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Mesh HTTP Route

This policy uses new policy matching algorithm. It’s recommended to migrate from TrafficRoute. See “Interactions with TrafficRoute” section for more information.

The MeshHTTPRoute policy allows altering and redirecting HTTP requests depending on where the request is coming from and where it’s going to.

TargetRef support matrix

TargetRef type	top level	to	from
Mesh	✅	❌	❌
MeshSubset	✅	❌	❌
MeshService	✅	✅	❌
MeshServiceSubset	✅	❌	❌

If you don’t understand this table you should read matching docs.

Configuration

Unlike others outbound policies MeshHTTPRoute doesn’t contain default directly in the to array. The default section is nested inside rules, so the policy structure looks like this:

spec:
  to:
    - targetRef: {...}
      rules:
        - matches: [...] # various ways to match an HTTP request (path, method, query)
          default: # configuration applied for the matched HTTP request
            filters: [...]
            backendRefs: [...]

Remember to tag your Service ports with appProtocol: http to use them in a MeshHTTPRoute!

Gateways

In order to route HTTP traffic for a MeshGateway, you need to target the MeshGateway in spec.targetRef and set spec.to[].targetRef.kind: Mesh.

Interactions with `MeshTCPRoute`

MeshHTTPRoute takes priority over MeshTCPRoute when a proxy is targeted by both and the matching MeshTCPRoute is ignored.

Interactions with `TrafficRoute`

MeshHTTPRoute takes priority over TrafficRoute when a proxy is targeted by both policies.

All legacy policies like Retry, TrafficLog, Timeout etc. only match on routes defined by TrafficRoute. All new recommended policies like MeshRetry, MeshAccessLog, MeshTimeout etc. match on routes defined by MeshHTTPRoute and TrafficRoute.

If you don’t use legacy policies, it’s recommended to remove any existing TrafficRoute. Otherwise, it’s recommended to migrate to new policies and then removing TrafficRoute.

Examples

Traffic split

We can use MeshHTTPRoute to split an HTTP traffic between services with different tags implementing A/B testing or canary deployments.

Here is an example of a MeshHTTPRoute that splits the traffic from frontend to backend between versions, but only on endpoints starting with /api. All other endpoints will go to version: 1.0.

Kubernetes

Universal

apiVersion: kuma.io/v1alpha1
kind: MeshHTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-route-1
  namespace: kong-mesh-system
  labels:
    kuma.io/mesh: default
spec:
  targetRef:
    kind: MeshService
    name: frontend_kuma-demo_svc_8080
  to:
    - targetRef:
        kind: MeshService
        name: backend_kuma-demo_svc_3001
      rules:
        - matches:
            - path:
                type: PathPrefix
                value: /
          default:
            backendRefs:
              - kind: MeshServiceSubset
                name: backend_kuma-demo_svc_3001
                tags:
                  version: "v0"
                weight: 90
              - kind: MeshServiceSubset
                name: backend_kuma-demo_svc_3001
                tags:
                  version: "v1"
                weight: 10

type: MeshHTTPRoute
name: http-route-1
mesh: default
spec:
  targetRef:
    kind: MeshService
    name: frontend
  to:
    - targetRef:
        kind: MeshService
        name: backend
      rules:
        - matches:
            - path:
                type: PathPrefix
                value: /
          default:
            backendRefs:
              - kind: MeshServiceSubset
                name: backend
                tags:
                  version: "v0"
                weight: 90
              - kind: MeshServiceSubset
                name: backend
                tags:
                  version: "v1"
                weight: 10

Traffic modifications

We can use MeshHTTPRoute to modify outgoing requests, by setting new path or changing request and response headers.

Here is an example of a MeshHTTPRoute that adds x-custom-header with value xyz when frontend tries to consume backend.

