RuntimeException when trying to create kafka40 realtime table

I'm using Pinot 1.5.1 deployed in Kubernetes.

I'm trying to create the following table:

```json
{
"tableName": "test",
"tableType": "REALTIME",
"segmentsConfig": {
"timeColumnName": "timestamp",
"timeType": "MILLISECONDS",
"replicasPerPartition": "1"
},
"tenants": {},
"tableIndexConfig": {
"loadMode": "MMAP",
"streamConfigs": {
"streamType": "kafka",
"stream.kafka.topic.name": "pinot-test",
"stream.kafka.broker.list": "kafka-kafka-bootstrap.kafka:9092",
"stream.kafka.consumer.factory.class.name": "org.apache.pinot.plugin.stream.kafka40.KafkaConsumerFactory",
"stream.kafka.decoder.class.name": "org.apache.pinot.plugin.inputformat.avro.confluent.KafkaConfluentSchemaRegistryAvroMessageDecoder",
"stream.kafka.decoder.prop.schema.registry.rest.url": "http://apicurio-registry.kafka:8080/apis/ccompat/v7",
"realtime.segment.flush.threshold.time": "24h",
"realtime.segment.flush.threshold.segment.size": "50M",
"stream.kafka.consumer.prop.auto.offset.reset": "smallest"
}
},
"metadata": {
"customConfigs": {}
}
}
```
with the schema
```json
{
"schemaName": "test",
"dimensionFieldSpecs": [
{
"name": "id",
"dataType": "STRING"
},
{
"name": "name",
"dataType": "STRING"
}
],
"metricFieldSpecs": [
],
"dateTimeFieldSpecs": [
{
"name": "timestamp",
"dataType": "TIMESTAMP",
"format" : "1:MILLISECONDS:EPOCH",
"granularity": "1:MILLISECONDS"
}
]
}
```

Trying to add the table in the UI results in a 500 response with the following stacktrace in the controller logs:
```
2026/07/08 08:56:43.053 ERROR [PinotTableRestletResource] [grizzly-http-server-1] null
java.lang.RuntimeException
at org.apache.pinot.controller.helix.core.PinotTableIdealStateBuilder.getStreamMetadataList(PinotTableIdealStateBuilder.java:111)
at org.apache.pinot.controller.helix.core.realtime.PinotLLCRealtimeSegmentManager.getNewStreamMetadataList(PinotLLCRealtimeSegmentManager.java:1293)
at org.apache.pinot.controller.helix.core.realtime.PinotLLCRealtimeSegmentManager.getNewStreamMetadataList(PinotLLCRealtimeSegmentManager.java:1280)
at org.apache.pinot.controller.helix.core.realtime.PinotLLCRealtimeSegmentManager.setUpNewTable(PinotLLCRealtimeSegmentManager.java:386)
at org.apache.pinot.controller.helix.core.PinotHelixResourceManager.addTable(PinotHelixResourceManager.java:1883)
at org.apache.pinot.controller.helix.core.PinotHelixResourceManager.addTable(PinotHelixResourceManager.java:1802)
at org.apache.pinot.controller.api.resources.PinotTableRestletResource.addTable(PinotTableRestletResource.java:266)
at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DirectMethodHandleAccessor.invoke(DirectMethodHandleAccessor.java:103)
at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:580)
at org.glassfish.jersey.server.model.internal.ResourceMethodInvocationHandlerFactory.lambda$static$0(ResourceMethodInvocationHandlerFactory.java:52)
at org.glassfish.jersey.server.model.internal.AbstractJavaResourceMethodDispatcher$1.run(AbstractJavaResourceMethodDispatcher.java:146)
at org.glassfish.jersey.server.model.internal.AbstractJavaResourceMethodDispatcher.invoke(AbstractJavaResourceMethodDispatcher.java:189)
at org.glassfish.jersey.server.model.internal.JavaResourceMethodDispatcherProvider$TypeOutInvoker.doDispatch(JavaResourceMethodDispatcherProvider.java:219)
at org.glassfish.jersey.server.model.internal.AbstractJavaResourceMethodDispatcher.dispatch(AbstractJavaResourceMethodDispatcher.java:93)
at org.glassfish.jersey.server.model.ResourceMethodInvoker.invoke(ResourceMethodInvoker.java:478)
at org.glassfish.jersey.server.model.ResourceMethodInvoker.apply(ResourceMethodInvoker.java:400)
at org.glassfish.jersey.server.model.ResourceMethodInvoker.apply(ResourceMethodInvoker.java:81)
at org.glassfish.jersey.server.ServerRuntime$1.run(ServerRuntime.java:256)
at org.glassfish.jersey.internal.Errors$1.call(Errors.java:248)
at org.glassfish.jersey.internal.Errors$1.call(Errors.java:244)
at org.glassfish.jersey.internal.Errors.process(Errors.java:292)
at org.glassfish.jersey.internal.Errors.process(Errors.java:274)
at org.glassfish.jersey.internal.Errors.process(Errors.java:244)
at org.glassfish.jersey.process.internal.RequestScope.runInScope(RequestScope.java:265)
at org.glassfish.jersey.server.ServerRuntime.process(ServerRuntime.java:235)
at org.glassfish.jersey.server.ApplicationHandler.handle(ApplicationHandler.java:684)
at org.glassfish.jersey.grizzly2.httpserver.GrizzlyHttpContainer.service(GrizzlyHttpContainer.java:356)
at org.glassfish.grizzly.http.server.HttpHandler$1.run(HttpHandler.java:190)
at org.glassfish.grizzly.threadpool.AbstractThreadPool$Worker.doWork(AbstractThreadPool.java:535)
```

Trying to add the exact same table with kafka30 works without problems:
```json
{
"tableName": "test",
"tableType": "REALTIME",
"segmentsConfig": {
"timeColumnName": "timestamp",
"timeType": "MILLISECONDS",
"replicasPerPartition": "1"
},
"tenants": {},
"tableIndexConfig": {
"loadMode": "MMAP",
"streamConfigs": {
"streamType": "kafka",
"stream.kafka.topic.name": "pinot-test",
"stream.kafka.broker.list": "kafka-kafka-bootstrap.kafka:9092",
"stream.kafka.consumer.factory.class.name": "org.apache.pinot.plugin.stream.kafka30.KafkaConsumerFactory",
"stream.kafka.decoder.class.name": "org.apache.pinot.plugin.inputformat.avro.confluent.KafkaConfluentSchemaRegistryAvroMessageDecoder",
"stream.kafka.decoder.prop.schema.registry.rest.url": "http://apicurio-registry.kafka:8080/apis/ccompat/v7",
"realtime.segment.flush.threshold.time": "24h",
"realtime.segment.flush.threshold.segment.size": "50M",
"stream.kafka.consumer.prop.auto.offset.reset": "smallest"
}
},
"metadata": {
"customConfigs": {}
}
}
```

The Kafka cluster is version 4.0.0.

Start at PinotTableIdealStateBuilder.java:111, then follow the calls from PinotLLCRealtimeSegmentManager.getNewStreamMetadataList shown in the stack trace. Reproduce table creation with the kafka40 configuration and compare its stream metadata handling with the working kafka30 configuration. Done means the kafka40 table is created without the RuntimeException.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.