What is NiFi and how does it relate to Apache NiFi?

MiNiFi (Minimum NiFi) is a lightweight subproject of Apache NiFi designed specifically for edge data collection on resource-constrained devices — IoT sensors, industrial controllers, embedded systems, and edge servers. It implements a subset of NiFi's capabilities with a dramatically reduced footprint: the MiNiFi Java agent runs in under 256 MB heap; the MiNiFi C++ agent runs in tens of megabytes.

MiNiFi flows are created in the full NiFi canvas (as a Process Group) and exported as a YAML or JSON template deployed to MiNiFi agents. The MiNiFi C2 Server (Command and Control) allows centralized management — pushing updated flow templates to agents without manual file deployment.

MiNiFi agents collect data at the source and use NiFi Site-to-Site protocol to ship FlowFiles to a central NiFi hub for further processing, enrichment, and routing. This hub-and-spoke architecture keeps complex transformation logic in the central NiFi where compute resources are available, while keeping the edge agent minimal.

Key differences from full NiFi: MiNiFi has no web UI (flows are pushed from outside), supports fewer processors, has no provenance UI, and is designed for unattended operation in network-constrained or intermittently connected environments.