# unkeyed/unkey

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5,356 stars · 624 forks · TypeScript · NOASSERTION

## Links

- GitHub: https://github.com/unkeyed/unkey
- Homepage: https://go.unkey.com
- awesome-repositories: https://awesome-repositories.com/repository/unkeyed-unkey.md

## Topics

`api` `api-keys` `authentication` `authorization` `deployment` `gateway` `open-source` `rate-limiter`

## Description

Unkey is an API key management platform and gateway control plane designed for issuing, verifying, and revoking secure keys with global distribution. It provides the infrastructure necessary to authenticate requests and authorize access to protected resources with low latency.

The platform distinguishes itself through edge-based request authentication and distributed rate limiting, which allow for the verification of keys and enforcement of request quotas at the network edge. It also features a usage-based billing engine and a self-service developer portal, enabling the tracking of metered API consumption and allowing end users to manage their own authentication keys.

The system covers a broad range of operational capabilities, including role-based access control for fine-grained security policies, global traffic steering to minimize latency, and immutable activity auditing for security compliance. Additionally, it supports key namespace organization to isolate environments and provides real-time monitoring and verification data analytics.

## Tags

### Security & Cryptography

- [API Key Lifecycle Management](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/api-key-authentication/api-key-lifecycle-management.md) — Provides full lifecycle management for API keys, including creation, updates, and revocation. ([source](https://unkey.com/docs/llms.txt#unkey-docs))
- [API Key Management](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/api-key-management.md) — Provides a comprehensive system for issuing, verifying, and revoking secure API keys to authorize resource access.
- [Global Verifications](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/api-key-management/api-key-proxying/key-validators/global-verifications.md) — Validates secure keys using a global distribution network to authorize requests with minimal latency. ([source](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/unkeyed/unkey@main/README.md))
- [Edge Authentication Strategies](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/identity-access-management/access-control/network-interface-access/edge-authentication-strategies.md) — Validates API keys at the network edge to reject unauthorized requests before they reach application logic. ([source](https://www.unkey.com/docs))
- [Rate Limiting & Abuse Prevention](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/rate-limiting-abuse-prevention.md) — Prevents service abuse by capping request volumes at the network edge for users and IP addresses. ([source](https://www.unkey.com/docs))
- [Client Request Quotas](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/request-size-limiters/request-limiters/request-throttling/client-request-quotas.md) — Enforces durable per-client request volume limits to protect overall system capacity. ([source](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/unkeyed/unkey@main/README.md))
- [API Activity Auditing](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/api-activity-auditing.md) — Maintains a permanent, immutable history of all workspace actions for security compliance and accountability.
- [Custom Key Specifications](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/api-key-management/auto-revoking-api-key-issuers/api-key-revokers/custom-key-specifications.md) — Supports the issuance of keys with custom prefixes, metadata, and specific expiration dates. ([source](https://go.unkey.com/))
- [Key-Level Access Controls](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/identity-access-management/access-control/data-resource-permissions/key-level-access-controls.md) — Assigns granular roles and permissions to individual API keys to restrict access to sensitive resources. ([source](https://unkey.com/docs/llms.txt#unkey-docs))
- [Identity-Linked Grouping](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/identity-key-management/identity-linked-grouping.md) — Allows multiple API keys to be associated with one identity for shared rate limiting and metadata.
- [Namespace-Based Isolation](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/multi-tenant-isolation/namespace-based-isolation.md) — Groups keys into distinct namespaces to isolate authentication and quotas by environment or product line.
- [Permission-Based Access Control](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/permission-based-access-control.md) — Enforces access restrictions based on the identity and specific permissions associated with a presented key. ([source](https://engineering.unkey.com/))
- [Role-Based Access Control](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/role-based-access-control.md) — Implements fine-grained security policies using role-based access control for managing key permissions. ([source](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/unkeyed/unkey@main/README.md))
- [Identity-Linked Key Grouping](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/security-cryptography/user-identity-management/identity-grouping/identity-linked-key-grouping.md) — Links multiple keys to a single identity to synchronize rate limits across different access points. ([source](https://unkey.com/docs/llms.txt#unkey-docs))

### Business & Productivity Software

- [Usage Metering & Billing](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/business-productivity-software/usage-metering-billing.md) — Tracks request consumption against monthly credit balances to support tiered and metered pricing models.
- [Billing and Usage](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/business-productivity-software/financial-operational-management/billing-financial-systems/billing-and-usage.md) — Updates credit limits and key settings to align with current billing cycles or subscription changes. ([source](https://unkey.com/docs/llms.txt#unkey-docs))

### DevOps & Infrastructure

- [API Gateway Control Planes](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/api-gateway-control-planes.md) — Ships a management layer for routing traffic and enforcing access control policies at the network edge.
- [Key Verifications](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/edge-request-processing/key-verifications.md) — Provides edge-based validation of API keys to minimize latency and protect application servers.
- [Distributed Rate Limiting](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/rate-limiters/distributed-rate-limiting.md) — Implements request volume tracking across global regions to prevent service abuse without centralized caching.
- [Gateway Rate Limiters](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/request-rate-limiting/gateway-rate-limiters.md) — Implements request caps per IP, user, or key at the API gateway level to protect backend services. ([source](https://go.unkey.com/))
- [Global Region Deployments](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/devops-infrastructure/global-region-deployments.md) — Builds and distributes images across multiple worldwide regions to ensure low-latency responses. ([source](https://www.unkey.com/docs))

### User Interface & Experience

- [User Self-Service Portals](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/user-interface-experience/user-self-service-portals.md) — Provides a self-service interface for users to manage their own authentication keys and monitor usage. ([source](https://go.unkey.com/))

### Development Tools & Productivity

- [Developer Portals](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/developer-portals.md) — Provides a centralized developer hub for managing API keys, monitoring usage, and accessing documentation.

### Networking & Communication

- [Global Traffic Steering](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/networking-communication/network-infrastructure-routing/network-routing-traffic-management/network-traffic-management/automated-traffic-routing/global-traffic-steering.md) — Implements global traffic steering to route users to the nearest regional instance for minimum latency. ([source](https://go.unkey.com/))
- [Traffic Routing](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/networking-communication/traffic-routing.md) — Directs incoming requests to the nearest regional instance to minimize latency for worldwide users.

### Programming Languages & Runtimes

- [Namespace Organization](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/programming-languages-runtimes/module-and-package-management/namespace-organization.md) — Organizes keys into namespaces to provide logical isolation by environment, service, or product line. ([source](https://unkey.com/docs/llms.txt#unkey-docs))

### System Administration & Monitoring

- [Real-Time Monitoring](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/system-administration-monitoring/real-time-monitoring.md) — Collects real-time logs and traffic metrics to identify abnormal request patterns and performance issues. ([source](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/gh/unkeyed/unkey@main/README.md))