All terms
Glossary
API gateway
A service in front that accepts requests, validates them and forwards them to the services behind.
The gateway is where cross-cutting concerns land: authentication, throttling, logging, routing by path or version.
Individual services then do not each solve these problems, and there is one place to change behaviour for everyone.
How you notice it
- Several services need the same authentication.
- Throttling should be handled in one place.
- One address outside, several services inside.
Frequently asked
What does not belong in the gateway?
Anything domain specific. Per client transformations, business rules and special cases accumulate there until the gateway itself becomes the legacy system nobody can test. Cross cutting concerns yes, logic no.