        
          Kubernetes
        
      

        
          Universal
        
      

    
      apiVersion: kuma.io/v1alpha1
kind: MeshHTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-route-1
  namespace: kong-mesh-system
  labels:
    kuma.io/mesh: default
spec:
  targetRef:
    kind: MeshSubset
    tags:
      app: frontend
  to:
  - targetRef:
      kind: MeshService
      name: backend_kuma-demo_svc_3001
    rules:
    - matches:
      - path:
          type: Exact
          value: "/"
      default:
        filters:
        - type: RequestHeaderModifier
          requestHeaderModifier:
            set:
            - name: x-custom-header
              value: xyz

    
      type: MeshHTTPRoute
name: http-route-1
mesh: default
spec:
  targetRef:
    kind: MeshSubset
    tags:
      app: frontend
  to:
  - targetRef:
      kind: MeshService
      name: backend
    rules:
    - matches:
      - path:
          type: Exact
          value: "/"
      default:
        filters:
        - type: RequestHeaderModifier
          requestHeaderModifier:
            set:
            - name: x-custom-header
              value: xyz

    
  

Traffic mirror

MeshHTTPRoute can mirror a fraction of requests to another service. This can be useful when testing a new version of the app with the production payload without interrupting real users.

        
          Kubernetes
        
      

        
          Universal
        
      

    
      apiVersion: kuma.io/v1alpha1
kind: MeshHTTPRoute
metadata:
  name: http-route-1
  namespace: kong-mesh-system
  labels:
    kuma.io/mesh: default
spec:
  targetRef:
    kind: MeshSubset
    tags:
      app: frontend
  to:
  - targetRef:
      kind: MeshService
      name: backend_kuma-demo_svc_3001
    rules:
    - matches:
      - headers:
        - type: Exact
          name: mirror-this-request
          value: 'true'
      default:
        filters:
        - type: RequestMirror
          requestMirror:
            percentage: 30
            backendRef:
              kind: MeshServiceSubset
              name: backend_kuma-demo_svc_3001
              tags:
                version: v1-experimental
        backendRefs:
        - kind: MeshService
          name: backend_kuma-demo_svc_3001

    
      type: MeshHTTPRoute
name: http-route-1
mesh: default
spec:
  targetRef:
    kind: MeshSubset
    tags:
      app: frontend
  to:
  - targetRef:
      kind: MeshService
      name: backend
    rules:
    - matches:
      - headers:
        - type: Exact
          name: mirror-this-request
          value: 'true'
      default:
        filters:
        - type: RequestMirror
          requestMirror:
            percentage: 30
            backendRef:
              kind: MeshServiceSubset
              name: backend
              tags:
                version: v1-experimental
        backendRefs:
        - kind: MeshService
          name: backend

    
  

Merging

When several MeshHTTPRoute policies target the same data plane proxy they’re merged. Similar to the new policies the merging order is determined by the top level targetRef. The difference is in spec.to[].rules. Kong Mesh treats rules as a key-value map where matches is a key and default is a value. For example MeshHTTPRoute policies:

# MeshHTTPRoute-1
rules:
  - matches: # key-1
      - path:
          type: Exact
          name: /orders
        method: GET
    default: CONF_1 # value
  - matches: # key-2
      - path:
          type: Exact
          name: /payments
        method: POST
    default: CONF_2 # value
---
# MeshHTTPRoute-2
rules:
  - matches: # key-3
      - path:
          type: Exact
          name: /orders
        method: GET
    default: CONF_3 # value
  - matches: # key-4
      - path:
          type: Exact
          name: /payments
        method: POST
    default: CONF_4 # value

merged in the following list of rules:

rules:
  - matches:
      - path:
          type: Exact
          name: /orders
        method: GET
    default: merge(CONF_1, CONF_3) # because 'key-1' == 'key-3'
  - matches:
      - path:
          type: Exact
          name: /payments
        method: POST
    default: merge(CONF_2, CONF_4) # because 'key-2' == 'key-4'

All policy options

Matches

path - (optional) - HTTP path to match the request on
- type - one of Exact, PathPrefix, RegularExpression
- value - actual value that’s going to be matched depending on the type
method - (optional) - HTTP2 method, available values are CONNECT, DELETE, GET, HEAD, OPTIONS, PATCH, POST, PUT, TRACE
queryParams - (optional) - list of HTTP URL query parameters. Multiple matches are combined together such that all listed matches must succeed
- type - one of Exact or RegularExpression
- name - name of the query parameter
- value - actual value that’s going to be matched depending on the type

