🌐 Cloud-Native API Gateway

A production-style API Gateway built to handle authentication, request routing, and centralized control for backend services in a cloud-native environment.

This project focuses on treating APIs as infrastructure, not just endpoints — emphasizing security, scalability, and maintainability.

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🧠 Why an API Gateway?

In distributed systems, multiple services often need to handle:

• Authentication & authorization
• Request routing
• Validation & error handling
• Observability (logging, tracing)

Without a gateway, these concerns get duplicated across services, leading to:

• ❌ Inconsistent security
• ❌ Code duplication
• ❌ Increased system complexity

An API Gateway provides a single entry point that centralizes these responsibilities.

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🏗️ Architecture

Client ↓ API Gateway (Spring Boot) ↓ Backend Services (extensible)

Responsibilities of the Gateway:

• Authenticate incoming requests (JWT)
• Validate and process requests
• Route requests to appropriate services
• Handle errors consistently

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⚙️ Key Features

🔐 Security Layer

• JWT-based authentication and authorization
• Secure request handling
• Role-based access control (extensible)

🌐 Gateway Layer

• Centralized request entry point
• Request routing and handling
• Decouples clients from backend services

☁️ Cloud-Native Design

• Dockerized application
• Environment-based configuration
• Designed for scalability and deployment flexibility

🛠️ Reliability & Maintainability

• Structured error handling
• Input validation
• Clean layered architecture (Controller → Service → Repository)

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🧱 Tech Stack

• Backend: Spring Boot (Java)
• Security: Spring Security, JWT
• Containerization: Docker
• Build Tool: Maven / Gradle

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🚀 Getting Started

1️⃣ Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/NasitSony/Cloud-Native-API-Gateway.git
cd Cloud-Native-API-Gateway

2️⃣ Configure environment

Set required environment variables (e.g., JWT secret)

3️⃣ Run the application

./mvnw spring-boot:run

4️⃣ Run with Docker (optional)

docker build -t api-gateway .
docker run -p 8080:8080 api-gateway

🔍 Example Flow

1) Client sends request with JWT token
2) Gateway validates token
3) Request is processed and routed
4) Response returned to client

🎯 Design Focus

- Treating API layers as infrastructure components
- Centralizing cross-cutting concerns (security, routing)
- Designing backend systems for scalability and clarity
- Building clean, maintainable service architecture

💡 Key Learnings

- API gateways simplify distributed systems by centralizing shared concerns
- Security should be enforced at a single entry point
- Backend systems must be designed with scalability in mind from the start
- Clean architecture improves long-term maintainability

📌 Positioning
This project represents the API layer of a distributed system, complementing:
- AI infrastructure systems (e.g., SmartSearch)
- Storage engines (LSM-based KV store)
- Future consensus systems (Raft / BFT)

📬 Contact
 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nasitsony