API and AI Gateway
43.3k 2026-05-01
Kong/kong
A high-performance, extensible API and AI Gateway for orchestrating microservices, LLM, and MCP traffic.
Core Features
Advanced routing, load balancing, and health checking.
Comprehensive authentication and authorization for APIs.
Universal LLM API for multi-provider AI traffic management.
MCP traffic governance, security, and observability.
Extensible via a rich plugin ecosystem for custom functionalities.
Quick Start
KONG_DATABASE=postgres docker-compose --profile database upDetailed Introduction
Kong Gateway is a cloud-native, platform-agnostic API and AI Gateway designed for high performance and extensibility. It serves as a central layer for managing and orchestrating API, microservices, LLM, and MCP traffic. With features like advanced routing, load balancing, robust authentication, and a universal LLM API, Kong simplifies the complexities of modern distributed architectures. Its plugin-driven architecture allows for extensive customization, enabling organizations to enforce traffic controls, enhance security, and gain deep observability across their services, whether deployed on Kubernetes, bare metal, or in containers.