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Gateway API for Varnish Cache v0.19.4

Kubernetes-native HTTP routing, powered by Varnish

A full Gateway API implementation backed by the world's fastest HTTP accelerator. Standards-compliant routing with Varnish's legendary performance.

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Varnish Gateway

Why Varnish Gateway?

All the routing capabilities of the Gateway API, with the speed and flexibility of Varnish.

  • Conformance tested

    Passes the Gateway API conformance test suite. Standard HTTPRoute matching, header and query filters, path types, and weighted traffic splitting.

  • Zero VCL generation for routing

    HTTP routing is driven by live, in-memory routing tables derived from HTTPRoutes and EndpointSlices — not by VCL. Route and backend changes apply in milliseconds, no VCL compile.

  • Built-in dashboard

    Real-time monitoring with live event stream, backend health, virtual host overview, and heartbeat visualization.

  • Custom VCL when you need it

    HTTPRoutes cover the spec. Drop into VCL for custom caching, rewriting, or request logic that goes beyond the Gateway API.

  • Multi-listener

    Multiple Gateway listeners on different ports. Listener-aware routing with per-listener branching via request headers.

  • TLS termination

    High-performance TLS on client and backend sides. Certificates hot-reload automatically — no pod restart.

Gateway API Conformance

Varnish Gateway passes the official Kubernetes Gateway API conformance test suite, covering HTTPRoute matching, request/response header filters, URL rewrites, redirects, and weighted traffic splitting.

How it works

Three components translate Gateway API resources into a running Varnish configuration.

1

Operator

Watches Gateway and HTTPRoute resources. Generates VCL and routing configuration. Manages the Varnish Deployment, Service, and RBAC.

2

Chaperone

Manages the varnishd process. Discovers backend endpoints via EndpointSlices, merges them with the operator's routing config, and pushes the result to Ghost.

3

Ghost VMOD

A Rust-based Varnish module that handles all routing inside Varnish. Matches requests to backends by host, path, headers, and query parameters.

Read the architecture overview →

Install

Install the Gateway API CRDs:

bash kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/releases/download/v1.4.0/standard-install.yaml

Install Varnish Gateway:

bash helm install varnish-gateway oci://ghcr.io/varnish/charts/varnish-gateway \ --namespace varnish-gateway-system \ --create-namespace

Create a Gateway:

yaml apiVersion: gateway.networking.k8s.io/v1 kind: Gateway metadata: name: varnish spec: gatewayClassName: varnish listeners: - name: http port: 80 protocol: HTTP

Install the Gateway API CRDs:

bash kubectl apply -f https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/gateway-api/releases/download/v1.4.0/standard-install.yaml

Deploy the operator and resources:

bash kubectl apply -f deploy/

Full instructions are in the installation guide.

Community

  • GitHub

    Source code, issue tracker, and releases.

    varnish/gateway

  • Issues

    Report bugs, request features, or browse known issues.

    Open an issue

  • Documentation

    Installation, configuration, operations, and reference.

    Get started