api-gateway-patterns

API gateway routing directs incoming requests to backend services based on path, header, host, or method. Kong-based gateways support path-based, header-based, and host-based routing strategies, including canary deployments. Configure routes to map external URLs to internal service endpoints and apply plugins for authentication and rate limiting.

Gateway-level authentication includes API keys, JWT tokens, OAuth2, OIDC, and mTLS certificates. These mechanisms validate requests before they reach backend services, reducing load on microservices and centralizing security policy. Kong gateway plugins support all these authentication types with configurable validation rules.

Rate limiting at the gateway enforces request quotas globally or per consumer using plugins. Kong supports time-window-based limits, per-IP throttling, and consumer-specific quotas. Configure thresholds in the gateway to prevent abuse and ensure fair resource allocation across all API consumers.

Yes. API gateways like Kong combine caching plugins to store frequent responses with transformation plugins that modify headers and request/response bodies. This reduces backend load, improves latency, and standardizes API contracts across microservices without code changes in services.

Gateway observability includes request logging, metrics collection, and distributed tracing. Kong integrates with monitoring tools to export traffic patterns, latency, error rates, and authentication failures. Combine logging plugins, metrics exporters, and tracing agents to track API behavior end-to-end.

Multi-tenancy routing isolates tenant traffic by matching request headers or domains to separate backend pools. TLS termination and certificate management at the gateway layer handle encryption for all tenants centrally. Kong supports per-tenant routing rules, SNI-based certificate selection, and automated certificate renewal.