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ArchitectureOctober 2025
API gateway patterns: when and how to use them
API gateways provide cross-cutting features like authentication and rate limiting, but they can become bottlenecks if misused.
Gateway responsibilities
Keep the gateway focused: authentication, routing, rate limiting, and aggregation are typical tasks.
Avoid putting business logic in the gateway; that logic belongs in services where it can be versioned and tested.
Scalability
Run gateways in a scalable mesh and ensure they are stateless where possible to allow horizontal scaling.
Monitor latency closely and provide fallbacks for degraded gateway paths.