Default conf

filters - (optional) - a list of modifications applied to the matched request
- type - available values are RequestHeaderModifier, ResponseHeaderModifier, RequestRedirect, URLRewrite.
- requestHeaderModifier - HeaderModifier, must be set if the type is RequestHeaderModifier.
- responseHeaderModifier - HeaderModifier, must be set if the type is ResponseHeaderModifier.
- requestRedirect - must be set if the type is RequestRedirect
  - scheme - one of http or http2
  - hostname - is the fully qualified domain name of a network host. This matches the RFC 1123 definition of a hostname with 1 notable exception that numeric IP addresses are not allowed.
  - port - is the port to be used in the value of the Location header in the response. When empty, port (if specified) of the request is used.
  - statusCode - is the HTTP status code to be used in response. Available values are 301, 302, 303, 307, 308.
- urlRewrite - must be set if the type is URLRewrite
  - hostname - (optional) - is the fully qualified domain name of a network host. This matches the RFC 1123 definition of a hostname with 1 notable exception that numeric IP addresses are not allowed.
  - path - (optional)
    - type - one of ReplaceFullPath, ReplacePrefixMatch
    - replaceFullPath - must be set if the type is ReplaceFullPath
    - replacePrefixMatch - must be set if the type is ReplacePrefixMatch
- requestMirror - must be set if the type is RequestMirror
  - percentage - percentage of requests to mirror. If not specified, all requests to the target cluster will be mirrored.
  - backendRef - BackendRef, destination to mirror request to
backendRefs - BackendRef (optional), list of destinations to redirect requests to

Header modification

set - (optional) - list of headers to set. Overrides value if the header exists.
- name - header’s name
- value - header’s value
add - (optional) - list of headers to add. Appends value if the header exists.
- name - header’s name
- value - header’s value
remove - (optional) - list of headers’ names to remove

Backends

kind - one of MeshService, MeshServiceSubset
name - service name
tags - service tags, must be specified if the kind is MeshServiceSubset
weight - when a request matches the route, the choice of an upstream cluster is determined by its weight. Total weight is a sum of all weights in backendRefs list.

Spec is the specification of the Kuma MeshHTTPRoute resource.

Type: object

Properties

targetRef
- TargetRef is a reference to the resource the policy takes an effect on.The resource could be either a real store object or virtual resourcedefined inplace.
- Type: object
- Properties
  - kind
    - Kind of the referenced resource
    - Type: string
    - The value is restricted to the following:
      1. "Mesh"
      2. "MeshSubset"
      3. "MeshGateway"
      4. "MeshService"
      5. "MeshServiceSubset"
      6. "MeshHTTPRoute"
  - mesh
    - Mesh is reserved for future use to identify cross mesh resources.
    - Type: string
  - name
    - Name of the referenced resource. Can only be used with kinds: MeshService,MeshServiceSubset and MeshGatewayRoute
    - Type: string
  - tags
    - Tags used to select a subset of proxies by tags. Can only be used with kindsMeshSubset and MeshServiceSubset
    - Type: object
    - This schema accepts additional properties.
    - Properties
to
- To matches destination services of requests and holds configuration.
- Type: array
  - Items
  - Type: object
  - Properties
    - rules
      - Rules contains the routing rules applies to a combination of top-leveltargetRef and the targetRef in this entry.
      - Type: array
        
        Items
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        default required
        
        Default holds routing rules that can be merged with rules from otherpolicies.
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        backendRefs
        
        Type: array
        
        Items
        
        BackendRef defines where to forward traffic.
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        kind
        
        Kind of the referenced resource
        
        Type: string
        
        The value is restricted to the following:
        
        "Mesh"
        
        "MeshSubset"
        
        "MeshGateway"
        
        "MeshService"
        
        "MeshServiceSubset"
        
        "MeshHTTPRoute"
        
        mesh
        
        Mesh is reserved for future use to identify cross mesh resources.
        
        Type: string
        
        name
        
        Name of the referenced resource. Can only be used with kinds: MeshService,MeshServiceSubset and MeshGatewayRoute
        
        Type: string
        
        tags
        
        Tags used to select a subset of proxies by tags. Can only be used with kindsMeshSubset and MeshServiceSubset
        
        Type: object
        
        This schema accepts additional properties.
        
