Which FME Flow feature should you use if you need to handle messages arriving more than once every second?

• A. Automations
• B. Repositories
• C. Schedules
• D. Streams

Answer: (D)

When messages can arrive at a rate faster than once per second, you need a real-time data path that processes inputs as they come. Streams in FME Flow provide a continuous, low-latency channel from a producer to consumers, handling rapid, back-to-back messages without waiting for a scheduled cycle. This enables immediate processing, scaling with throughput, and consistent handling of bursts.

Automations respond to events but aren’t designed to sustain per-message throughput at high frequencies and can introduce overhead or batching effects. Repositories are just storage for workflows and don’t handle message processing. Schedules run at fixed times or intervals, which inherently delays or batches messages arriving more frequently than the schedule.

So, Streams is the best fit for handling messages arriving more than once per second.