diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 968ed7a..8c3d1ca 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -5,4 +5,11 @@ go 1.24.1
 require (
 	github.com/go-json-experiment/json v0.0.0-20250223041408-d3c622f1b874
 	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.7.0
+	github.com/twmb/franz-go v1.18.1
+)
+
+require (
+	github.com/klauspost/compress v1.17.11 // indirect
+	github.com/pierrec/lz4/v4 v4.1.22 // indirect
+	github.com/twmb/franz-go/pkg/kmsg v1.9.0 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 81a0c2f..6affcd4 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -2,3 +2,13 @@ github.com/go-json-experiment/json v0.0.0-20250223041408-d3c622f1b874 h1:F8d1AJ6
 github.com/go-json-experiment/json v0.0.0-20250223041408-d3c622f1b874/go.mod h1:TiCD2a1pcmjd7YnhGH0f/zKNcCD06B029pHhzV23c2M=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.7.0 h1:wk8382ETsv4JYUZwIsn6YpYiWiBsYLSJiTsyBybVuN8=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.7.0/go.mod h1:pXiqmnSA92OHEEa9HXL2W4E7lf9JzCmGVUdgjX3N/iU=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.17.11 h1:In6xLpyWOi1+C7tXUUWv2ot1QvBjxevKAaI6IXrJmUc=
+github.com/klauspost/compress v1.17.11/go.mod h1:pMDklpSncoRMuLFrf1W9Ss9KT+0rH90U12bZKk7uwG0=
+github.com/pierrec/lz4/v4 v4.1.22 h1:cKFw6uJDK+/gfw5BcDL0JL5aBsAFdsIT18eRtLj7VIU=
+github.com/pierrec/lz4/v4 v4.1.22/go.mod h1:gZWDp/Ze/IJXGXf23ltt2EXimqmTUXEy0GFuRQyBid4=
+github.com/twmb/franz-go v1.18.1 h1:D75xxCDyvTqBSiImFx2lkPduE39jz1vaD7+FNc+vMkc=
+github.com/twmb/franz-go v1.18.1/go.mod h1:Uzo77TarcLTUZeLuGq+9lNpSkfZI+JErv7YJhlDjs9M=
+github.com/twmb/franz-go/pkg/kmsg v1.9.0 h1:JojYUph2TKAau6SBtErXpXGC7E3gg4vGZMv9xFU/B6M=
+github.com/twmb/franz-go/pkg/kmsg v1.9.0/go.mod h1:CMbfazviCyY6HM0SXuG5t9vOwYDHRCSrJJyBAe5paqg=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.32.0 h1:euUpcYgM8WcP71gNpTqQCn6rC2t6ULUPiOzfWaXVVfc=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.32.0/go.mod h1:ZnnJkOaASj8g0AjIduWNlq2NRxL0PlBrbKVyZ6V/Ugc=
diff --git a/queue/message.go b/queue/message.go
index 39f43e6..fea16f5 100644
--- a/queue/message.go
+++ b/queue/message.go
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 package queue
 
+import (
+	"context"
+	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/go-json-experiment/json"
+	"github.com/twmb/franz-go/pkg/kgo"
+)
+
 // Message is the shape of messages handed from ingest to indexers.
 type Message struct {
 	// ID is the message ID.
@@ -11,3 +19,35 @@ type Message struct {
 	// Text is the message content.
 	Text string `json:"t"`
 }
+
+// Producer handles sending Kafka records.
+type Producer interface {
+	Produce(ctx context.Context, rec *kgo.Record, promise func(*kgo.Record, error))
+}
+
+const topic = "kaiyan.chat"
+
+var recordPool sync.Pool
+
+func Send(ctx context.Context, cl Producer, msg Message, errs chan<- error) {
+	b, err := json.Marshal(&msg)
+	if err != nil {
+		// Should never happen, and we don't have a good way to report it here.
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	rec, _ := recordPool.Get().(*kgo.Record)
+	if rec == nil {
+		rec = &kgo.Record{Topic: topic}
+	}
+	rec.Key = append(rec.Key[:0], msg.ID...)
+	rec.Value = append(rec.Value[:0], b...)
+	cl.Produce(ctx, rec, func(r *kgo.Record, err error) {
+		recordPool.Put(rec)
+		if err != nil {
+			select {
+			case <-ctx.Done(): // do nothing
+			case errs <- err: // do nothing
+			}
+		}
+	})
+}
diff --git a/queue/message_test.go b/queue/message_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0fe233f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/queue/message_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+package queue_test
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+
+	"git.sunturtle.xyz/zephyr/kaiyan/queue"
+	"github.com/go-json-experiment/json"
+	"github.com/twmb/franz-go/pkg/kgo"
+)
+
+type spyProducer struct {
+	got []kgo.Record
+}
+
+func (p *spyProducer) Produce(ctx context.Context, rec *kgo.Record, promise func(*kgo.Record, error)) {
+	p.got = append(p.got, *rec)
+	promise(rec, nil)
+}
+
+func TestSend(t *testing.T) {
+	msg := queue.Message{
+		ID:      "bocchi",
+		Channel: "kessoku",
+		Sender:  queue.Sender(make([]byte, 16), "kessoku", "ryō"),
+		Text:    "bocchi the rock!",
+	}
+	var q spyProducer
+	errs := make(chan error, 1)
+	queue.Send(context.Background(), &q, msg, errs)
+	select {
+	case err := <-errs:
+		t.Error(err)
+	default: // do nothing
+	}
+	if len(q.got) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("wrong number of records produced: %d", len(q.got))
+	}
+	rec := &q.got[0]
+	if string(rec.Key) != msg.ID {
+		t.Errorf("record has wrong key: want %q, got %q", msg.ID, rec.Key)
+	}
+	var got queue.Message
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(rec.Value, &got); err != nil {
+		t.Error(err)
+	}
+	if got != msg {
+		t.Errorf("message did not round-trip:\nwant %+v\ngot  %+v", msg, got)
+	}
+}