        Properties
        
        weight
        
        Type: integer
        
        Default: 1
        
        Range: ≥ 0
        
        filters
        
        Type: array
        
        Items
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        requestHeaderModifier
        
        Only one action is supported per header name.Configuration to set or add multiple values for a header must use RFC 7230header value formatting, separating each value with a comma.
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        add
        
        Type: array
        
        Item Count: ≤ 16
        
        Items
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        name required
        
        Type: string
        
        The value must match this pattern: ^[a-z0-9!#$%&'*+\-.^_\x60|~]+$
        
        Length: between 1 and 256
        
        value required
        
        Type: string
        
        remove
        
        Type: array
        
        Item Count: ≤ 16
        
        Items
        
        Type: string
        
        set
        
        Type: array
        
        Item Count: ≤ 16
        
        Items
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        name required
        
        Type: string
        
        The value must match this pattern: ^[a-z0-9!#$%&'*+\-.^_\x60|~]+$
        
        Length: between 1 and 256
        
        value required
        
        Type: string
        
        requestMirror
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        backendRef required
        
        TargetRef defines structure that allows attaching policy to various objects
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        kind
        
        Kind of the referenced resource
        
        Type: string
        
        The value is restricted to the following:
        
        "Mesh"
        
        "MeshSubset"
        
        "MeshGateway"
        
        "MeshService"
        
        "MeshServiceSubset"
        
        "MeshHTTPRoute"
        
        mesh
        
        Mesh is reserved for future use to identify cross mesh resources.
        
        Type: string
        
        name
        
        Name of the referenced resource. Can only be used with kinds: MeshService,MeshServiceSubset and MeshGatewayRoute
        
        Type: string
        
        tags
        
        Tags used to select a subset of proxies by tags. Can only be used with kindsMeshSubset and MeshServiceSubset
        
        Type: object
        
        This schema accepts additional properties.
        
        Properties
        
        percentage
        
        Percentage of requests to mirror. If not specified, all requeststo the target cluster will be mirrored.
        
        requestRedirect
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        hostname
        
        *PreciseHostname is the fully qualified domain name of a network host. Thismatches the RFC 1123 definition of a hostname with 1 notable exception thatnumeric IP addresses are not allowed.Note that as per RFC1035 and RFC1123, a *label* must consist of lower casealphanumeric characters or '-', and must start and end with an alphanumericcharacter. No other punctuation is allowed.*
        
        Type: string
        
        The value must match this pattern: ^[a-z0-9]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?(\.[a-z0-9]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?)*$
        
        Length: between 1 and 253
        
        path
        
        Path defines parameters used to modify the path of the incoming request.The modified path is then used to construct the location header.When empty, the request path is used as-is.
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        replaceFullPath
        
        Type: string
        
        replacePrefixMatch
        
        Type: string
        
        type required
        
        Type: string
        
        The value is restricted to the following:
        
        "ReplaceFullPath"
        
        "ReplacePrefixMatch"
        
        port
        
        Port is the port to be used in the value of the Locationheader in the response.When empty, port (if specified) of the request is used.
        
        Type: integer
        
        Range: between 1 and 65535
        
        scheme
        
        Type: string
        
        The value is restricted to the following:
        
        "http"
        
        "https"
        
        statusCode
        
        StatusCode is the HTTP status code to be used in response.
        
        Type: integer
        
        The value is restricted to the following:
        
        301
        
        302
        
        303
        
        307
        
        308
        
        Default: 302
        
        responseHeaderModifier
        
        Only one action is supported per header name.Configuration to set or add multiple values for a header must use RFC 7230header value formatting, separating each value with a comma.
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        add
        
