Word choice and naming

Generally:

• Use contractions
• Use simple words and short, concise sentences
• Avoid non-English words. Most commonly, this means avoiding Latin words and abbreviations.
• Use bias-free, inclusive language.
• Capitalize most of Kong’s product and component names as proper names, with some notable exceptions. See the naming table for details.

Product and component names

• Product: Either an application that can be used on its own, or a group of modules packaged together (for example, Konnect).
• Component: A module that’s packaged with a product, for example, Dev Portal. Can’t be used or sold on its own.

Capitalize the following Kong-specific terms and component names:

Name	Description
Kong Konnect Konnect	Use Kong Konnect for the first mention, and Konnect after.
Kong Gateway Gateway	Kong’s API gateway runtime, regardless of packaging or license. This term also refers to the enterprise version. Use lowercase “gateway” when referring to the general concept of an API gateway. Use uppercase “Gateway” as a shorthand for “Kong Gateway”. When writing about “Kong Gateway”, use “Kong Gateway” for the first mention and “Gateway” after.
Kong Gateway (OSS)	Kong’s API gateway runtime, open-source package. Use this name to specifically refer to the open-source package.
Kong Enterprise	Kong Gateway packaged with Enterprise features. Use when talking about subscription levels or package types.
Kong Mesh Mesh	Kong’s service mesh. Use “Kong Mesh” for the first mention, “Mesh” after.
Kuma	Kong’s open-source service mesh. ❌  Do not use “Kong Kuma”. This is an open-source project supported by the CNCF and maintained, not owned, by Kong.
Insomnia	Kong’s open-source API client.
Dev Portal Dev Portal, self-managed Dev Portal, cloud	A module for sharing APIs and their specs with developers, and enabling the developers to create applications based on Gateway or Konnect services. ❌  Do not use “Developer Portal”.
Service Hub	The service catalog in Konnect. ❌  Do not use “ServiceHub”, “Service hub”, or “Servicehub”.
Runtime Manager	The runtime management service in Konnect ❌  Do not use “Runtime manager”.
Analytics	Analytics and monitoring for Gateway and Konnect. ❌  Do not use “Vitals”.
decK	Kong’s CLI tool for managing declarative configuration. ❌  Do not capitalize the first letter, even if the name appears at the start of a sentence.

Word choice

Bias-free language

Use gender-neutral and unbiased language.

✅  Use	❌  Don’t use
Denylist, allowlist	Blacklist, whitelist
Main branch	Master branch
Neutral pronouns (you, they/them)	Gendered pronouns (he/his, she/her)

Software terms

✅  Use	❌  Don’t use
Self-managed	Self-hosted, on-premise(s)
Free tier	Free mode
Plus tier	Plus mode, Plus subscription
Enterprise tier	Enterprise mode, Enterprise subscription
Cloud	Software as a Service/SaaS
cURL	curl, CURL
HTTPie	httpie, HTTPIE
Unix	unix, UNIX
Nginx	nginx, NGINX

See also

Follow Kong’s style guide whenever possible. However, you can also refer to other external style guides for specific word choice and substitution examples. We recommend using the Google developer style guide.