An API gateway is explicitly and purposefully defined interface designed to be invoked over a network that enables software developers to get programmatic access to data and functionality within an organization in a controlled and comfortable way. First up on the list when talking about API gateways is API management.
With API Management, we are looking to solve the problem of “when we wish to expose existing APIs for others to consume”, how do we track who uses these APIs, enforce policies about who’s allowed to use them, establish security flows to authenticate and authorize permissible use and build a catalog of services that can be used at design time to promote API usage and lay the foundation for effective governance.
And for this purpose, we are leveraging Kong in our project.
What is Kong?
Kong is a scalable, open source API Layer (also known as an API Gateway, or API Middleware). Kong runs in front of any RESTful API and is extended through Plugins, which provide extra functionality and services beyond the core platform
Request Workflow:
To better understand the system, this is a typical request workflow of an API that uses Kong. Once Kong is running, every request being made to the API will hit Kong first, and then it will be proxied to the final API. In between requests and responses Kong will execute any plugin that you decided to install, empowering your APIs. Kong effectively becomes the entry point for every API request.
How does Kong route a request to an API?
When receiving a request, Kong will inspect it and try to route it to the correct API. In order to do so, it supports different routing mechanisms depending on your needs. A request can be routed by:
- A DNS value contained in the Host header of the request.
- The path (URI) of the request.
Who is it for?
The API Management Lifecycle platform is designed for:
- Developers and IT teams within Connected Living and GTO who need to build, manage, and secure REST and GraphQL APIs.
- Organizations that require a scalable and reliable platform to manage their API traffic.
- Teams looking to improve the performance, observability, and security of their APIs.
Onboarding
This documentation serves as a step-by-step guide to deploying your service behind the Connected Living API Gateway.
Start Onboarding