标签：#apigateway

There is common point of confusion. what's the different between REST API vs. HTTP API in AWS and what's the different between them and a traditional Rest API you write with e.g express in node in the broader software world, a "REST API" is just an architectural pattern built on top of HTTP requests. The confusion comes entirely from AWS-specific marketing terminology . When you are inside the AWS ecosystem, Amazon API Gateway is a specific managed service, and AWS chose to split that service into two different flavors (or software products): one called "REST API" and one called "HTTP API." Here is exactly how they work under the hood, how they differ internally, and how it compares to traditional servers. 1. How It Works: REST API vs. HTTP API (AWS Architecture) Think of Amazon API Gateway as a reverse proxy or a "front door" that sits in front of your Lambda functions. AWS REST API (The Heavyweight) When a request hits an AWS REST API, AWS passes that request through a massive feature pipeline before it ever touches your Lambda code. [Client Request] ──> [Authentication (Cognito/IAM)] ──> [Request Validation] ──> [Data Transformation (VTL)] ──> [Your Lambda] What happens: AWS decrypts the request, validates the JSON schema, checks API keys, runs any custom request transformations using a complex mapping language called VTL, and then invokes your Lambda function. Why it costs more: You are paying AWS for all that computing power happening inside the API Gateway layer itself. AWS HTTP API (The Express Lane) When a request hits an AWS HTTP API, AWS strips out almost the entire middle pipeline. [Client Request] ──> [JWT/OAuth2 Authorization Only] ──> [Your Lambda] What happens: The HTTP API acts as a lightning-fast router. It optionally checks a standard JWT token, converts the incoming HTTP request directly into a clean JSON object, and throws it straight into your Lambda function. Why it costs less: Because AWS is doing almost zero processing or data manipulation. Y

Every backend project I've worked on eventually hits the same wall. You start clean — one service, simple routes, everything works. Then slowly the requirements creep in. "We need rate limiting." "Can we add auth middleware?" "What happens when the user service goes down — does it take everything else with it?" You either bolt these things onto every service individually, copy-paste the same middleware across projects, or pay for a managed gateway like Kong or AWS API Gateway and hope it does what you need. I wanted to actually understand how these things work under the hood. So I'm building one — and this is what I've learned so far. What is Ferrox? Ferrox is a self-hosted, programmable API gateway written entirely in Rust. It sits in front of your backend services and handles everything a production system needs in one place: Dynamic routing — point any path prefix to any upstream service Authentication — JWT and API key validation on protected routes Rate limiting — Redis-backed per-IP and per-API-key limiting Circuit breaking — stops hammering a dead upstream service Response caching — Redis-backed TTL cache per route Real-time observability — WebSocket dashboard with live request stats Prometheus metrics — plug straight into Grafana The idea is simple. Instead of this: Client → Service A (has its own auth, rate limiting, logging) Client → Service B (has its own auth, rate limiting, logging) Client → Service C (has its own auth, rate limiting, logging) You get this: Client | v FERROX (auth, rate limiting, circuit breaking, logging — once) | +--------+--------+ | | | Svc A Svc B Svc C (clean) (clean) (clean) Your services stay clean. Ferrox handles the cross-cutting concerns. Why Rust? Honest answer — I already knew Rust from my backend work. But for a gateway specifically, it felt like the obvious choice. A gateway sits on the critical path of every single request. Every millisecond of latency it adds is latency your users feel. You need predictable performance

A lot of AI apps die in the same place. Not during the prototype phase. Not while testing...