        Type: array
        
        Item Count: ≤ 16
        
        Items
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        name required
        
        Type: string
        
        The value must match this pattern: ^[a-z0-9!#$%&'*+\-.^_\x60|~]+$
        
        Length: between 1 and 256
        
        value required
        
        Type: string
        
        remove
        
        Type: array
        
        Item Count: ≤ 16
        
        Items
        
        Type: string
        
        set
        
        Type: array
        
        Item Count: ≤ 16
        
        Items
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        name required
        
        Type: string
        
        The value must match this pattern: ^[a-z0-9!#$%&'*+\-.^_\x60|~]+$
        
        Length: between 1 and 256
        
        value required
        
        Type: string
        
        type required
        
        Type: string
        
        The value is restricted to the following:
        
        "RequestHeaderModifier"
        
        "ResponseHeaderModifier"
        
        "RequestRedirect"
        
        "URLRewrite"
        
        "RequestMirror"
        
        urlRewrite
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        hostname
        
        Hostname is the value to be used to replace the host header value during forwarding.
        
        Type: string
        
        The value must match this pattern: ^[a-z0-9]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?(\.[a-z0-9]([-a-z0-9]*[a-z0-9])?)*$
        
        Length: between 1 and 253
        
        path
        
        Path defines a path rewrite.
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        replaceFullPath
        
        Type: string
        
        replacePrefixMatch
        
        Type: string
        
        type required
        
        Type: string
        
        The value is restricted to the following:
        
        "ReplaceFullPath"
        
        "ReplacePrefixMatch"
        
        matches required
        
        Matches describes how to match HTTP requests this rule should be appliedto.
        
        Type: array
        
        Item Count: ≥ 1
        
        Items
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        headers
        
        Type: array
        
        Items
        
        HeaderMatch describes how to select an HTTP route by matching HTTP requestheaders.
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        name required
        
        Name is the name of the HTTP Header to be matched. Name MUST be lower caseas they will be handled with case insensitivity (See https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7230#section-3.2).
        
        Type: string
        
        The value must match this pattern: ^[a-z0-9!#$%&'*+\-.^_\x60|~]+$
        
        Length: between 1 and 256
        
        type
        
        Type specifies how to match against the value of the header.
        
        Type: string
        
        The value is restricted to the following:
        
        "Exact"
        
        "Present"
        
        "RegularExpression"
        
        "Absent"
        
        "Prefix"
        
        Default: "Exact"
        
        value
        
        Value is the value of HTTP Header to be matched.
        
        Type: string
        
        method
        
        Type: string
        
        The value is restricted to the following:
        
        "CONNECT"
        
        "DELETE"
        
        "GET"
        
        "HEAD"
        
        "OPTIONS"
        
        "PATCH"
        
        "POST"
        
        "PUT"
        
        "TRACE"
        
        path
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        type required
        
        Type: string
        
        The value is restricted to the following:
        
        "Exact"
        
        "PathPrefix"
        
        "RegularExpression"
        
        value required
        
        Exact or prefix matches must be an absolute path. A prefix matches onlyif separated by a slash or the entire path.
        
        Type: string
        
        Length: ≥ 1
        
        queryParams
        
        QueryParams matches based on HTTP URL query parameters. Multiple matchesare ANDed together such that all listed matches must succeed.
        
        Type: array
        
        Items
        
        Type: object
        
        Properties
        
        name required
        
        Type: string
        
        Length: ≥ 1
        
        type required
        
        Type: string
        
        The value is restricted to the following:
        
        "Exact"
        
        "RegularExpression"
        
        value required
        
        Type: string
    - targetRef
      - TargetRef is a reference to the resource that represents a group ofrequest destinations.
      - Type: object
      - Properties
        
        kind
        
        Kind of the referenced resource
        
        Type: string
        
        The value is restricted to the following:
        
        "Mesh"
        
        "MeshSubset"
        
        "MeshGateway"
        
        "MeshService"
        
        "MeshServiceSubset"
        
        "MeshHTTPRoute"
        
        mesh
        
        Mesh is reserved for future use to identify cross mesh resources.
        
        Type: string
        
        name
        
        Name of the referenced resource. Can only be used with kinds: MeshService,MeshServiceSubset and MeshGatewayRoute
        
        Type: string
        
        tags
        
        Tags used to select a subset of proxies by tags. Can only be used with kindsMeshSubset and MeshServiceSubset
        
        Type: object
        
        This schema accepts additional properties.
        
        Properties

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