Apache APISIX is a high-performance, cloud-native API Gateway designed for dynamic traffic management and AI gateway functionalities. It offers extensive features for north-south and east-west traffic, Kubernetes ingress, and AI agent proxying, catering to developers and operations teams seeking robust API management.

How It Works

APISIX leverages Nginx and LuaJIT for its core, enabling hot updates and hot plugins without restarts. Its architecture is built around a dynamic configuration center (etcd by default, with support for Consul, Nacos, etc.) and a REST Admin API for real-time control. This design allows for fine-grained routing, extensive traffic control, and security policies, all managed dynamically.

Quick Start & Requirements

• Install: Docker is the recommended installation method.
• Prerequisites: etcd is required for clustering.
• Resources: Minimal resource footprint for basic operation.
• Docs: Getting Started

Highlighted Details

• High performance: QPS up to 18k on a single core, with <0.2ms latency.
• Multi-protocol support: TCP/UDP, Dubbo, MQTT, gRPC, gRPC-Web, WebSocket.
• Extensible: Custom plugins can be written in Java, Go, Python, or via Wasm.
• AI Gateway: Features include AI proxying, LLM load balancing, and token-based rate limiting.

Maintenance & Community

• Active development under the Apache Software Foundation.
• Community channels include a mailing list and Slack workspace.
• Documentation and Blog available.

Licensing & Compatibility

• License: Apache 2.0.
• Compatibility: Permissive license allows commercial use and integration with closed-source systems.

Limitations & Caveats

The Wasm plugin support is noted as experimental. While APISIX supports multiple languages for plugin development via RPC, the Wasm integration is a newer, evolving feature.