# higress-group/higress

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8,727 stars · 1,161 forks · Go · Apache-2.0

## Links

- GitHub: https://github.com/higress-group/higress
- Homepage: https://higress.ai
- awesome-repositories: https://awesome-repositories.com/repository/higress-group-higress.md

## Description

Higress is an AI-native and cloud-native API gateway that routes, secures, and optimizes traffic between clients and large language model services. It functions as a centralized entry point for microservices, serving as both a Kubernetes ingress controller and an AI gateway orchestrator.

The project distinguishes itself by managing traffic across multiple AI providers using a unified protocol, incorporating token-aware rate limiting and response caching to optimize model inference. It coordinates communication between AI models and external tools to provide real-time context and data, while also hosting server endpoints for AI agents.

Broad capabilities include API security enforcement via web application firewalls, automated TLS certificate management, and dynamic service discovery. The gateway supports custom request processing through sandboxed WebAssembly plugins that allow for traffic transformation with hot-reloading.

The system implements standardized ingress APIs to manage network routing within containerized clusters with low resource overhead.

## Tags

### Artificial Intelligence & ML

- [AI Gateways](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/artificial-intelligence-ml/ai-gateways.md) — Provides a unified AI-native gateway for routing, securing, and managing traffic to multiple LLM providers.
- [Traffic Management](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/artificial-intelligence-ml/inference-gateways/traffic-management.md) — Balances requests across multiple AI providers using unified protocols, token-aware rate limiting, and response caching.
- [Model Context Protocol Integrations](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/artificial-intelligence-ml/ai-assistant-integrations/model-context-protocol-integrations.md) — Implements Model Context Protocol integrations to expose real-time system data and functions to AI models. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/blob/main/ADOPTERS.md))
- [Inference Response Optimizations](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/artificial-intelligence-ml/ai-model-inference/inference-response-optimizations.md) — Improves the delivery of AI responses by directing traffic to efficient endpoints and caching results.
- [Inference Traffic Optimizations](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/artificial-intelligence-ml/ai-model-inference/inference-traffic-optimizations.md) — Directs traffic to efficient inference endpoints to ensure the fast delivery of AI-generated responses. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/blob/main/ADOPTERS.md))

### Software Engineering & Architecture

- [AI Service Gateways](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/software-engineering-architecture/api-gateways/ai-service-gateways.md) — Provides a cloud-native gateway that routes, secures, and optimizes traffic specifically for large language model services.
- [Wasm-Based Plugins](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/software-engineering-architecture/software-architecture/architectural-patterns/plugin-module-systems/modular-plugin-architectures/plugin-based-architectures/wasm-based-plugins.md) — Executes custom logic in a sandboxed WebAssembly runtime to transform network traffic with hot-reloading.

### DevOps & Infrastructure

- [AI Traffic Routing](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/api-service-management/api-management/ai-traffic-routing.md) — Provides specialized routing and management for traffic directed toward machine learning applications. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/blob/main/VERSION))
- [Ingress Controllers](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/ingress-controllers.md) — Implements standardized ingress APIs to manage external access and network routing within clusters.
- [Token-Based Rate Limiters](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/request-rate-limiting/gateway-rate-limiters/token-based-rate-limiters.md) — Enforces rate limits based on token consumption per client to prevent service exhaustion in LLM endpoints.
- [AI Model Load Balancers](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/traffic-load-balancers/ai-model-load-balancers.md) — Balances requests across multiple AI model providers based on token costs, latency, and availability. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress#readme))
- [MCP Server Hosting](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/mcp-server-hosting.md) — Provides specialized infrastructure for hosting Model Context Protocol servers to make tools available to AI agents. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress#readme))
- [Microservice Traffic Management](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/microservice-traffic-management.md) — Routes requests to distributed microservices by discovering service locations from external registries. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress#readme))
- [Service Registry Integrations](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/microservice-traffic-management/service-registry-integrations.md) — Integrates with service registries to automatically locate and route requests to available backend instances. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/blob/main/README.md))
- [Service Registries](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/service-registries.md) — Integrates with service registries to dynamically discover and route traffic to backend microservices.
- [Traffic Throttling](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/traffic-management/traffic-throttling.md) — Limits the volume of incoming traffic using specific parameters to prevent service exhaustion under high load. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/tree/main/plugins))
- [Per-Client Request Throttlers](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/traffic-management/traffic-throttling/per-client-request-throttlers.md) — Protects backend services from abuse by restricting the number of requests allowed per client identity. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/blob/main/SECURITY.md))

