Request Routing — Complete Gateway Routing Guide

In this tutorial, you will learn about Request Routing. We cover key concepts, practical examples, and best practices to help you master this topic.

Request routing is the process of mapping incoming requests to the appropriate backend service. The gateway inspects the request and applies routing rules to determine the destination.

What You'll Learn

You'll learn routing strategies including path-based, header-based, hostname-based, and weighted routing.

Why It Matters

Proper routing is the core function of an API Gateway. It enables path abstraction, versioning, blue-green deployments, and canary releases.

Real-World Use

A gateway routes v1 API requests to the stable backend and v2 requests to the Canary Deployment. 10% of v2 traffic goes to the new version. If error rates increase, routing automatically switches back.

Implementation

# Kong routing configuration
services:
  - name: users-v1
    url: http://users-v1:3000
    routes:
      - name: users-route-v1
        paths:
          - /api/v1/users
        methods:
          - GET
          - POST

  - name: users-v2
    url: http://users-v2:3001
    routes:
      - name: users-route-v2
        paths:
          - /api/v2/users
        headers:
          X-API-Version: "2"

  - name: users-canary
    url: http://users-canary:3002
    routes:
      - name: users-canary-route
        paths:
          - /api/users
        methods:
          - GET
        service_weight: 10  # 10% traffic

Common Mistakes

What's Next

Learn about Load Balancing in API gateways.