyright: ignore[reportInvalidTypeForm]
-        while True:
-            await asyncio.sleep(POLLING_INTERVAL)
-
-            snapshot = await poll_proposal(
-                proposal=database.proposal,
-                schema=info.schema,
-            )
-            result = filter_for_client(snapshot, timestamp)
-            if result is not None:
-                yield result  # FIX: # pyright: ignore[reportReturnType]
+        q = await DBWatcher.queue_for_proposal(database.proposal, info.schema)
+
+        try:
+            while True:
+                update = await q.get()
+                yield update
+        finally:
+            DBWatcher.drop_queue(database.proposal, q)