### Networking & Communication

- [Centralized API Gateways](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/networking-communication/centralized-api-gateways.md) — Provides a centralized entry point to route incoming network requests to the correct backend microservices. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/blob/main/ADOPTERS.md))
- [AI Protocol Translation](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/networking-communication/cross-chain-messaging-protocols/protocol-translators/messaging-protocol-translation/ai-protocol-translation.md) — Translates diverse AI provider APIs into a single standardized protocol for seamless routing.
- [Chunked Response Processing](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/networking-communication/communication-protocols-architectures/streaming-architectures/streaming-response-architectures/chunked-response-processing.md) — Processes request and response bodies as continuous data flows to minimize memory overhead for high-bandwidth AI traffic.
- [Traffic Routing Controllers](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/networking-communication/traffic-routing-controllers.md) — Manages the flow and security of requests to language model services using a specialized control plane. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/blob/main/ADOPTERS.md))

### Web Development

- [AI Model Routing Strategies](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/web-development/ai-model-routing-strategies.md) — Employs logic to distribute LLM requests across various providers to optimize for cost and speed. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/blob/main/README.md))
- [API Gateways](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/web-development/api-gateways.md) — Serves as a centralized entry point for microservices with integrated service discovery and request throttling.

### Data & Databases

- [Memory-Efficient Data Streaming](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/data-databases/data-processing-pipelines/stream-processing-systems/stream-processing/memory-efficient-data-streaming.md) — Processes request and response bodies as continuous data streams to minimize memory overhead for AI responses. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/blob/main/README.md))

### Development Tools & Productivity

- [Traffic Transformation Modules](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/custom-module-loading/traffic-transformation-modules.md) — Deploys lightweight binary modules to intercept and transform network traffic at the routing level. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/tree/main/plugins))
- [Request Processing Plugins](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/plugin-systems/custom-plugin-registrations/request-processing-plugins.md) — Provides modular plugins that process and transform incoming HTTP requests using custom logic.
- [Sandboxed Plugin Execution](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/tool-integration-plug-ins/sandboxed-plugin-execution.md) — Executes request-handling plugins in a sandboxed environment with hot-reloading to ensure system stability and security. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress#readme))

### Security & Cryptography

- [API Access Security](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/api-access-security.md) — Secures API endpoints by combining firewall rules with multiple identity verification strategies. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress#readme))
- [TLS Certificate Management](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/governance-policy-frameworks/security-infrastructure/tls-certificate-management.md) — Automates the issuance and renewal of TLS certificates to ensure secure encrypted connections. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/blob/main/SECURITY.md))
- [API Request Authentication](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/identity-access-management/authentication-strategies/machine-and-protocol-identity/api-machine-authentication/api-request-authentication.md) — Validates request credentials using standard authentication schemes to protect sensitive resources. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/blob/main/SECURITY.md))
- [Automated Certificate Management](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/network-infrastructure-security/web-network-security/security-https/automated-certificate-management.md) — Automates the issuance and renewal of TLS certificates for secure, encrypted connections.
- [Traffic Security Policies](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/security-policy-controllers/traffic-security-policies.md) — Enforces security policies and access controls on traffic flows to keep sensitive services protected. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/blob/main/go.mod))
- [Traffic Filtering](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/traffic-filtering.md) — Filters common web attacks through a security firewall to protect backend microservices from exploitation. ([source](https://github.com/higress-group/higress/blob/main/SECURITY.md))
- [Web Application Firewalls](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/traffic-filtering/web-application-firewalls.md) — Implements a web application firewall to filter and block malicious HTTP traffic protecting backend services.

### Part of an Awesome List

- [API Gateways](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/awesome-lists/devtools/api-gateways.md) — Cloud-native gateway based on Envoy and Istio.